Implications . Well again, to the extent that the struggle seen in the context of a zero sum gain between sunnis and shia between sunni aligned forces in iran you see it in that regional context. I dont think well see reaction elsewhere, based on what is happening in yemen. Robert we are seeing saudi arabia leading the coalition against the Houthi Rebels in yemen. Is this the start of saudi arabia perhaps becoming a military might in the region . Well, again we have to be realistic about this. So far as we know only saudi aircraft had been involved in strikes in yemen. Yes, they are the head of the coalition, i think the g. C. C. And some of the other countries that added their names to the list provide political cover for the saudis to go what is in their interests. I dont look for military involved. Its true for some time that the saudis have an effective air force, the land forces are not nearly as effective. I suspect the saudis would be reluctant to get involved in a Ground Campaign inside yemen. Robert you have attended high level dialogues in which decisions like these are considered. What do you thing was being talked about within the coalition, with saudi arabia and washington, shall we say or saudi arabia and its other are allies in terms of the exit strategy or the longterm impact of the air strikes on yegmen. I think we need to see it in two categories saudi arabia and other members have a view of the shiite iranian backed threat as perceived in the region. Given the consolidation that it appears that the houthis are about to achieve in yemen, they felt they had to do something to strike the houthis to make it clear that they wouldnt continue to operate with impunity in the contest of the region and felt they should be controlled with what others are doing in the region. So far as others are concerned. The moroccans, the pakistanis are leading support. The United States is becoming involved, albeit indirectly but involved in support of the saudis in this operation. There, i think, the issue has to do with the broader relationships that the respective countries have. I dont think the u. S. Of its own volition would have been pushing for that action. Given the broader relationship that the United States has with saudi arabia, and the counter importance that is tied to saudi Political Support for what the United States was doing in syria, and the porns of the issue for the saudis i think the americans felt they could not say no to the saud yits and we see a similar dynamic with moroccans and others. Thank you for your insight. Robert grenier, a former counterterrorism official at the c. I. A. More from washington d. C. And alan fisher joins us live from there. Interesting. Robert grenier was saying that perhaps the u. S. Felt they could not say though to saudi arabias perhaps. Yes, and while the u. S. Is saying look we are involved in Logistical Support, and intelligence, almost trying to put a bit of distance from the military operation. It will not be seen as that in many parts of the world, as the americans stepping back it will be seen as the americans involved yet again in the middle east. They can stand at the pod um as they will in the next few hours saying all we can provide is what the saudis ask for, logistical but it will be seen as more than that and will be seen here with a mixed view. Here the u. S. Will support the saudis as they attack iranian proxies. Its over two weeks since Binyamin Netanyahu as he was then, came to capitol hill and said you have got to be aware of the danger that iran poses across the region not just with the nuclear programme, but other things that the israelis believe they are involved with. There are many who were concerned believing that the iranians was a threat to be confronted. We have heard in the last couple of hours, a statement saying this is an example of what happens when america disengages from that part of the world. And leaves them in a bizarre position where in the morning they are attacking iranian proxies sorry, attacking with iranian proxies, people perceived as a threat and attacking iranian proxies with the saudis later that day. They say its a confused Foreign Policy and it was another stick to beat president obama with. We know the americans formed a joint unit with the saudis. They say its a planning sell with saudi arabia to coordinate u. S. Military and intelligence support. Its unlikely well see american jets flying over the skies but theres a logistical intelligence support from the u. S. Within obamas time in office there has been a lot of talk about u. S. Involvement in this region in the middle east region and in wars around the world as well. As you touched on earlier in your answer to me. Is there an appetite in the American Public for the u. S. To get involved in yemen . Well, lets be clear about the white house policy and what it has been under president obama, and that is to enable regional allies to enable friends of the United States to take on the fight rather than expect the u. S. To get involved. That is something that president obama pushed in libya, when he was keen that n. A. T. O. Would take on the action the e. U. Take on the action. In syria he looked at others and in yemen they looked to the likes of saudi arabia and the g. C. C. There are those in the United States that believe that is not americas role. They should be forceful taking a leading role not just in the middle east but elsewhere. John mccain called for boots on the ground in several instances. That will not happen here but some feel America Needs a more robust policy. Well hear from the podiums of the white house, why president obama is doing the right thing, and leaves it to regional allies, the g. C. C. And the saudis. That debate will go on for some time not least because even though it seems a long way away in november next year therell be a president ial election and Foreign Policy will be front and center. And what president obama does over the next 23 months, weeks, could have an impact on that election further down the line alan fisher speaking from washington d. C. Joining us here on set is our correspondent omar al saleh, who has covered the yemen crisis intensively. Lets talk about the members of this saudi arabiaLed Coalition against the Houthi Rebels in yemen, what do you make of the members, and why would they join the coalition. . Its interesting. Its understandable that five of six g. C. C. Members are taking parts to repeat them. Saudi arabia kuwait and others. There are five members. Jordan and others are willing or considering to send troops. This is interesting for a number of reasons, there has been a while, a talk of the u. A. E. And egypt of forming an arab force, an Arab Intervention force to take care of issues that threaten arab security the security of arab nation as a whole. It came about after the talk of agreement between iran and the u. S. Remember the gulf states and other countries in the region see rain as a threat. If theres a nuclear deal it will be at the expense of the arab countries, mainly the g. C. C. Now they want a force, perhaps, to take care of their own Security Matters in their own hands. Lets make the point. Its interesting you say the force, the suggested proposed force is supposed to be made to deal with arab issues corn demricts within the region. We are talking about sunni arab interest. Yes absolutely. What is happening is that iran is backing shia groups in different arab countries, and those groups are making head way and gaining ground. After the u. S. Occupation of iraq the leadership changed dramatically, a regime is in place, they are working together. Thats the first alarm for the state. You have lebanon. A powerful group. Its backed by iran. Now in syria, who is fighting or keeping president Bashar Alassad in power. Shia fighters from afghanistan, pakistan lebanon and iranian officers in the role of advisors, theres a sunni shia camp. Its a proxy war between different regional pours in different countries, i think the force discussed by the way in the next arab force will be taking place. The arab countries, the gulf countries are facing a threat. They dont trust the us. You are talking about the Nuclear Negotiations that are taking place. Its a programme. And what is backed here with iran having fingers in iraq. In line now with the Houthi Rebels, are we seeing the rise and rise of iran and has the sunni arabs left it too late to curtail that rise. Absolutely iran is so powerful in the region. Everything changed in their favour. The u. S. Occupation of iraq. After the iraq war, and the 8yearlong war from 1980 to 1988. Iran was playing it down. They were trying quietly to build up the capabilities and trying to expand the influence slowly in the number of countries. The arab world, i think, was im not sure of the rite work. They were steep. They woke up to a massive rise of iran. They made a number of gulf officials. Off the record they said they made a mistake by letting Saddam Hussein stop. Iraq led by Saddam Hussein was seen as the kind of buffer to stop iraq. Everything changed after the 2003 and iran is the rising power in the region and they are making all the gains here. What would iran want from that influence. I think its to have strengthening its position in negotiations in the west and mainly to the u. S. And saying look, we are a power of the party here. You need to take us seriously, and, therefore, we you need to give us the right influence, the right exercising their own will and to be taken as regional powers in in this area. Thats why i think the arabs are worried. To take them seriously, basically. Now omar we are talking about the rise and rise of iran shall we say. We had seen last year the new king in saudi arabia and theres no doubt that saudi arabia is a major player in this region. When he ascended to the throne he said it was time for muslim brothers to reach out, come together and put aside their differences. We are not seeing that in yemen, are we. We are seeing the sunni shia proxy war played out. We are, absolutely. What you say is correct. I think they want to have states that are all in one alliance and then to stop the expansion of the alignment and curtail the influence in the region, i think they reached a conclusion that this is a red line for them. I think they were taken by surprise and were dealing with internal issues in the fight against the muslim brotherhood. And here the houthis, and the president salah took advantage of that because who used to run yemen or had a bit saying was the Political Party affiliated with the muslim brotherhood. I think now, since the new monarch took control of saudi arabia, i think everything challenged and now its time for them to stop all those threats that are facing not only saudi arabia but the wider gulf region and the arab world. Omar al saleh, great talking to us giving us the implication, wider implication of what is happening in the region. If you have joined us on al jazeera, we have rolling coverage of what happened in yemen, a saudi arabia Led Coalition conducted air strikes in yemen on the capital sanaa, targetting several Houthi Rebels there. We know at least 10 people have been killed in those air strikes. Earlier we spoke with the former director of National Security studies at the council on foreign relations, Lawrence Korb and he said it was inevitable. If the bombing doesnt achieve the objectives what next . More bombings will you do it like libya, where it lasted seven months before they got Muammar Gaddafi out. What will they do if the houthis send insurgents into saudi arabia . Will they be willing to put Ground Forces in. Its easy to start a war, more difficult to stop and you should think about these things before you start. We hope that this will have such a shock that the houthis will negotiate with the government to come to a power sharing arrangement. Do you think that will happen . How long can the houthis fight . I gain that is an interesting question. This is the last thing they thought about. They were thinking they could force out the government. They have a primitive air force, but nothing like the saudis have. The saudis have American Equipment and by the most sophisticated equipment in the world. I dont think they thought the saudis would come in theyd chase out the government, take control and run the place. Do you thing the operation will be limited to air strikes . I think for now. You put Ground Forces in you suffer casualties, and its a different thing. The United States found out when we went into the first iraq war, we bombed for 37 days before sending the Ground Forces in. Its mar difficult when you take the next step. Larry, i ask you to speculate, we are here over 10 countries are involved. Any idea what countries and what their roles might be. It might be like some people that bombed. In syria, the unit Arab Emirates could provide an aircraft. The others may provide bombs and have intelligence. I dont know if they have people on the ground there. As i look at it seems like mainly moral support that they provide, because in terms of a military operation, they dont need many more air forces. Larry, how do you see things developing. How long do you see the air strikes going on for. Well, i think thats the thats the big question. How long will they be willing to do it. Maybe a week or so before they see some results. If they dont, or the houthis take other action or iranian, you know proxies decide to do something, that will be the key question. I think they are hoping as we use the term shock and awe to begin with to get their attention, and be able to come to some sort of powersharing arrangement. If they dont acquiesce and go back to the negotiating table, then what then we are in a fullon regional war, perhaps . Well yes, you can. Yes, you could. Wars are easy to start. They are more difficult to stop. Then you dont want to lose space or look weak. If the houthis hold out. The next step is what do the what do the saudis do do they increase the air campaign do they send in Ground Troops. Do they want to fight an insurgency intercity war like we saw in tikrit. Its easier said than done. The Current Crisis can be seen in terms of competing interests, iran is said to be advancing proxies, and is said to provide weapons and Logistical Support to the group. It irked the saudi arabias, they supported different groups at different times, including former leader allie abdullah salah, and now president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi. Its a battle for regional supremacy between saudi arabia and iran playing out. We spoke to a political analyst from sanaa. There is shelling. Good morning, i cant differentiate between the late hours. I woke up to a huge explosion. I have never experienced anything like this not since 1994 when i was six years old. I today am a witness rather than a political analyst. What i can describe is the sounds i dont know if you can hear them. I can. The sky is full of light. Sanaa has witnessed a number of conflict. It hasnt been this intense since 2011. The intensity is psychological. This is a war i as a yemeni has nothing to do with. Neither of the two parties represent me. Months ago i had was peaceful resistance against armed militia. Now its a depiction of iran and saudi arabia fighting their own war, a war using our lands and our people. Its important for me to mention that there is no such thing as separate military areas in sanaa. The problem that former president salah created is he aligned all the military camps inside the capital within residential areas. Besides my house is a camp. We are a very mixed social system. These are civilians surrounding those camps. Saudi arabia air force is surrounding the north and iranian militia is fapsing in the south. The only victim is civilians from this side or the other and those on the front are poor yemenis paid to fight a war that is theirs. Have you any idea the casualties from the air strikes . Nothing yet. I tried calling a couple of friends living next to another air force base. I can only imagine what its like over there. In the morning it will tell us about the casualties, as in simple deaths but we need to understand that there are other ramifications. I think its too late. Theres a chance for both of iran and saudi arabia to understand that this is not the right war zone for them and the ramifications will hurt everybody in the region. Israelis want peace. The yemenis have been living without a president. Before Abdrabbu Mansour hadi fled to aiden, and before that when there was no were the or government. People still went to the markets, people still had their weddings people still tried to make a normal life. There were not cases of crime rates or robbery in spite of the absence. The yemenis want to life. Iran saudi arabia what they are doing is turning it into a war zone where nothing but revenge will cultivate. The one thing that the u. N. Should have done was in 2012, 2013, to listen to a point suggested by the dialogue conference and committee, the 20 points would have built a base for dialogue. The one right thing that the u. N. Can do is stop dealing with yemen as an agenda listen to experts, instead of expats looking at yemen as a war zone. Theres more into yemen and yemenis than fighting al qaeda. And what happens makes al qaeda bigger creating more militia and hatred. You can only imagine if you lose a relative how you would grow feel and how in the middle of all of this poverty and there would be no option to join one militia or the other. The u. S. National Security Council council. It reads in support of actions the White House Press secretary spoke about the situation in yemen, before the saudiled operation in sanaa was announced. The United States believed that president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi is the legitimate leader of yemen, and we have seen violent efforts on the part of the houthis, and by others who are acting in concert to foment instability. There are elements of the Yemeni Government that we are continue to be in touch with continue to further our efforts to provide efforts to extremists and we have the capability again, because of the plans and the provision the relationships that we have in the region we have the capability to take out extremists if they pose a threat to the United States. Standing by on set is omar al saleh. The whereabouts of Abdrabbu Mansour hadi remains unknown. What do you think are the options that are left open for him now . He doesnt have much options, only the call he made and now its met. He calls on the g. C. C. To send help militarily and we have the saudi arabialed campaign. Its interesting that the senior aid to president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi was speaking earlier, and he did say that the president relies on that military support, he wants Ground Troops and weapons for yemeni soldiers that are loyal. The goal is to try to strengthen Abdrabbu Mansour hadis ability militarily to confront the houthis, and supporters of the toppled president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi. Its interesting, we were speaking to an analyst, that the International Community wants president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi to be reinstated. To the yemenis want Abdrabbu Mansour hadi as their leader . I think so. When i was in sanaa, i was there several times. I was talking to ordinarily yemenis, hes the one the elections have after the toppling of former president , and he won the majority of votes. They see him as legitimate leader for a transitional period and hope it will be peaceful and write a new constitution, hold new elections for the presidency, and parliament. The problem is that that period drags on. It went on for about two years. The National Dialogue didnt take place, only after 10 months of delay. When everything was agreed on houthis and supporters within the camp back tracking on everything they agreed on he has legitimacy he was criticized for being week. In his defense he said i didnt inherit a proper country, yemen is week and divided. It is divided along tribal alliances. He didnt inherit a proper country. Omar al saleh, great talking to you, our correspondent there, omar al saleh, speaking to us about the event that are happening in live in doha if you have just joined us we have rolling coverage on the yemen crisis, a saudi led g. C. C. Coalition has begun a military operation in yemen with air strikes targeting houthi fighters. And according to the saudi news agency, there is more support coming from the 10nation coalition, egypt jordan, sudan ma rack oh, and pakistan have expressed their willingness to join the fight. In several key places including the president ial palace and Police Head Quarters have been