robert mcfadden has served as intelligence officer across the world including yemen bahrain united arabrates and other places in the middle east. robert welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> how significant is in offensive in the middle east? and what does it mean for the rest of the world? >> it's greatly significant. i mean, we haven't seen anything like this in modern times in the middle east. when you talk about yemen itself, maybe the closest was back in the 1960s when egyptian forces went in and it ended very badly for the egyptians, so in that sense it's major on a sale. >> is it a proxy war between saudi arabia and iran? >> in some ways. but calling it a proxy war even at this point is somewhat over simplification, because if things had been going on with the houthis the population in the far northwest of the country, have been going on since the early to mid 2,000s. however, with saudi arabia leading the gulf coalition though, it certainly takes the proxy part out of it because they are actually engaged. >> but with the united states involved in the coalition what does that do -

. >> gulf cooperation council members, bahrain kuwait, qatar and u.a.e. have answered president hadi's call for help. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in lausanne to meet with his iranian counterpart trying to reach a deal on how to reach an agreement on iran's nuclear prom by the deadline. >> we have the latest on the airstrikes in yemen. >> the operation started early thursday, saudi arabia said it has launched airstrikes against the houthi rebels with the aim of reversing the houthi coup and restoring legitimacy in yemen. >> the choice is simple, abide by this process and become legitimate players in yemeni politics or they will not be -- but they certainly will not be allowed to take over the country. >> support suggestion 100 jets from saudi arabia and the gulf coalition resulted in airstrikes. they say they want to restore yemen's deposed government, at least four other gulf nations have joined the calendar pain. the united arab emirates, kuwait and bahrain said they sent fighter jets to saudi arabia. several hours into the bombing the u.s.

saud state news agency has released a joint statement by saudi arabia, qatar, the uae kuwait and bahrain. it reads the military operations in yemen will continue in order to achieve its objectives. >>> the crisis in yemen has been many months in the making. houthi rebels overtook the capital sa nsa in -- sanaa in september. the situation deteriorated in december when the houthis rejected a draft proposal, forced hadi to resign in what is called a coup. escaped to the southern port city of aden, rejected the houthis and maintained he was the legitimate president of yemen. backed an intervention to stop houthi fighters. omar al sala is here in the nud roox withnewsroom with us. what objectives are there? >> i think mainly to degrade and weaken the houthis their weapons. when the houthis overtook sanaa in september of last year they took control of almost all the military bases in the capital and they took all the weapons in those military bases. now some of those military bases were already in the hands of forces that were loyal to the president so they didn't take those paces. however the

the saudis have put together a coalition with egypt, jordan the united arab emirates qatar bahrain.e clearly trying to go in there and fight what they regard as iranian proxies, these shiite houthi rebels. it looks like a proxy war, if you will. >> it is a proxy war. but this is going to be a very tough problem for saudi arabia and egypt to solve because they're not in that country. and their troops even though they may speak arabic they're foreign troops in that country. this is one more example of stirring the pot. it's going to likely provoke continuing iranian efforts to defend what they see as their interests through the shia population. it's going to likely involve some other threats to the saudi system -- let's say in bahrain, through the shia in bahrain or maybe even difficulties in the gulf-rich eastern province of saudi arabia where there's a large shia population. so the saudis are well aware of this. they know what can happen. they see this as their vital interest. but it's going to be a very tough fight. >> the saudis are nervous about a lot that's going on bobby. as yo

besides saudi arabia the coalition includes qatar bahrain, kuwait and united arum em report *pl rams,is the only gulf nation to have sustained. fighter jets taking part from jordan, morocco and egypt. with egypt saying it will send ground forces force if he is in, sudan and turkey are preparing to take part. there are some reports that sudan has already deployed fighter jets, pakistan has been asked to join but has not yet decided. a yemeni analyst she writes on her blog as well as for brookings and the atlantic council. thanks for joining us, the saudis have the broad coalition supporting the bombing campaign and we have seen the iranians now condemning the bombing and warning of the further bloodshed. in lebanon hezbollah are condemning it. does all of this come as any surprise roughly 24 hours after the bombing campaign started? >> not, not at all. actually you are been talking about how the houthis are a strong ally of iran and it's only natural now that when saudi arabia turns against them these forces show support to the houthis. it's not -- you know, it's not surprising to anyo

one weekend, myself, some friends, and all our girl friends flew over to bahrain for a very, very longand hectic weekend. i ended up meeting two people in the bar. a tall german gentleman, and a slightly rotund dutch person. during a conversation, they asked where i had come from. saudi arabia. and the subject of alcohol of course came up. >> you managed to get a drinks. >> as a matter of fact, i actually make rather a lot of wine. there is a bit of a silence for a minute. they kind of looked at each other. and they said. >> would you be interested in distributing whiskey? >> i of course i asked them, i said -- how much? they said, about 400, 500 cases at a time. for bottle of whiskey, we would be in the region of about 200 u.s. dollars. i would make around 20,000 u.s. dollars per load. it was made clear to me, don't forget, this is our money. how would i get your money back to you, gentlemen? >> that's not a problem. >> i had made a success of selling wine in saudi arabia. why not sell the real mccoy? >> then, gentlemen, i have a toast, to whiskey. >> to whiskey. i realized that this

we have an important partnership in bahrain, do we not?n fact we have the location there of the united states elite correct? >> that's correct, senator. >> and what's iran doing with regard to the bahrain government right now? which is the sunni government as i understand it they are also trying to destabilize that government, which, of course, would, in my view, threaten our interests there. >> correct. we see the same reach through the shia population, which increases sectarian tension, and serves as a destabilizing effect. >> which you know, obviously bahrain is a different country than yemen but it's a similar playbook in a different country, is it not? >> it's a similar approach. >> similar approach. but obviously they're very different countries. >> yes ma'am. >> but i think we need to be clear here what iran's activities have been. and as i look at your testimony, one of the things you pointed out is iran routinely engages in activities through the threat network. iran is engaging in line activity through support proxy actors such a

they're trying to convince the foreign ministers of saudi arabia, bahrain, kuwait, oman, qatar, the united arab emirates that they can trust mr. obama and the nuclear weapon deal that's near the deal with iran. isn't planning a so-called grand bargain with iran. all the countries represented with the meeting at kerry are sunni all keenly concerned about shia iran producing a nuclear bomb. we take up the troubling elements of the deal. house intelligence committee member len westmoreland is here, and the islamic state engaging in act of defiance. setting fire to oil wells trying to slow the joint iraqi and iranian offensive against them. this on the same day that libya accuses the radical islamist terrorists of attacking, looting sabotaging and destroying 11 of their oil fields. former nato supreme allied commander admiral james stavridis joins us. we'll be taking up the islamic state threat, and we'll have the latest for you on ukraine. >>> and the clinton e-mail scandal. the white house claims they did not know she was using only her personal e-mail account during her entire tenure as sec

egypt, morocco, jordan, sudan, kuwait, qatar and bahrain.all coming from this television report. also word that maybe pakistan and jordan and sudan are also willing to contribute ground forces and any kind of ground offensive. so clearly, this is a major operation, which is now ramping up. >> and the big question is, how is iran going to view all of this and do the houthi rebels have what it takes to fight back? >> what will the iranians do in response to that? because what the saudis have seen over the past couple of years, they've seen iran extend influence into iraq, lebanon, now into yemen. so this concern that the saudis have, and what many believe is a proxi war has just kicked off using yemen as basically a firing range. we are rick francona joining us with more on this. so we're get thing news now, 150,000 soldiers, 100 warplanes. this is just the saudi continge contingent. what does that say to you? >> the saudis are taking this seriously and they're building a coalition, that they're going to go in there and fix this. they've commi

member states bahrain qatar saudi arabia, are yawz uae. united arab emirates. threaten houthi informs against entering their territory. and adding more might to the fight could force yemen into sectarian war with foreign powers backing opposite sides. speaking in riyadh. countries in the region would take necessary steps. >> translator: we are keen on protecting yemen's sovereignty. led by president hadi alone. we are ready to respond to any request by the president. >> charlie angela al jazeera. >> in libya field commander with the armed group assured a council of benghazi, one of the main rebel commanders who fought former president moammar gadhafi's forces in the 2011 revolution. a fighter has been reportedly shot down over the city of zintan not recognized by the u.n. in the international community. it's not clear who or what brought the aircraft down. libyan media has reported that one pilot has been captured and another killed. after the 2011 revolution that ousted moammar gadhafi the brigade has become the most powerful seizing weapons from the deposed l

express gratitude to his majesty the jordanian monarch. [ applause ] >> translator: the monarch of bahrain[ applause ] >> translator: for the ongoing support to egypt and its people. this reflects how deep are the relations with egypt. egypt has found all support from these two countries. also i would like to thank all our brothers kings, and presidents of the arab states that are giving us the honor of being here today in egypt. ladies and gentlemen, this is a moment that is witnessing great participation, distinguished participation, governments, countries, and international organizations are here today. i would like to express my gratitude in the name of egypt, and in my name i would like to express my thanks to them. the meaning of their participation is or will be joint that will be the benefit of all parties, not only being a role in achieving progress and achieving welfare, but it will go deep into other dimensions and will participate definitely for achieving the social justice and bridging the gaps between the [ inaudible ] of the people and these also will help a lot in providing

the military action was announced in a joined statement signed by saudi arabia bahrain and kuwait. jordan egypt and morocco say their planes have been involved in strikes. saddan said air and ground forces will take part. and turkey says it may provide logistical support. the pakistan government is sending a high level delegation including military officials to saudi arabia. let's get more from nicole johnson, joining us from islamabad. we know that pakistan has support for saudi arabia's military operation. in what way. well so far saudi arabia has requested support from pakistan. pakistan said that it will consider that request. it held a high delegation meeting on wednesday with the president, the army chief and the head of the i.s.i. the spy agency. at the end of the meeting they said any threat to the integrity of saudi arabia would revoke a strong response from pakistan. pakistan has not said exactly what type of response it will be. they are sending a delegation to saudi arabia on friday to dougs action they may take. it's being considered. the defense minister gave a long a

originally set up to respond to military forces from bahrain qatar and united arab emirates it is a force 100,000 strong. here tribal forces gather in shabwa province to threaten houthi forces entering their territory. could force yemen into sectarian war with foreign powers backing opposite sides. speaking in riyadh, saudi arabia arabia'ssaudiarabia'ssaudiarabia's patent andsaudi arabiaarabia's prime minister: >> they have the union many others who have come up strongly for president hadi. >> either way for the people caught in the middle, each day of fighting deepens the suffering in this impoverished country. charlie angela, al jazeera. >> the german chancellor angela merkel has told her greek counterpart city's that she wants greece to grow and be released from high unemployment. powrn has pledged to provide $2.1 billion to help ease greece's humanitarian crisis. crisis will give no money without reforms. this is something he will have to consider. >> our goal should be to make necessary reforms. those that previous governments did not deal with. we must deal with tax evasion and forc

baja baja baja baja -- bahrain four years ago, certainly the situation is different yemen.nk certainly the strategic mapping of it and what all of this comes to play will have a lot of influence over the next couple of days. >> thank you very much for your analysis. >>> iran is locked on another day of talk over its nuclear program. six world powers are trying to convince tehran to limit its nuclear program in return for the easing of sanctions. they have to reach a framework deal by next thursday. the events in yemen are also being discussed. iran's foreign minister said saudi-lead air strikes should stop, and urged all sides to start talking. >>> at least ten people have been killed by a blast that was set up in somalia's capitol. the target was a hotel. al-shabab gunmen have claimed responsibility for the talk and they also are thought to have taken hostages. >>> german investigators say they found a doctor's note in the apartment of the co-pilot who flew a passenger plane into a mownside. dominic kane reports. >> reporter: a president pays his respects as more informati

also includes saudi arabia, qatar, bahrain australia and canada. the three girls flew from istanbul.from london on february 17th after paying cash for theirs tickets. in the video the girls are seen getting out of a taxi helped by two men one of whom is the alleged spy. another video shows the man being detained. it's unclear how the videos were recorded. british police and the girls' families have issued appeals for their daughters to return home. the police have said if they do they won't go to jail. >> and many think that it is unlikely actually that these girls will be allowed to leave syria now that they are part of i.s.i.l. if indeed they are we think they are and antonio the u.k. is now considering a law to stop this happening again girls buying tickets with cash and leaving their families behind heading to turkey with the intention of joining i.s.i.l. in syria. exactly how they do that i don't know. >> thank you john. >>> a new u.s. assessment finds iraqi forces are gaining ground against i.s.i.l. more than 25% of i.s.i.l. held territory. k

bahrain, kuwait and qatar. jordan egypt and more okayo have been involved in the strikes. saddan says air and ground forces take part. turkey says it may provide logistical support. pakistan is sending military officials to saudi arabia to discuss what if any support islamabad can provide. nicole johnson is in the capital. >> saudi arabia requested that the pakistani government help it against its war in the fight against yemen. pakistan released a statement saying anything that threatened the integrity from saudi arabia will evoke a response from pakistan. friday they are sending a delegation from the army and the government to saudi arabia to discuss what assistance if any, the pakistan could provide to saudi arabia. the two countries have a good and strong relationship, there are strong economic ties. saudi arabia is often the first country to help pakistan when it has economic problems energy crisis or a natural disaster. there are 800 troops deployed across various parts of saudi arabia. on the other hand pakistan enjoys a good relationship with iran, and they'll be c

what people need now is actually to see that the force could be used what happened in bahrain.o fly grown zone. come bombardment of aden. you can't go on bombarding such a peaceful city. you are trying to bring people. no fly zone and the real, you know, show of use of power and e job descriptions are very much worried as far as we have known now. the egypt is very much worried. iran reaches and can control the strait that is a completely defect in the whole initial execute of egypt. >> how much are they there on the ground? >> at one time, i mean there are rumors about actually the pilots who are, you know, hitting adn and iranians. we know that there are now a lot of military advisors there and they have been there for a long time whether from hezbollah in lebanon who are in yemen. the number 1 advisor is somebody who is, you know from lebanon but he is from iran again. he is the one actually calling the shots now. he is the one coordinating between the previous former dictators dictators' forces and the former forces of houthi. they are regular army. >> complied kited pictur

last year the leaders between bahrain and united arab emirates refused to attend. there were objections to syria's opposition, the seat at the meeting left vacant. the last 12 months set new challenges for the organization. fighting spread across yeg since last september when shia houthis seized control. the president called for support from golf arab states and the conflict of is concern. the situation has deteriorated in lib na. to rival factions competing for power, four years after muammar gaddafi was removed from power. member states promised to work decisively to put an end to division, and that unity will be on the agenda again if meaningful resolutions were to be found to the old and knew conflicts across the middle east >>> final preparations are under way in nigeria for the general election on saturday. ballot papers and result sheets have been sent under police guard to abuja. electoral officials checked the papers before sending them. it's expected to be a close race between jonathan goodluck and a former general. the niger delta is where almost all of

that is in this coalition, shall we say against the houthi rebels, there are other partners qatar, bahrain, kuwait, others. 10 nations aligned themselves with saudi arabia. are these members prepared for a long drawn out war. if there is ground forces will they contribute to the forces in yemen? >> i think they are prepared. they took the decision because it reached a red line a limit for them. the security is in danger. therefore they have to act. when you reach that stage i think you are prepared. saudi arabia is the biggest loser in all of this when the houthis took over yemen. so it affects their security directly. the houthi strong hold the bored of saudi arabia. the entire country, yemen is a backdrop. the saudis cannot afford to lose yeg or have yemen controlled by a group with the saudi enemy, iran. the regional security is also in danger. you have essentially, the houthis controlling an area overlooking the seaport on the red sea. this is where about two to 3 million barrel of oil goes through there up to the red sea. it's a strategic location. they will not allow the group in con

countries have expressed interest in uk near energy which is the first step towards a bomb egypt, turkey, bahrain and the uae. the i wish issue is who is going to sanction saudi arabia if they do this? israel will not possibly do military strikes to saudi arabia, it has the holiest is that riens in the muslim world so they would be -- have to avoid that. i will tell you something, david, the fwakt that saudi arabia has agreements also with three other countries besides south korea to look into nuclear cooperation that's very telling. >> sabrina, it's beginning to make that republican letter look better, isn't it? >> yeah, well yeah i'm concerned about this, just like everyone else on the panel i think, and i was talking to catherine herridge from fox news and she was saying, look just talking about enrichment will drive an arms race in the middle east. the fact is this is bad news and if we look at sort of our experience with north korea we have been negotiating with north korea for more than two decades and we have given them one concession after another, we have seen you know nuclear arms pro l

whether we talk about east of bahrain, in iraq syria or elsewhere. this is the prism through which the saudis tend to view a situation like we see in yemen. i don't think it was necessary to take the action that they have. i don't think that they are seeing the political jockeying inside yemen in a realistic light, and this is their primary motivation and i think that they felt there was something they needed to do at a point when the houthis and the forces allied with them in the yemeni military were consolidating a hold over significant parts, the major parts of the country. >> that being the case from grenier, a senior houthi rebel said the air strikes will trigger a wider war. what is the regional

the military base the airport there that the military uses in qatar move it to u kuwait, jordan or bahrain, that's been suggested. >> steve let's be specific here. qatar supports hamas, we designate hamas as a terrorist organization, there's a lot of evidence that they helped provide the seed money for isis and there are still some supporters in in qatar for that o. why do we deal with them at all? >> we deal with them because in that part of the world you have to ask yourself do we gain more than we lose? behind the scenes we should be putting effective pressure on them but don't forget if we don't sell them the arms the russians chinese and french and sweeds will. you take saudi arabia saudi arabia is going to help israel when israel finally strikes iran. do we gain more than we lose. >> that's an going going thing. sadly that part of the world is not up and down just like it was not up and down in the cold war. we had to work with people we didn't like to work with. >> sometimes our rooelgs with qatar is too damn cozy. the contributions it made to the clinton foundation while hillary cl

the operation is supported by a brood coalition, four other gulf states the uae, queue wait bahrain,nd qatar have lend support. you see the break downhere. although the campaign so far is centered on air strikes. egypt has sent four ships through the red sea to help secure the gulf of aden this strategic shipping lane is vital in the global oil route. egypt has also said it will be ready to take part in a ground offensive. the united states says it is providing advisory and logistical help. but there's no indication if it will allow saudi jets to use its air base. it's unclear how long this air campaign will continue or if ground troops will be deployed. and little is known about the military capability of the houthis, except that they are a well-organized force that is backed by another regional heavyweight, iran. >>> al jazeera has condemned an attack by houthi rebels on its news center in sana'a. in a statement, al jazeera said: we're continuing our comprehensive coverage through our sources in sana'a and other yemeni provinces. >>> yemen has been discussed in iran's nuclear talks

the flif fifth fleet is headquartered in bahrain. and that fifth fleet is not only important for our defense, but it keeps open sea lanes in an important part of the world that allow shipments of oil and other shipments that affect the global economy. the instability of bahrain in my view causes me significant concern about the long-term viability of the fifth fleet there, as its headquarters. certainly the security of the lives of those americans serving but also whether that is, you know -- can we have a fifth fleet strategically positioned there given that instability? and maybe for the record i would like to ask if you could just offer some thoughts appropriately classified, if need be, about what the instability issues, what threats that poses, and what the navy is doing to consider how to mitigate those threats. if you could admiral greenert. >> i'll take that for the record and give you a complete answer, senator. >> thank you. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you senator kaine. and i thank you also for your eloquent dissertat

>> yes. >> the other thing i wanted to ask about his bahrain. is by rain. we have an important partnership, do we not? in fact we have the location of the united states 5th fleet. >> that's correct. >> what is iran doing with regard to the bahrain government right now which is a sunni government. as i. as i understand it, they are trying to destabilize that government which would threaten our interest there. >> correct. we see the same reach which increases sectarian tension and increases sectarian tension and serves as a destabilizing effect. >> which obviously it is a different country than yemen, but a similar playbook. >> it is a similar approach. obviously there very different countries. >> yes. >> but we need to be clear with the activities of been. as i look at your testimony one of the things you pointed out is that iran routinely engages through the threat network. they are engaging in activity to support a party actors which threatens the sovereignty and security of israel which has been going on in addition to undermining interest in yemen. >> th

that's because saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and bahrain, athlete countries flying air strikes all view iran, which is backing the rebel effort to take over yemen as a greater threat than isis. a small team of american experts has been sent to saudi arabia to aid in the strikes by providing intelligence from spy satellites and reconnaissance drones. saudi arabia is asking for more american support in the form of aerial refueling and spare parts. the rebels, known as houthis, have already taken the capital of saana and they are moving south to the border with some advance elements already fighting in the city. the objective of the bombing is to slow the rebel advance enough to give the government forces time to regroup. saudi arabia has moved forces to the border with yemen and egypt has talked about sending troops as well. but u.s. officials do not yet see preparations for a ground operation into yemen. two saudi pilots had to bail out after their jet suffered a mechanical malfunction. they came down over water and two hours later, they were rescued by an american helicopter. s

this is what a gcc force could look like and originally set up to respond to military aggression by bahrainuwait and kwa shaktar and united arab emirates and it's 100,000 strong and made fighters of everyday men and here tribal forces gather in the province to threaten houthi forces against entering their territory and adding more might to the fight could force yemen in sectarian war with foreign powers backing opposite sides. speaking in ryaahd he thinks it could be peacefully resolved but if not countries of the region could take necessary steps. >> translator: we are keen on protecting yemen sovereignty, legitimacy regarded by president hadi alone and hope the crisis can be resolved peacefully and ready to respond to demand at president's response. >> reporter: people caught in the middle each day of fighting deepens the suffering in this country. >>> talks between libya factions are set to resume on thursday and special envoy is working to a unity government because despite the falks fighting continues and the field commander for malitia that backs tripoli has been killed by fighters an

bahrain, in iraq syria or elsewhere. this is the prism through which the saudis tend to view a situation like we see in yemen. i don't think it was necessary to take the action that they have. i don't think that they are seeing the political jockeying inside yemen in a realistic light, and this is their primary motivation and i think that they felt there was something they needed to do at a point when the houthis and the forces allied with them in the yemeni military were consolidating a hold over significant parts, the major parts of the country. >> that being the case from grenier, a senior houthi rebel said the air strikes will trigger a wider war. what is the regional 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 don't think we'll see reaction elsewhere, based on what is happening in yemen. >> robert we are seeing saudi arabia leading the coalition against the houthi r

bahrain. it reads the operations will continue in order to achieve its objectives. >>> well, the crisis in yemen has been many months in the making. shia houthi fighters took over parts of the capital in september after protests against president hadi amid worsening economic conditions. now, the situation dee tour year dee tear year 80ed. they forced president hadi to resign in a coup. he escaped to aden and denounces the houthis and maintained he was the legitimate president of yep edge remember a few days ago president hadi called on yemen to become an intervention to stop houthi fighters. let's get more on the situation from omar who joins us on set. now, omar, how did we get to this situation? what we had earlier on last year was a small group from the north of yemen, then becoming larger and overrunning the capital and now they have basically taken over the country. how did we get to this situation? >> absolutely. they took everyone by surprise. and i think they started with a plan that d

we have the saudis, we have the uae, the qataris bahrain jordan ma rack morocco pakistan have also pledged their support as well in this air strike. how strong is this coalition. >> i think it's a natural coalition because they governments have been allies for many years and they will send soldiers to fight. but the idea is that saudi arabia is going to have to pay for these people. the jordanians will ask no money. the pakistanis. the month rack moroccoans will ask for money. the domestic pressure especially in pakistan and morocca will force these country to his withdraw politely from this coalition. >> very interesting points there, you just made. i want to focus our attention within yemen itself. and to president hadi, whose whereabouts are still unknown at the moment. we do know that he has pled the presidential palace in aden. how much do you think he has brought on this crisis in yemen? >> i think has been a leader that was weak, that he accepted basically to take on a position that he was not able to carry on. he was -- people say he was elected but you have remember for election w

they're trying to convince the foreign ministers of saudi arabia, bahrain, kuwait, oman, qatar, the unitedmirates that they can trust mr.

kuwait and bahrain. it reads: >> the crisis in generally has been many months in the making. shia houthi fighters took over parts of the capital sanaa in september after protests against president hadi amid worsening economic conditions. the situation dee tear your 80 buying january when the houthis reject aid draft proposal and seized government little buildings and forced president hadi to resign in what was termed a coup. president hadi escaped to aden where he denounced the houthis and maintained that he was the legitimate president of yemen. a few days ago president happened ihadicalled on thein' to stop houthi fighters. as someone who has been covering the story for a very long time now our correspondent omar al al al saleh. saying that the military operations in yemen will continue in order to achieve its objectives. what are these objectives? >> i think it's mainly to end the houthis military presence in yemen and the capita sanaa and perhaps wave the way for president hadi and his government to return back to be reinstated in the capital. >> there are some people may

the fifth need is headquartered in bahrain. and that fifth fleet is not only important for our defense, but it keeps open sea lanes in an important part of the world that allow shipments of oil and other shipments that affect the global economy. the instability of bahrain in my view causes me significant concern about the long-term viability of the fifth fleet there, as its headquarters. certainly the security of the lives of those americans serving but also whether that is, you know -- can we have a fifth fleet strategically positioned there given that instability? and maybe for the record i would like to ask if you could just offer some thoughts appropriately classified, if need be, about what the instability issues, what threats that poses and what the navy is doing to consider how to mitigate those threats. if you could admiral greenert. >> i'll take that for the record and give you a complete answer, senator. >> thank you. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you senator kaine. and i thank you also for your eloquent dissertati

supported by a broad coalition acknowledge uae kuwait, bahrain and qatar have lent aid. morocco jordan an sudan have also contributed. you'll aol centered on air strikes, egypt has sent four ships through the red sea to help secure the gulf of aden. this strategic port is crucial. ready to take a ground offensive with sudan and jordan pledging the same. the united states says it is providing advisory and logistical help. it is not clear if it will allow saudi airplanes to use its strip in djibouti. if ground trips will be deployed, little is known about the military capabilities of the houthis, except that they're a well organized force that is backed by another regional heavy weight iran. >> we are joined by retired affairs colonel cedric layton. as we know, the saudis have 150,000 troops poised at the border. most importantly do you think it will work? >> well, i think it is possible randall that they will in fact do something on the ground. air power has a way of softening up things first and then, there is a need to come in and to do things on the ground, in order to

they have been into areas such as syria, iraq, lebanon bahrain, yemen. iran is effectively increasing its sphere of influence in the region and it is also defending its allies in ways which afford iran the ability to alter battlefield momentum. we have seen a progression of expert witnesses in front of this very panel, and many of my colleagues and these witnesses have stated that they do believe that the president is failing in this area of setting a national strategy. his failure to construct a comprehensive strategy against iran has led to iran's expanded influence in the middle east. i would like to hear your assessment, director clapper, on the tools that iran has and whether we are effectively engaging them, what we need to do to gain a national security strategy. director clapper: i can comment on the intelligence aspects of this. national security strategy is not my department. the way that iran is exerting its influence in the region is through their organization called the iranian republican guard corps quds force. it is a commendation of intel

juanfra ---y hoy continuar la actividad internacional con tres partidos donde brasil-francia colombia- bahraindos unidos visito a su similar de dinamarca y empezo el partido de la mejor manera posible... jozy altidore le dio la ventaja al minuto 19 del primer tiempo... la pesadilla para los norteamericanos fue "nicklas bendtner - '33" quien anoto el primero de tres al 33 para empatar el partido... ya en el segundo tiempo nuevamente los comandados por klinsman tomarian ventaja cortesia de johannson al 66... pero el equipo de casa nunca dejo de luchar durante el partido y bendtner anoto el empate al 83 y el de la victoria en tiempo de reposicion con gran control de balon y una mejor definicion para mandarla al fondo de la red... marcador final de 3 a 2... vo mientras tanto en alemania el campeon del mundo se enfrento a la seleccion de australia... esto fue en el "fritz- walter stadium" marco reus abrio la cuenta al 17 para poner las cosas 1 a 0... despues de eso vendrian dos goles seguidos del campeon de asia... el primero al 40 anotado por "troisi - '40" y el segundo lo metio jedinak de tiro li

thethey'll learn sooner than later unlike how they contained the situation in bahrain that yemen is far more complicated far more armed and a far more violent place. this would be quite a journey and it's going to be chaotic. if we just go over some of these armed groups there. we have the houthis. we have al-qaeda. we have the tribesmen that are and you have the separatists in the south. all of these are you know, as the tribes of yemen. some reports talk about 20,000 pieces of arms in the country. all of that combined create a mow mosaic of a violent place and total destruction of the country unless the sober wiser minds would prevail and push everyone back to some sort of a dialogue to reach an inclusion to the questions of yemen. >> all right senior political analyst, thank you for that. >>> saudi arabia's king said strikes on houthi rebels in yemen will not stop until the country is safe and stable. they would make the comments at the acre league summit. leaders across the arab world has descended against the backdrop. multiple conflict notice region. they described the houthies as

bahrain. sudan. morocco. rick, what are we to surmise of this? this is as strong an alliance as i've seen the arab states confirm since pan arab days. >> well look i too love judy, but i have to disagree vigorously because here we have -- >> i was trying to distract from your -- >> we have the saudis, lou, who are acting without telling the united states. today, the us -- the saudi ambassador to the us literally drew a distinction between his allies and the united states. he put us on a different path as an ally. this is a huge problem. especially in yemen when we have the civil war that we have going on right now. it's really a war between iran and the saudis who are trying to control the region. we have one ally in that fight. we should easily pick sides, which is the saudi's side. we should absolutely be doing everything we can to making sure that iran loses on every single part. this is a no-brainer. and the white house doesn't see it that way. >> rick is entirely correct. i had dinner with a senior arab deployment who said anything that the

originally set up to respond to member states bahrain qatar saudi arabia and the yawb yawr united arab emirates. adding more might to the fight could force yemen into sectarian war with for powers back opposite sides. peeking in repeekingspeekingspeaking in re riyadh,. >> we hope the conflict can be resolved peacefully and we are ready to respond to the president's request. >> caught in the middle. each day of fighting deepens the suffering in this country. charlie angela, al jazeera. >> still cooperating on security matters even though u.s. has withdrawn even the special forces that remain. >> true that that coordination would be more effective if there were u.s. personnel in the country. doesn't mean that this coordination has been eliminated but it would be more effective if u.s. personnel were allowed to remain in that country. >> also today the white house dended president obama's statement that yemen is a model for fighting terrorism even though country appears to be spiraling towards a civil war. the white house said yemen served as a kind of template the u.s. has used and would

whether in yemen, in syria, in iraq, in lebanon, in palestine, in bahrain, and so ending the fear ofdeveloping weapons of mass destruction is not going to be the end of the troubles that we are having with iran. >> speaking of those troubles the americans seem to be accepting iranian backing for the iraqi ground forces fighting isis. is there an alternative? >> there is. the iraqi people. there is a record of that, of course during the american occupation of iraq, it was the arab tribes the sunni tribes that managed to get through. so that's where it should be going. >> but do you think more should be done to get iran out of the picture in terms of the fight against isis? >> now it seems that iran is expanding its occupation of iraq and that is unacceptable. >> >> prince turkey al fazal speaking to barbara. >>> let's turn to malaysia where two planes have crashed during a practice air show on sunday. one of the planes burst into flames after the stunt, which happened on northern langkawi milds. elaine young reports. >> reporter: captured on camera a spectator films the moment where t

uae and bahrain joining in airstrikes against those rebels, the us throwing their lot with the monarchiesbut stressing at the state department earlier today that it's not choosing a religious sect. >> we urge the hewittys to halt destabilizing action. we spoke out for a political dialogue process. we're not taking -- taking sides against -- against shia faction against the sunni faction. we're trying to promote a dialogue process in which the views of all yemenis can be taken into account. >> cheryl, you had mentioned earlier, conflicting reports as to whether egyptian and saudi forces had crossed the border in yemen. ground forces. the pentagon says the us has no actual intelligence that that has happened. back to you. >> we'll keep our ears and eyes posted. rich, thank you. well, the us and iran are resuming negotiations today with hopes of clenching a nuclear deal before the march 31st deadline. but will a pact be reached by this fast approaching date? let's bring in peter barnes who is following this side of the us story. >> us officials say while the two sides have made progress in t