Yemen Strike on Horizon?

For the Pentagon to craft various war scenarios and work through the tactics and strategies is predictable.

CNN is reporting the US has begun selecting sites in Yemen to attack if President Obama orders a retaliatory strike in the aftermath of the botched Christmas Day airline bombing. US Special Operations Forces and spies are said to be already inside Yemen and working with their Yemeni counterparts to target members of al-Qaeda.

However, getting the Yemeni government to agree to U.S. military presence is news to me. It's also news that the U.S. has counterparts in the Yemeni government.

CNN also revealed the existence of a new classified agreement between the two countries that allows the US to fly cruise missiles, fighter jets and armed drones against targets in Yemen with the consent of the Yemeni government.

Under the agreement, the US will remain publicly silent on its military and intelligence actions in Yemen. Investigators are still probing the connections between the failed attack and members of al-Qaeda in Yemen. The alleged airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was in Yemen up until earlier this month.

One aspect of Yemeni life that seems to be overlooked in various reports is the generally-accepted fact that the entire population is addicted to khat, the narcotic weed. By mid-afternoon daily, virtually every post-pubescent Yemeni is stoned. Throw into the mix that outright lying is permitted under the Islamic principle of dishonesty, called taqqiyah, and there's questionable substance to any agreement.