Yemen conflict escalates as US backs Saudi coalition while holding secret Houthi talks

In Yemen, where years of war have hollowed out cities and filled displacement camps to overflowing, the United States finds itself holding two conversations at once — one public, one quiet — each necessary, each in tension with the other. Washington openly backs the Saudi-led coalition while its diplomats meet privately with Houthi representatives in Oman, a dual posture that reflects the impossible geometry of modern conflict management. Meanwhile, a claimed Houthi shootdown of a Saudi F-15 and dwindling American interceptor stocks suggest the material foundations of the war are shifting bene