Today the US Embassy in Yemen has closed after alleged 'ongoing threats' recieved from al-Qaida. After Umar Abdulmutallab's attempt to blow up a plane on the way to America over Christmas, it has been revealed that he was trained in Yemen. Suddenly Yemen is in the news, filled with stories about the terrorist threat and the UK's involvement in Yemeni counter-terror intelligence units.

Yemen's position right off Somalia on the horn of Africa is very important tactically, some Somalians who's traditional fishing livelihoods have been destroyed by the dumping of tons of waste and vast over fishing by foreign companies have turned to piracy. The hijacking of large ships and their crews has cost millions for big companies forced to pay ransoms and in lost revenue.

Could the escalation of terror-related news in Yemen be a pretext to an attempt by the UK/US governments to exert a much greater influence over one of the poorest nations in the world and have a base to combat pirates and Islamists in Somalia? Would you be surprised? And what about invasion? Would you be surprised?