Since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took Saudi Arabia to war in neighboring Yemen six years ago this week, the kingdom has seen its international image plummet. What the Saudis sold as a quick campaign against an unsophisticated bunch of armed tribesmen turned into its very own version of Vietnam, circa 1968. That is to say, a drawn-out and bloody chaos with no end game in sight. Other than the tens of thousands of Houthi fighters that have been killed (and easily replaced), the Yemen quagmire is all pain, no gain for Saudi Arabia.

That said, after years of insisting military victory could be accomplished, Salman is finally making peace with reality. Not only are the Houthis unlikely to be defeated on the battlefield, but the continuation of Saudi operations will probably empower hardliners in the movement who were never particularly interested in negotiating a way out of this conflict. The Saudis appear to have come to a simple conclusion: The drone and missile attacks on Saudi cities and oil refineries will remain a fact of life as long as the war goes on.