Saudi-Led Coalition Strikes Rebels In Yemen, Inflaming Tensions In Region

[Purveyor]

Source: CNN

(CNN)Saudi and allied warplanes struck rebels in Yemen on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia threatening to send ground troops and inserting itself into its southern neighbor's civil war, potentially opening up a broader sectarian conflict in the Middle East.

The swift and sudden action involved 100 Saudi jets, 30 from the United Arab Emirates, 15 each from Kuwait and Bahrain, 10 from Qatar, and a handful from Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, plus naval help from Pakistan and Egypt, according to a Saudi adviser.

The Egyptian state news agency on Thursday quoted Egypt's Foreign Ministry as saying Egypt's support also could involve ground forces.

What do those countries have in common? They're all predominantly Sunni Muslim -- in contrast to the Houthi rebels, Shiite Muslims who have taken over Yemen's capital of Sanaa and on Wednesday captured parts of its second-largest city, Aden. The Saudis consider the Houthis proxies for the Shiite government of Iran and fear another Shiite-dominated state in the region.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/26/middleeast/yemen-saudi-arabia-airstrikes/

[Purveyor]

1. AFP: Saudi Strikes Yemen Rebels As Iran Warns Of 'Dangerous Step'

SANAA (AFP) -

Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition kept up raids against Huthi Shiite rebels Friday in support of Yemen's embattled president, who headed to an Arab summit to garner support as Iran warned the intervention was "dangerous".

Powerful explosions rocked Sanaa soon after rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi criticised the intervention as "unjustified" and called for supporters to confront the "criminal oppressive aggression".

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi arrived in Riyadh Thursday, with officials saying he was on his way to Egypt to take part in a two-day Arab League summit at the weekend.

That was the first confirmation of Hadi's whereabouts since the rebels began advancing this week on the main southern city of Aden, where the president had been holed up since fleeing the rebel-controlled capital last month.

Their advance raised Saudi fears the Shiite rebels would seize control of the whole of its Sunni-majority neighbour and take it into the orbit of Shiite Iran.

more...

http://www.france24.com/en/20150327-saudi-strikes-yemen-rebels-iran-warns-dangerous-step/

[Dems to Win]

2. Funny how quickly Saudi jets spring into action against Shiites

Yet they did not act against ISIS in any meaningful way.

Dangerous times. Wish all Americans were on their way home, pronto. We don't help the situation in any way.

[Little Tich]

3. The Houthi rebels seem to be excessively violent

and have threatened to take the fight to Saudi Arabia. While this looks inreasingly like a proxy war between Sunni Gulf states and Shiite Iran, the Houthis are the ones who reject a peaceful solution.

However being bombed usually piss people off, so perhaps different methods should be used. I think a way out of this mess would be to get Iran on board somehow.

[Warpy]

4. Yes, they have. Whether or not this is a bad thing depends on who you talk to

Saudi Arabia is the remote cause of ISIS after decades of exporting extremist Wahab Islam all over the region.

It's also really not our fight. This is a fight for the soul of Islam in the region. We'd best hope the Wahab version isn't the one that wins. In the meantime, humanitarian aid is what we need to be offering, not more bombing.

[Scootaloo]

5. What do you mean "Excessively Violent"?

Oh right, the Wahhabists of Yemen, and their Saudi backers are "our guys" so their violence - and they've conducted a hell of a lot of it against the Zayid Shia of Yemen over the last fifty-three years - is acceptable, but the Shia using violence to defend and assert themselves is excessive. Because they're "the bad guys."

Sounds like a familiar story.

Funny that the US can happily support a slaughterfest coup in Egypt (6,000 dead, and to date, 3,000 civilians tried in criminal courts, to say nothing of the mass trials and death sentences), but a comparatively tame coup in Yemen (Basically, political gridlock and factionalism led the standing government to resign, and the Houthi factions claimed rulership after Sunni factions refused to talk) is "excessively violent."

And yes, i'll bet they say they'll take the fight to Saudi Arabia. After all, Suadi Arabia's been a major force in oppressing and attacking htem prior to this point. Which is kind of what Saudi Arabia does.

[Little Tich]

6. From what I understand, it's the Houthis who have refused to stop fighting,

even when they have promised to do so. They have also been harassing civilians who don't agree with them. I do personally agree with the UN, which has passed resolutions to make Houthis stop destabilizing the situation in Yemen.

However there are more actors in the region that have caused the situation to deteriorate, among them the US, which supported Saleh perhaps a little bit too much. The Saudis are definitely not the good guys here either. And then there's al Qaeda and IS in Yemen, too.

And yeah, Egypt. The US seem to be OK with a hardline general in charge, as long as he doesn't cause trouble for any neighbouring country that has a special relationship with the US.

[Scootaloo]

9. Well, the Houthis were attacked before the cease-fire broke down

Remember that the Houthi hold - not without merit - that "al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" is an organ of, or at least tacitly supported by, the Yemeni government. So when their groups are attacked by "unknown assailants," they're pretty certain it's an act from the government.

After the attack, they moved to capture the presidential palace. There was absolutely fighting, but i'm not sure if one could call it "excessive" in light of the fact it was an effort to capture the presidential palace.

So, was their capture of it legitimate? Well... it's not as if the government itself were legitimate. When the previous dictator's appointed heir is "elected" with 99.8% of the vote (with the other 0.2% going to the outsed dictator) something is up, isn't it?

The Houthis are violently asserting themselves because, first, they are under attack themselves, from government forces and the proxy organ "Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula." Second, asking nicely hasn't worked. peacefuil protests resulted in massacres. Promised reforms were reneged on. When a power-sharing agreement was due to be implemented, the ruling government resigned, and declared South Yemen independent rather than allow any amount of Shia rule.

But again. hadi is "our" dictator, so CNN will tell you that the houthis are the great evil in this picture.

[bemildred]

7. Nobody likes their violence to be insufficient. nt

[Sunlei]

8. 100 jets!

[quadrature]

10. time to start a real war ..or not.. decision needed ...

by real war, I mean...
bomb cities, and starve them out
............
what we/they are doing now is not working.
the Perpetual War of 2011, goes on and on.