The war in Yemen has gone on for far too long... When the criminal Saudi regime decided some 5+ years ago to invade Yemen just so that they could overthrow the populist Houthi government and impose their own "puppet" ruler on that southern Arabic peninsula nation, they thought the invasion and subsequent war would be over in about "two weeks"....Well, it has now been over 5 years, and Saudi Arabia has been in the quagmire of Yemen for way too long and has not achieved their victory at all... .In fact, the Houthi resistance has been able to not only crush the Saudi invasion forces, but they have invaded and seized some sizeable territory within Saudi Arabia, as well as launch missile and drone strikes deep within Saudi Arabian territory targeting vital Saudi infrastructure... Basically the Houthis have made the Saudis' lives a "living hell" as they have achieved a lot of victories in this war against what is supposed to be a "superior force"!It has indeed gotten so bad for Saudi Arabia, that apparently according to the following report that just came out from the Moon of Alabama website at www.moonofalabama.org, the Saudi Arabian government has now conceded defeat in Yemen, and is trying now to get the hell out of that nation, and sue for peace! Here is that Moon of Alabama article right here for everyone to see for themselves, and I do have my usual thoughts and comments to follow:
Saudi Arabia Acknowledges Defeat In Yemen - Starts To Sue For Peace
Two weeks ago we wrote that war on Yemen will soon end. The Saudis lost their ally, they lost the war and would have to sue for peace. They are now doing so. But they fighting in Yemen will continue until that country finds a new balance.Today the United Arab Emirates airforce bombed the Yemeni proxy forces of its 'ally' Saudi Arabia:
Yemen's internationally recognized government accused the Emirati air force of attacking its troops Thursday as they were heading to the key southern port city of Aden to fight separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates. The airstrikes killed at least 30 government forces, a Yemeni commander said....Col. Mohamed al-Oban, a commander of the government's special forces in Abyan province, said the troops were on the road, headed from Abyan toward Aden on Thursday, when the strikes took place, killing at least 30....At least six raids were carried out by Emirati warplanes around the temporary capital, according to government military sources who asked to remain anonymous.
Southern separatist forces under the Southern Transitional Council and supported by the UAE hold Aden. Between 1967 and 1990 south Yemen, then named the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, was separated from the mountainous north. After uniting with north Yemen the south became neglected even though its eastern desert holds most of the country's hydrocarbon resources. biggerSince 2015 the coalition of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with U.S. and British help, waged war against the Houthi in northern Yemen. The coalition is now falling apart. Both countries claimed to fight against the Houthi, which control the capital Sanaa, in support of the internationally recognized 'legitimate' government under 'President' Hadi. But both countries had from the very beginning more egoistic war aims.The Wahhabi Saudis want a Yemeni government that is not controlled by the Zaydi-Shia Houthi with whom they fought dozens of wars over two provinces that Saudi Arabia once annexed. They also want to control Yemen's oil and a pipeline from the Saudi oil region to a harbor in Yemen. It would help Saudi oil exports to avoid the Iran controlled Strait of Hormuz.The UAE is big into the port business. It wants to control the strategic port of Aden and other Yemeni harbors on the southern coast. As it has no direct border with Yemen it largely does not care who controls the rest of Yemen.The UAE leader Mohammad bin Zayed (MbZ) is not an absolute king. He is the son of the Emir of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that form the UAE. His aggressive foreign policy, with military engagement in Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya, has come under critic of the rulers of the other emirates. Wars are expensive and bad for regular business. MbZ's alliance with the Saudi clown prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) was seen as dangerous. While the Saudis would like the U.S. to wage war on Iran, the UAE, and especially Dubai, would become a casualty of such a war.In June the emirs decided to change cause. The UAE retreated from active war in Yemen and started to make nice with Iran. It hoped that the southern separatists it had trained would keep Aden under control and continue to do the UAE's bidding. The Saudis and the 'legitimate government' under Hadi they control do not want to condone that.The Saudis are extremely angry that the UAE changed course:
But this month, at his Mecca palace, Saudi King Salman took the unusual step of expressing “extreme irritation” with the UAE, his closest Arab partner, according to sources familiar with the matter.The comment appears to be evidence of a fissure in the alliance, which is led in practice by the king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), and the UAE de facto ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (MbZ)....The king’s annoyance was voiced in a conversation on Aug. 11 with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, head of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, according to two Yemeni sources and one other briefed on the meeting.Hadi’s forces in Aden had just been routed by troops supported by the UAE, as nominal allies in the country’s south turned on each other in a power struggle.
The Saudis must end the war against the Houthi that was launched at the behest of its clown prince. The war cost the Saudis an enormous amount of money even as they are still losing it. Only yesterday 25 of their forces were killed in a Houthi ambush. With the help of Iran the Houthi acquired long range missiles and drones and they now use them in volleys that reach deep into the Saudi's land:
Beginning on Aug. 24, the Houthis said its forces conducted two drone strikes on the King Khaled airbase in Khamis Mushayt and the Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia. A day later, another round of drone strikes were reported on both targets.On the same day, ten Badr-1 ballistic missiles were reportedly fired into Saudi’s Jizan city. However, Saudi officials reported that the country’s air defense systems shot down six ballistic missiles. The officials did not confirm if more missiles were included in the barrage.On Aug. 26, another ballistic missile, the newly-announced Nakal missile, was reportedly fired at Saudi troops near Najran. Later in the day, another round of drones were reportedly intercepted near the King Khaled airbase in Khamis Mushayt.As drones were hitting the King Khaled airbase, a separate attack was purportedly occurring near Riyadh with the new Samad-3 suicide drones. If confirmed, this marks the second time Houthi drones have hit the Saudi capital. The first was a reported strike on an Aramco facility near the capital last month.On Aug. 27, the Houthis showcased another newly-announced ballistic missile, the Qasem-1, by allegedly hitting Saudi troops positioned near the Yemeni border in Najran. Another drone was intercepted and destroyed by Saudi forces over Khamis Mushayt as well.And yesterday a new cruise missile, the Quds-1, was launched towards the Abha airport. Though, Saudi officials stated that the missile was intercepted and destroyed.
The Saudi king must have recognized that he has no longer any chance to ever win the war. It seems that he asked the Trump administration to work out an agreement with the Houthi:
The Trump administration is preparing to initiate negotiations with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in an effort to bring the four-year civil war in Yemen to an end, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.The effort is reportedly aimed at convincing Saudi Arabia to take part in secret talks with the rebels in Oman to help broker a cease-fire in the conflict, which has emerged as a front line in the regional proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran.
The brother of the clown prince came to Washington to prepare for the talks:
Prince Khalid met with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday and discussed “U.S. support for a negotiated resolution between the Republic of Yemen government” and a breakaway group known as the Southern Transitional Council, according to a statement from State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.
The Hadi government is irrelevant. The Southern Transitional Council will demand independence from the north. The Houthi will demand to control the north and reparations for the war the Saudis waged against them. North Yemen's infrastructure is largely destroyed. It will cost several dozens of billions to rebuild what the five year long Saudi air war destroyed. As the Houthi can continue to harass the Saudis at will, even in their capital, their is no way out for the Saudis but to pay whatever the Houthi demand.It was the clown prince Mohammad bin Salman who launched the war in Yemen soon after he came to power. It was supposed to defeat the Houthi within a few weeks. Five years later and after at least a $100 billions was spent on it, the Saudis lost the war.Will the King hold his son responsible for the large loss of money and face that he caused? Posted by b on August 29, 2019 at 19:22 UTC NTS Notes: Honestly... I do hope the author of this fine article is right... And if he is, I absolutely want to congratulate the Houthis on this outstanding achievement.... Their forces, though pictured as "inferior" to the US armed Saudi invaders made Saudi Arabia's life a living hell.... They gave Saudi Arabia such a bad "black eye" that the Saudis are indeed now suing for peace to get out of their mess that they created....IMHO.. The Houthis should make the Saudis pay dearly for their criminal invasion that cost the lives of so many innocent Yemen civilians... They should not only (a) make Saudi Arabia pay for every single piece of destruction that they caused, which will be in the neighbourhood of some 100+ BILLION dollars, but (b) they should force the Saudis to be the ones to have to rebuild their nation as well and to provide EVERY single stitch of medical treatment for the Yemen civilians that have suffered from Saudi criminality and brutality.... It may have to turn to an international court with the help of truly independent investigators to determine the extent of the damage and the costs for rebuilding..But there will never be enough payback for the millions of Yemeni citizens that are now dead thanks to the criminal Saudis....That is something that the victorious Houthi forces should never ever forgive Saudi Arabia for doing to their nation...Yes, it is a great victory for the Houthis.... But with their country a shambles now, and the fact that the southern and eastern parts of Yemen are still being subjected to US run "terrorists" aka "ISIS" and/or other proxy forces, the war is not over yet..... It will take a couple of more years of fighting to make Yemen whole again, and without Saudi and American interference!One quick note... To me, this is a moral and righteous victory over the forces of evil that have made a mess of our planet with their 'wars' for nothing more than resources and for the criminal state of Israel.... The victory by the Houthis in Yemen should show every nation that they should never bow down to criminals and instead take a stand against evil.More to comeNTS