The Saudi-led coalition has been fighting a losing battle in Yemen, and Riyadh’s own economic problems make a long-running war there unsustainable.
IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN 16 MONTHS SINCE the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched a war on Yemen, the poorest nation in the Arabian peninsula. The other members of the military coalition are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco and Kuwait. Most of the bombing raids are being conducted by Saudi planes these days. The UAE Air Force, which was very active in the earlier phase of the campaign, is now only playing a limited role. The UAE forces on the ground are concentrating their firepower on the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Daesh (Islamic State). The unjustified war unleashed on the hapless people of Yemen has the full support of the United States and key Western nations such as the United Kingdom and France.
The Barack Obama administration had given the Saudis the green light to attack Yemen to salve the bruised ego of the Saudi monarchy. The Saudis were deeply upset when it became clear that Washington was on the verge of inking the nuclear deal with Tehran. Iran has been certified as the main enemy of the Saudi monarchy. Israel too has identified Iran as the main threat to its existence. Top Saudi personalities have been openly meeting with Israeli officials. Prince Turki bin Faisal recently met with the former Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) chiefs.
This was followed by a visit to Israel by retired Gen. Anwar Eshki. Eshki is known to have close links with the Saudi military and intelligence apparatus. The Saudis have been alleging that Iran has been militarily propping up the Houthi-led coalition that was on the verge of consolidating its hold over the country. Tehran so far has only given diplomatic support to the Houthi-led government.
This story is from the September 2, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the September 2, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
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