West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 26 Mar 2015 07:08

finally the red line got crossed

Super GCC on the march

years later on the other side

PS: the saudi ambassador unasked jumped to say US not taking part

member_24684 · Post by **member_24684** » 26 Mar 2015 07:56

.

Yesterday only our MEA issued Alert about Situation in Yemen. and Still 3500 Indians inside sana and Houti controlled Area's

also Collation announced keep off all Cargo Ships outside Yemeni Sea's , and they sealed the Yemeni Airspace

Any options bring back our Peoples

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 26 Mar 2015 08:48

Bab al-Mandeb strait matters. But I don't think the Houthis were planning to choke it.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 26 Mar 2015 08:50

this move from the GCC, atleast to me, seems too sudden too alarming and too silly. Plan to watch this space.

In the meanwhile, US hitting Tkrit with airstrikes

Putting these both, does it mean its playing KSA side in Yemen and offsetting with playing Iran side in Tikrit?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Mar 2015 09:22

GCC, US and probably france(CDG carrier is there, along with one us carrier) have started air attacks in Tikrit.

part of the informal agreement is the iranian 'advisers' like Suleimani go home and he has done that. the shia militias will be a outer cordon as they have the manpower. the Govt run military and SF units trained by the khan will take the leading role now and co-ordinate air attacks, perhaps with some 'advisers' from US side running the comms and targeting gear.

the other option floated by the Shia militias of a full frontal assault in human wave was rejected by the Iraqi govt as a blood bath though the militias driven by religious zeal were willing it seems.

about 1000 hardcore ISIS and 100s of mines and IEDs are supposed to be in there, with civilian human shields.

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 26 Mar 2015 09:36

Anyone strikes anyone without bothering with the UN.

Good that its no more than a talk shop.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Mar 2015 09:43

yes in security matters its role has receded to pretty much 0.

none even bothers with the rubber stamp now to save cost.

india has also stopped talking of SC seat. its as valuable as a professor of nehruvian studies in JNU. that carrot to leverage against us is gone.

UN posting is high cost sinecure for the well connected IFS types. time we saved our $$ by reducing the size of our mission to 1 person and bring the rest home to work where it matters.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 26 Mar 2015 14:20

We pay some 200 mil to UN a year and get nothing in return. I do not know why we are doing. Just post Shahi Tarurs ???

Iran objecting to the air attacks by SA. I do hope Sunni Shia was is there soon. Lot of peacefuls getting killed etc. Petrol prices may shoot up if that happens.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Mar 2015 14:30

Ifs lobby loves these sinecure nyc gigs.some of them get into uno jobs later.
Only namo can crack whip on this.

Seems sudan and tsp are part of gcc gang attacking houthis.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 26 Mar 2015 14:55

When an eclipse happens,it omens ill for the globe.The latest eclipse was part of a triune eevent,including a "blood-moon" and the Spring Equinox. True to form in the immediate aftermath of the eclipse a great man died.LKY of SPore.Then we've had the Yemeni situ explode with the Saudis literally pouring oil onto the flames with their air strikes, which is raising the flames of war in the entire MEast even higher...and oil prices. Vodka and caviar being dished out in the Kremlin and oil producing capitals! Are we now going to see the Saudis and Iranians engage in man-to-man conflict in Yemen?
The absurdities are also amazing.

The US launches air strikes in support of Iranian ground forces against ISIS.

The US is found to have covertly dropped logistic supplies to ISIS entities.

The Saudis launch air strikes against the Yemeni rebels backed by Iran.

The Saudis,Qataris,Emirate sheikhs covertly support ISIS with money and material.

The US and Saudis are BBCs (best bum-chums).

We won't even try to understand the asinine relationships in the Syrian imbroglio,except to say that everyone is scr*wing everyone else and not bring in the Israelis,Hamas,the Hiz,Kurds,Turks,etc!

Oil surges 6% on Saudi airstrikes in Yemen
Published time: March 26, 2015
http://rt.com/business/244205-oil-surge ... irstrikes/

Brent and WTI added more than 4 percent after Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a military operation in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia is the biggest oil supplier in the region, and southern Yemen is home to many LNG hubs.

WTI shot up more than 6.43 percent to $52.38 per barrel, and Brent climbed to $59.71, a 59.72 percent increase at 11:00 am Moscow time. Saudi Arabia and nine allied countries began airstrikes at 11 pm GMT, deploying a total of 70 fighter jets.

Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen, launches coalition op against Houthi rebels
The Saudi ambassador to the US said the airstrikes were launched to “defend the legitimate government” of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who fled the capital by boat on Wednesday after a massive attack by Iranian-backed Shia rebels.

An all-out conflict in the Middle East with the US backing one side and Iran the other, has oil traders very bullish on crude prices.

Although Yemen isn’t a major hydrocarbon producer, the Gulf state has an extensive shoreline that hosts some of the world’s most strategic shipping routes.

More than 3.4 million barrels of oil per day, including significant amounts of Saudi oil, flow through the Strait of Bab el-Mandab, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which has identified the waterway as a “transit chokepoint.”

Though an energy shortage has temporarily boosted oil prices, crude production overall is outstripping demand, especially in countries outside of the Middle East, such as the US and Russia.

PS:Asininely,India has failed to seize the day and order large stocks of oil building up its strategic reserves. prices are now going to only raise and rise as the MEast conflict expands. The time is still not too late to recover some of the opportunities though.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 26 Mar 2015 15:15

RamaY wrote (Page 36, Posted: 20 Mar 2015 18:52)

The root of Anglo-Saxon civilization is their pursuit of materialist excess. Christianity is the ideology that symbolizes & adds a religious dimension to this human endeavor.

The fundamental reason for colonial era is usurption of territory, people/slaves and wealth by Anglo-Saxon nations. Christianity is the ideological edge of this trident, the other two being military & industrial technology.

Excellent post! I would like to add that it's not just the Anglo-Saxons (UK, US, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) that consider materialist excess for them self as the highest goal, but all of the West. This is only possible through usurpation of the wealth and virtual enslavement of the 'Others', the non-Western world. This is what the war in Ukraine is all about: Russia has to be destroyed to freely plunder her natural resources and the people. Actually, most wars/problems in the world are because of the West usurping resources that belong to Arabs, Africans, Asians, etc. How else are they going to sustain their material excess?

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 26 Mar 2015 15:47

"Christianity" does not espouse the accumulation of material wealth.Christ's teachings were anything about the virtues of capitalism! "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a/the needle (the needle was a small narrow gate in the walls of Jerusalem,used to admit travelers after the main gates were closed at night) than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven"!

It is why many RC priests in S.America in the last century who witnessing the oppression of the poor in their countries,espoused the doctrine of "Liberation Theology",for the downtrodden poor of Latin America to rid themselves of their capitalist,diabolic,dictatorships.This was denounced by the conservatives in the Vatican, collaborators of the brutal,barbaric dictatorships.

The values and aspirations of the founding fathers of the USA have been so badly mauled,that they would revolt once again as they did against the British monarchy had they been alive today. These Western nations today,pretend to be "Christian",preach the virtues of Christianity,love of mankind,democracy,blah,blah,but practice the opposite and carry the dogs of war with them across the globe,bringing chaos and destruction to ancient civilisations and their people,all in the name of "doing good and defeating evil". Millions have been butchered after WW2 right from Korea,Vietnam,Iraq,Afghanistan,Lebanon,LIbya,and now another new war in Yemen. Secret concentration camps have been set up in many allied nations incarcerating suspects who have been imprisoned for years on end without any access or trial. Abu Ghraib and Camp Gitmo are spoken of in the same breadth today as Auschwitx ,Dachau,Belsen and others in the aftermath of WW2. They may not have been as heinous as those Nazi extermination of mainly Jews,gypsies and other "untermenschen",but in their treatment of the prisoners no better. Remember the dogs and prisoners at Abu Ghraib,were suspects including women were raped,electrocuted and murdered and children sodomized. "If those women are pretty, we usually rape them immediately.."
(The Dark and Secret Dungeons of Iraq. Horror Stories of Female Prisoners)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dark-a ... rs/5313974

Read this .Is there any difference between brutal Nazis in WW2 and US troops in Iraq?
Torture at Abu Ghraib
American soldiers brutalized Iraqis. How far up does the responsibility go?
By Seymour M. Hersh
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/ ... abu-ghraib

Yemen explained: Is the fight for Aden about to become the new international war by proxy?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 33702.html

Rebels in Yemen have seized an air base outside the critical southern port city of Aden – a development which spells disaster for those loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
But as the country descends into further chaos, the civil war is increasingly drawing in parties from across the entire region, and the battles lines, allegiances and even which countries are involved is becoming increasingly hard to understand.

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 26 Mar 2015 16:23

Well SA has certainly done a conventional war on Yemen:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/world ... yemen.html

all those resolutions, and ukraine this and syria that notwithstanding.

What can Iran do? They havent got a Navy. Saudis will do a kuwait in Yemen and this time with US support.

The Iranians learn a thing or two here. If they are not within walking distance of the nukular bum, then they will be regime changed sooner rather than later.

Russia is preoccupied, china does not intervene physically except in Bakistan or Good Korea.

Yemen falls back, just like bahrain. Sunnis have the protection -- the gulf, bakistan, wherever. The shia are the goats this eid.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 26 Mar 2015 17:54

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 702849.cms
Iran condemns Saudi strikes in Yemen as 'dangerous step'

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 26 Mar 2015 17:56

All may be stopped once oil reaches a reasonable price. Deep games are afoot from Deep powers. But green on green killing is good for humanity. We need not bother with it except for oil prices in near term and larger Sunni force in long term.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 26 Mar 2015 18:43

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 26 Mar 2015 18:49

As soon as the houthi Shia militia rises up, all the scummy islamofascist Sunni nations in Western Asia immediately rise up as if their butts were on fire -- these same countries obviously think ISIS is quite alright, comparing their reactions to the Shia houthis with their purely-for-effect theaterics about fighting ISIS while actually aiding and funding them.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Mar 2015 19:05

Nightwatch 25 March 2015

Yemen: The security situation has gotten more complex and the crisis has become international. Houthi forces came close to capturing Aden and the Royal Saudi Air Force began air attacks against the Houthis.

News services reported that Yemeni President Hadi fled his compound in Aden and left the country. Government officials confirmed he left his compound in Aden, but said he remained in a safe location in Yemen.

Houthis fighters reportedly captured Aden's international airport on 25 March, but late in the day pro-Hadi popular committees claimed they recaptured the airport. Meanwhile, Saudi combat aircraft attacked targets in Sana'a.

Comment: The first phase of the civil war has been short-lived and ended in favor of the Houthis, who control most of western Yemen. The Sunni Arabs have thus far put up no effective, or even organized, defense against the Houthis.

The Houthi success is attributable primarily to the split in the Yemen army. The best units sided with the Houthis and former president Saleh and against President Hadi.

The side with the most guns always wins in violent internal security crises. The army has determined the outcome of every violent internal instability crisis in the Middle East since the start of the so-called Arab Spring. . Field Marshal al-Sisi is the poster image for army dominance in non-monarchical Arab states.

The next chapter of confrontation in Yemen is not civil war, but a war of intervention. The phenomenology of internal instability switches to conventional war when outside powers intervene.

Saudi Arabia-Yemen: Today, the Royal Saudi Air Force began bombing raids in Yemen.

The Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir hosted a press conference at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia and issued the following statement:

"Saudi Arabia has launched military operations in Yemen, as part of a coalition of over 10 countries in response to a direct request from the legitimate government of Yemen. The operation will be limited in nature, and designed to protect the people of Yemen and its legitimate government from a takeover by the Houthis, a violent extremist militia."

"The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries tried to facilitate a peaceful transition of government in Yemen, but the Houthis have continuously undercut the process by occupying territory and seizing weapons belonging to the government."

"In spite of repeated efforts by the GCC, G10 countries and the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General to seek a peaceful way to implement the GCC initiatives and the outcomes of the national dialogue that define the political transition in Yemen, the Houthis have reneged on every single agreement they have made and continue their quest to take over the country by violent means."

"They captured the capital city of Sana'a, they placed the legitimate president, prime minister and cabinet members under house arrest, they seized the security services and they continue to expand their occupation of the country."

"In a letter dated March 7, 2015, President Hadi of Yemen made a request of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz to convene a conference under the auspices of the GCC to which all Yemeni political factions seeking to preserve security and stability in Yemen would be invited. The Houthis rejected this invitation and continued their violent onslaught in Yemen to the point where they were threatening to occupy the city of Aden, which had become the temporary capital for the legitimate government of President Hadi after he was able to escape from Sana'a."

"In a letter, dated March 24, 2015, President Hadi requested, based on the principle of self-defense, enshrined in Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, as well as in the Arab League charter's collective defense mechanism, a request for immediate support - by all means necessary - including military intervention to protect Yemen and its people from the continued Houthi aggression and to support it in fighting al Qaeda and ISIL."

"Based on the appeal from President Hadi, and based on the Kingdom's responsibility to Yemen and its people, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with its allies within the GCC and outside the GCC, launched military operations in support of the people of Yemen and their legitimate government."

King Salman ordered the airstrikes on the Houthi militia on Thursday, 26 March, at midnight Riyadh time. Saudi press said that the Kingdom's air force was "fully in control of Yemeni airspace."

Al Arabiya reported that the operations would continue until the Houthis agreed to sit down for peace talks and backtrack on all measures taken since their occupation of the capital Sana'a last September.

Comment: The Saudis have imposed the no-fly zone that Yemeni President Hadi requested the UN to provide, but that will not determine the outcome on the ground. Air superiority has not been a significant factor in the Houthi advance.

The Yemeni Sunni Arabs lack the discipline and will to defend their own interests. The Houthis appear to be disciplined and have advanced with minimal Sunni Arab opposition.

Gulf Cooperation Council. In a joint statement, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait said they "decided to repel Houthi militias, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the country."

Adel al-Jubair, Saudi Ambassador to the US, said on Wednesday that a coalition consisting of 10 countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), had begun airstrikes. Warplanes raided military camps belonging to the Shiite Houthi group in Sana'a on Thursday, a defense ministry official told the press. The strikes also targeted weapons depots at a missile base in the southern part of Sana'a, which is controlled by the army loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"The operation is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Houthi movement from taking over the country," Jubair told reporters in Washington.

Comment: The air attacks will not stop the Houthis, but they will divert Arab air power from the fight against ISIL. They also are not sustainable without major US military support. If these attacks continue for more than a few days, it will mean the US is assisting the Saudis in the air campaign.

Egypt: In a statement from the state news agency, Egypt also announced political and military support for the Hadi government. "There is coordination ongoing now with Saudi Arabia and the brotherly gulf countries about preparations to participate with Egyptian air and naval forces and ground troops if necessary," the statement said.

Comment: Yemeni President Hadi succeeded in internationalizing this crisis, but the West, including the US, walked away from this crisis. The Arabs have responded with forces that will not make a difference in Houthi control of western Yemen. Aircraft cannot hold ground.

Egypt has the capability to intervene, but is unlikely to do so because of its own security problems and because of its past experience in sending forces to Yemen.

The stated objective of the Arab military intervention - air campaign --is to coerce the Houthis to agree to talks. The Houthis almost certainly will agree to negotiations. Air attacks are important, but they will not decide the outcome of this crisis. Unless Egypt agrees to send ground forces, the GCC military intervention in Yemen will be about as effective as the 60 nation coalition fighting ISIL.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 26 Mar 2015 20:52

I guess the Egyptians are considered Cannon fodder for the rest of the Arab states -- I mean, why only Egypt foot soldiers? The rest of the countries too precious to send their own?

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 26 Mar 2015 21:06

Iran must have supplied the anti aircraft missiles long ago. Without those you are always vulnerable to western aggression.

In Ukraine, the militia shot down a couple of planes and that was the end of use of airpower by the Poroshenko Junta.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 26 Mar 2015 21:41

Tuvaluan wrote:I guess the Egyptians are considered Cannon fodder for the rest of the Arab states -- I mean, why only Egypt foot soldiers? The rest of the countries too precious to send their own?

Grateful to GCC for support against Muslim Brotherhood!

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 27 Mar 2015 00:26

Multatuli wrote:
RamaY wrote (Page 36, Posted: 20 Mar 2015 18:52)

The root of Anglo-Saxon civilization is their pursuit of materialist excess. Christianity is the ideology that symbolizes & adds a religious dimension to this human endeavor.

The fundamental reason for colonial era is usurption of territory, people/slaves and wealth by Anglo-Saxon nations. Christianity is the ideological edge of this trident, the other two being military & industrial technology.
Excellent post! I would like to add that it's not just the Anglo-Saxons (UK, US, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) that consider materialist excess for them self as the highest goal, but all of the West. This is only possible through usurpation of the wealth and virtual enslavement of the 'Others', the non-Western world. This is what the war in Ukraine is all about: Russia has to be destroyed to freely plunder her natural resources and the people. Actually, most wars/problems in the world are because of the West usurping resources that belong to Arabs, Africans, Asians, etc. How else are they going to sustain their material excess?

What is called christianity today is more accurately called Paulism or Constantinism. St. Paul and Constantine repurposed Jesus Christ's teachings and did a deep merger of decrepit Roman Empire with dynamic startup Christianity.

First the Romans stole Greek Zeus, when his shelf life ran out, they stole Jesus.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 27 Mar 2015 02:41

As the House of Saud bombs the Shi'a-camp in Yemen...
America's former UN ambassador John Bolton's article in today's New York Times directly calls for war with Iran:

To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran

As in other nuclear proliferation cases like India, Pakistan and North Korea, America and the West were guilty of inattention when they should have been vigilant. But failing to act in the past is no excuse for making the same mistakes now.

Now the arms race has begun: Neighboring countries are moving forward, driven by fears that Mr. Obama’s diplomacy is fostering a nuclear Iran. Saudi Arabia, keystone of the oil-producing monarchies, has long been expected to move first. No way would the Sunni Saudis allow the Shiite Persians to outpace them in the quest for dominance within Islam and Middle Eastern geopolitical hegemony. Because of reports of early Saudi funding, analysts have long believed that Saudi Arabia has an option to obtain nuclear weapons from Pakistan, allowing it to become a nuclear-weapons state overnight. Egypt and Turkey, both with imperial legacies and modern aspirations, and similarly distrustful of Tehran, would be right behind.

Ironically perhaps, Israel’s nuclear weapons have not triggered an arms race. Other states in the region understood — even if they couldn’t admit it publicly — that Israel’s nukes were intended as a deterrent, not as an offensive measure.

Iran is a different story.

The United States could do a thorough job of destruction, but Israel alone can do what’s necessary.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 27 Mar 2015 03:19

Who is John Bolton?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Mar 2015 03:19

John Bolton is a madcap calling himself a diplomutt.
to make things worse he is an Evanjihadi.

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 27 Mar 2015 03:38

I wonder if Russia and Iran are both behind the Houthi rebellion? It seems to me that without Russian support, the Houthi are doomed. Iranian support alone will not be enough.

I'd be kind of surprised if Iran helped engineer the Houthi rebellion all on its own, without partnering up with Russia in this effort. If that's really the case, the Houthi will soon be crushed. They need advanced anti-tank weapons and SAM's to have any chance against this gigantic Sunni force bearing down on them.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 27 Mar 2015 03:47

http://www.nyoooz.com/kozhikode/75346/c ... s-stranded

KOZHIKODE: The academic lives of as many as 1,109 students enrolled in the 25 overseas centres of Calicut University in the Gulf are in jeopardy and in danger of being terminated midway for no fault of their own. These include students from Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh and several African countries. With the varsity recently asking overseas counselling centres to close down operations following a Kerala high court order, the students have urged the varsity to at least allow them to write their remaining exams.

The high court had in December 2014 asked the varsity to close down all its overseas centres citing that their functioning was against the varsity`s act and statutes. The court upheld the contention of petitioners that the CU Act 1975 has set the territorial jurisdiction of the university as the regions under the revenue districts of Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur and Wayanad.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 27 Mar 2015 03:55

Two American views on the events in Yemen:
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semp ... abdal.html

The Saudis bear the most blame but the Iranians have been stirring this cauldron very successfully for a number of years. For the Saudis this is akin to the Americans fomenting regime change in Ukraine; its on their border and they can't afford to ignore it. And this all takes place within the regional framework of the greater Iranian-Gulf conflict. The war will take few lives. 60% of Yemenis are food insecure. When the Yemeni Rial tanks those 60% will not be able to afford bread. They will die. Slowly. And quietly. In millions. An utterly pointless avoidable debacle and the US must take much of the blame for the pointless drone programme that kept them interfering in a culture they know nothing of."

and the second view:

I do not think the Houthi Zeidis are tools of the Iranian government but the "one man one vote" crowd in Washington insists that the Zeidi Houthis are illegitimately seeking on behalf of Iran to overthrow a government that corresponds to the "narrative" favored by the Children's Crusade in Washington. In fact the Houthis are re-asserting their identity as a separate tribal polity in Yemen.

IMO the Houthis are the natural allies of the United States in the world wide war against Sunni jihadism. The United States seems blind to that, blinded by its own delusions concerning the "evolution" of history and the dust thrown in US eyes by the Saudis who fear all things Yemeni.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 27 Mar 2015 11:24

Y. Kanan wrote:I wonder if Russia and Iran are both behind the Houthi rebellion? It seems to me that without Russian support, the Houthi are doomed. Iranian support alone will not be enough.
I'd be kind of surprised if Iran helped engineer the Houthi rebellion all on its own, without partnering up with Russia in this effort. If that's really the case, the Houthi will soon be crushed. They need advanced anti-tank weapons and SAM's to have any chance against this gigantic Sunni force bearing down on them.

I wonder if US and Saudi are both behind the ISIS rebellion. It seems to me that without American support the ISIS is doomed. Saudi support alone will not be enough.
I'd be kind of surprised if Saudi helped engineer the ISIS rebellion all on its own, without partnering up with US in this effort. If that's really the case, the ISIS will soon be crushed. They need advanced anti-tank weapons and SAM's to have any chance against this gigantic Syria/Iran force bearing down on them.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Mar 2015 12:12

From NightWatch for the night of 26 March 2015

Yemen: The Yemen crisis continued to expand. Some press services reported that Houthi fighters continued to advance towards Aden, despite the Saudi air attacks.

On 26 March, Yemeni President Hadi appeared in Riyadh, confirming his flight from Aden. Yemeni airlines suspended flights until 29 March.

The air attacks before dawn caught the Houthis by surprise. They damaged an air base near the airport in the capital, Sana'a, as well as anti-aircraft positions and other military bases in and around Sana'a.

The Houthis have no effective air defense systems. They resorted to popular mobilization, calling on "thousands" of supporters to protests the air attacks.

Comment: The Houthis, possibly on Iranian advice, overreached when they began to move into the strongly Sunni Arab governates of southern Yemen. The Saudis and Houthis are in communication. The Saudis gave the Houthis three days to clear out of all Yemeni government buildings.

Coalition update: At least ten nations have joined Operation Decisive Storm to fight the Houthis in Yemen. .

Saudi Arabia: A Saudi brigadier general from the Ministry of Defense gave the first press update on the operation which is named Operation Decisive Storm.

He described the air attacks as phase 1 of the operation, which involves suppression of air defenses. He said Saudi and allied air forces achieved air superiority over Sana'a after 15 minutes of operations. He provided no details about follow-on phases, which might include an invasion by ground forces.

Al-Arabiya reported that the Kingdom was contributing as many as 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes to the operation and that Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan were ready to take part in a ground offensive in Yemen.

Comment: Al Arabiya overstated the willingness of Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan to send ground troops. Sudan announced its ground force contingent already has begun to move to Yemen.

The Saudi-led operation makes a powerful statement about whom the Saudis consider their primary enemy and rival: Iran. This operation against the Houthis would not have occurred without Saudi leadership. Under King Salman's leadership, the most powerful Muslim states have come together as they have not since the first Gulf War. .

This operation exposes the depth of hostility the Sunni leaders have for Iran and the Shia. The countries in Saudi Arabia's coalition have agreed to provide more forces to block an expansion of Iranian influence than they agreed to provide the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

If the coalition succeeds, it would mark the first Sunni military roll-back of Iranian influence since the Iran-Iraq War (September 1980-August 1988). It also would reinforce Saudi leadership of the Middle East as a military leader, as well as a financial, cultural, religious and economic power. The coalition should succeed in forcing the Houthis to seek negotiations.

Egypt: Egyptian military and security officials supposedly told the international press that the military intervention in Yemen will include a ground assault by Egyptian, Saudi and other ground forces. This assault supposedly is planned to begin after airstrikes have weakened the capabilities of the Houthis and their allies.

The Egyptian presidency, however, said that Egypt's navy and air force were taking part in the Saudi-led coalition. The statement said that Egypt's participation in the military operations was aimed at restoring "legitimacy and stability" in Yemen.

Egyptian and Sudanese media confirmed that four Egyptian navy ships transited the Suez Canal bound for Yemen to secure the Gulf of Aden.

Comment: The statement by the Egyptian presidency gave no indication that Egypt planned to send a ground force to Yemen at this time.

Pakistan: Late on 26 March, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government had not yet decided to join the coalition led by Saudi Arabia in attacking Yemen. However, Sharif said that any threat to Saudi Arabia's territorial integrity would evoke a strong response from Pakistan.

Comment: Pakistan declined to join the coalition, unless Saudi Arabia was attacked. A high-level Pakistani delegation, including Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, will visit Saudi Arabia on 27 March to evaluate the Yemen situation.

Turkey: The government said it supports the Saudi Arabia-led military operation and condemned the Houthi assault on Aden. "We support the military operation that has started against the Houthis. We believe this campaign will help prevent the risk of a civil war and chaos that has surfaced in the country, and will restore the legitimate state."

Sudan: Sudan's Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Mohammed Hussein told reporters on Thursday that his country would take part "with air and ground troops in the Decisive Storm operations" against the Houthi rebels. He said Sudanese forces had begun "mechanical movements" towards the area of operations. A spokesman for the government said Sudanese soldiers were on their way to Yemen.

Jordan: A Jordanian official said the country wouldn't forget Saudi Arabia's help in recent military operations in the region, including strikes against Islamic State radicals in Iraq and Syria.

Comment: The Saudis apparently would like to avoid a ground invasion of Yemen, if possible. They remain open to negotiations with the Houthis, but the Houthis must cede everything they have gained since last September as a condition for negotiations.

US: The US issued the following official statement, "In support of Gulf Cooperation Council actions to defend against Houthi violence, President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to GCC-led military operations. While U.S. forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen in support of this effort, we are establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate U.S. military and intelligence support."

Comment: As mentioned in an earlier edition of NightWatch, Decisive Storm is not sustainable without American logistic support.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 27 Mar 2015 14:58

^^^^ strategic oil reserve
http://www.hindustantimes.com/business- ... 28395.aspx

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 27 Mar 2015 15:21

Every Sunni "beggar" is coming to the Saudi side as demanded by its new monarch,
a Wahaabi fundoo,hell bent upon exterminating Shiites anywhere on the globe. Heis putting together an alliance of Sunni states to defeat the Shiites who have virtually taken over Yemen.The deposed Yemeni pres. has been rescued from his rathole in Aden and flown to the fleshpots of Rityadh to recuperate from his ordeal by his Saudis saviours. Egypt has also jumped into the fray willing to fight alongside its Saudi benefactors,while the globe's most promiscuous rent-boy Pak,which has had for decades a lascivious relationship with the Saudis,is also about to send troops to kill Yemenis according to the grapevine!

Waiting on the sidelines providing "coaching" and other "12th-man" duties,is the ever-present warmonger Uncle Sam,who has given his blessings to the Saudi gambit to retake the Yemen from the Shiites. The Saudi air attacks which have caused oil prices to surge,stock markets to crash, has had no UN sanction at all,that entity as potent as a castrated 100 yr old "queen".The Iranians have in turn given a stern warning to the Saudis ,saying that peace not war is what Yemen needs. The MEast is fast turning into a raging battlefield with no rules,where every state and ethnic entity is for itself,with extraneous forces simply adding arms and fuel to the fire and stirring the pot.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... -diplomacy
US foreign policy
US defends strategy in Yemen and Iraq but diplomats admit: it's a mess

Dan Roberts in Washington and Sabrina Siddiqui in New York
Thursday 26 March 2015 18.41 GMT Last modified on Thursday 26 March 2015

Diplomats in Washington were forced to defend the increasingly tangled web of US alliances in the Middle East on Thursday, as a surprise attack against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen appeared at odds with growing US support for pro-Iranian forces in Iraq.

The White House revealed late on Wednesday that it was providing intelligence and targeting support for Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen, which are designed to stem advances by Houthi rebels that threaten to overthrow its government.

The decision to intervene in what many observers fear could become a civil war between the Iranian-supported Shia rebels and a Yemeni government backed by Sunni Arab nations has raised concerns that the US is finding itself on the opposite side of similar sectarian tensions that have divided Iraq.

Analysis/ Iran-Saudi proxy war in Yemen explodes into region-wide crisis

The Saudi-led military intervention has been strongly backed by the US, and other global powers may be drawn in as the crisis unfolds

“We’re not taking sides against a Shia faction [on behalf of] a Sunni faction,” insisted a State Department spokesman, Jeff Rathke. “We’re trying to promote a dialogue process in which the views of all Yemenis can be taken into account, and it’s the Houthis who have refused to engage in that dialogue.”

The US has also denied it is overtly working in concert with an Iranian-backed assault on Islamic State militants in Tikrit, arguing that their interests only temporarily overlap.

But Rathke revealed the conflict in Yemen had been raised at a meeting between John Kerry, the secretary of state, and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif during talks in Lausanne that are separately aimed at reaching a treaty with Iran over its nuclear programme.

These seemingly contradictory overtures towards Iran are leading to growing criticism of Barack Obama’s foreign policy from political opponents who claim he has no clear strategy for dealing with the rapidly deteriorating security conditions across the region.

“We have no overarching strategy to deal with the growing threat, and it’s not just Isis, or al-Qaida and all of their affiliates,” said the Republican House speaker, John Boehner. “We’ve got a serious problem facing the world and America is by and large sitting on the sidelines.”

But US experts close to the administration defended its seemingly ad-hoc response to recent events, insisting each country warranted a separate policy.

“Yes, it is messy. It is contradictory. That’s foreign policy,” a former US ambassador to Yemen, Barbara Bodine, told the Guardian.

“As opposed to seeing it as ad hoc … I would prefer to see it as tailored to local circumstances,” she added. “I would be more concerned if we had some sort of overly rigid policy. I think that would do us less good.”

Though stressing Iranian support for Houthi rebels was a relatively recent development in the long-running Yemeni tensions, Bodine did acknowledge that there were broader regional forces at play.

“The Saudis are actively trying to bring down Iran’s most important ally – Assad – and Iran supporting the Houthis at very little cost is a way of reminding the Saudis that if you are going to try to unseat our most important ally in Syria, we can make life very difficult for you along your southern border,” she said during a debate at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are so far also standing by the White House during what all agree is a challenging period for US policy in the region, especially given the threat from al-Qaida affiliates that are also active in Yemen.

“The Houthi rebels who have taken over large parts of Yemen are dangerously close to sparking an all-out civil war,” said congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, who supports US assistance for the Saudi intervention.

“Given the horrors of Syria, such an outcome must be avoided at all costs. In the chaos that now characterises Yemen, only al-Qaida and Isis stand to benefit.”

Intervention in Yemen, where Houthi rebels were attacked with the backing of Washington, appears at odds with support for pro-Iranian forces in Iraq

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/m ... ir-strikes
Yemen conflict poised to escalate as Egypt says it is ready to send troops
Houthi rebels say country will be ‘graveyard of invaders’ if ground offensive follows Saudi-led air strikes

The possibility of a ground offensive in Yemen has grown significantly as Egypt declared its readiness to send troops into the embattled country “if necessary” in the wake of air strikes launched by a Saudi-led coalition.

Arab officials still hope the air campaign – launched late on Wednesday and backed by the US, Gulf states, Egypt and Turkey – will weaken the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who are attempting to overthrow President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and make a ground offensive unnecessary.

But the rebels’ leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, declared that Yemen would be the “graveyard of invaders” if the coalition launched a ground invasion and called for an end to what he declared an illegal, unprovoked aggression.

Hadi, who fled to Aden earlier this month, arrived in Riyadh on Thursday, Saudi state television reported.

The campaign, Operation Decisive Storm, threatens to spark a regional confrontation between Iran and its Arab rivals, who are increasingly anxious at the Islamic Republic’s growing influence in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2015 15:40

In the belt between pakistan to nigeria every Islamic state except jordan is a failed state.
Some are collapsing on own, some given a deft push by the cats.

Gyan · Post by **Gyan** » 27 Mar 2015 15:46

How is the terrain of Yemen? After all Green murdering Green will soon turn hand to hand as also very personal.

On a side note my andoird corrected h in hand to hand to g, till I stopped it.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2015 17:51

Arid and hilly. Scorching hot winds.

vaibhav.n · Post by **vaibhav.n** » 27 Mar 2015 18:19

Couple of things;

I really don't know where this 150,000 Saudi Combat Troops number is coming from because the Saudi Army in total is 150,000. Their actual combat strength is not more than ~85,000. One of the prime reasons they have required the services of Pakistani/Egyptian contingents in the past.

The actual infantry component in the kingdom is the Saudi Army National Guard which unlike the Army recruits exclusively from regimes own tribes and reports to the King directly. The National Guard is specifically deployed to protect the Saudi Royals against coups and increasingly to counter terror. IIRC, they should number around 95,000 and are spread all over the Kingdom and have also recently reinforced the restive Iraq border against ISIS chaps.

The Shia Zaidi's (aka Houthi's) are hardcore mountain fighters and have always retreated into the mountains where they have conducted an expensive attrition campaign against the enemy. This is not the first time the Saudi's have resorted to airpower against them and much bad blood exists between the two ever-since they were ousted from their lands in the East by the Saudi's. The Houthi's were once before obliterated by the Yemeni Army however have since grown immensely at the expense of the later.

The Saudi Army is not structured for a land campaign they are likely to face ie COIN Ops. They barely field 8 Infantry Brigades, out of which only 3 are Light Infantry ones which can take the fight to the enemy beyond the mountainous Najran region into the Zaidi controlled Al Jawf & Saada. In all, a lone Infantry Division plus worth of troops is what the Saudi Army can possibly muster for a foray into unknown mountain terrain. Where remote unconnected valleys would render their Mechanised forces a liability like the Soviets faced in Afghanistan while being reduced to protecting crucial lines of communication. This is ideal ambush countryside with an average altitude of 7,000 ft along the coast in the rebel's own backyard.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 27 Mar 2015 19:25

US evacuated embassy in Riyadh. Issued terror alert.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 27 Mar 2015 20:39

Oh god - please make the Saudis invade

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2015 22:08

Tsp has quickly backed out of any armed help.

Moral n diplo support onlee. Saudis want sudanese, egyptians and pakis to do the hard work while they drop bombs from safe distance.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 27 Mar 2015 22:10

Singha wrote:Tsp has quickly backed out of any armed help.

Moral n diplo support onlee.

Next time they are running low on forex, a $3bn gift won't magically materialize.