Lora Moftah, IBTimes: Yemen 'Coup' A Sign Of Expanding Iranian Influence In the Middle East
WNU Editor: The Saudis have thrown in the towel .... Saudi Arabia's new Yemen strategy: get behind a fence (Daily Mail/Reuters) .... but I expect this to be temporary. Yemen is a majority Sunni country that will not be looking favorably to what has transpired in the capital with Shiite Houthis in control. I will expect them to increase military/economic aid to the Sunni tribes in the rest of the country, and I will not be surprised if Al Qaeda starts to receive "more assistance" from their supporters in the Gulf States and elsewhere. As for U.S. policy .... time to tear up that playbook.
3 comments:
The Zardi's who make up the Houthi Rebellion, are 5'vers, not 12'vers, and have much more in common with moderate Sunni, than Iranian Shia.
When it was The Peoples Republic of South Yemen, the Zardi's formed the Civil Service in the cities, while still remaining tribal pastorialists in the Countryside, and got on well with the Sunni Tribes, often filling the role of peacemaker between the Government and the more conservative Sunni Tribes.
That is the hope Jay .... but I do not trust the Saudis. They and the Iranians have not been a stabilizing force in this mess and I can easily see them and their Gulf allies supporting the more radical elements.
That's really the question, will the Saudi's double down on their failed strategy in Yemen, or will they, out of fear of AQAP morphing into ISIS, pull back behind they fence?
The failed Hostage Rescue, is a case in point. The Houthi's convinced the Sunni Tribal Elders that taking Journalists hostage, was " haram", and got them to appoint some Tribal Notables as mediators, and that once the hostages were released, the tribe would make AQAP leave the area.
A US Drone strike killed the mediators, which blew up the deal, and put the tribe on the same side as AQAP, then when the SOF Raid went in, they were lit up by the tribe and AQAP.
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