Saudi Arabia Evacuates Diplomats From a Yemen City as Houthi Advance Continues

[inanna]

Source: New York Times

MARCH 28, 2015

CAIRO — Saudi Arabia said Saturday that its navy had evacuated 86 Arab and Western diplomats from the port city of Aden in southern Yemen, as a Saudi-led coalition conducted a third day of airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi movement.

Separately, Saudi Arabia confirmed that an American helicopter had rescued two Saudi pilots who ejected from an F-15 fighter over waters south of Yemen. The official Saudi Press Agency said the pilots had ejected because of a “technical fault” and were “in good health.”

The evacuation of the diplomats from Aden reflected the spreading chaos in Yemen as the Houthi-allied forces continued to advance, even under the pressure of the Saudi bombing. The breakdown of order has potentially grave consequences for the United States, because Yemen had been a central theater of the war with Al Qaeda, but the factional fighting has now forced the United States to withdraw its forces as well.

Aden is Yemen’s second largest city and had been the provisional headquarters of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the Saudi-backed Yemeni leader, since the Houthi forces overran the capital, Sana, in January. Mr. Hadi fled last month to Aden to make a last stand among his supporters in the south, but he, too, has now left Yemen, attending a meeting of Arab leaders on Saturday in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-evacuates-diplomats-from-yemeni-city-as-houthi-advance-continues.html

[bemildred]

1. ISIS Denounces Saudi Airstrikes In Yemen

Supporters of ISIS have condemned the Saudi-led airstrikes on rebel Houthi fighters in Yemen, claiming in online forums and Twitter that the actions were a veiled attempt by the United States to interfere in the Middle East and propagate an American agenda.

“We will not allow America to interfere in the Arab world by using an Arab proxy. Arabs will only succeed when they leave the control of the Americans and move outside their circle of influence and control,” a well known radical user, whose pen name is translated as “What hour?” wrote.

The same user continued, arguing that the U.S. shouldn’t be involved in Middle Eastern affairs at all, that the ancient schism between Sunnis and Shiites was a conflict that ought to be fought without western influence.

“The ongoing war in the area is mostly an internal one, one that is fought between people who follow the rules and justice of Allah in its most basic form, and between the traitorous and corrupted ruler,” the user wrote. “The revenge is not only against the evil Shiites, and not only against the tyrants, but against those who provide them with the weapons and the missiles they use to draw out blood.”

http://www.vocativ.com/world/isis-2/isis-denounces-saudi-airstrikes-in-yemen/

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. Dang, ISIS sure is picky.

It doesn't like "the evil Shiites" or the Saudi and Gulf State "tyrants" or "those who provide them with the weapons and missiles."

Must be kind of a tough call for ISIS. The "tyrants" are attacking "the evil Shiites."

[Fred Sanders]

3. What is a "well-known radical user" and why should the world care what he/she posts?

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. The person presumably reflects ISIS thinking. For what it's worth.

[bemildred]

6. Don't be surprised if the Houthis and ISIS ally against the Saudis and their minions.

There are some really weird alliances forming up over this.

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. I would be surprised if that happened. ISIS considers the Houthis "evil Shiite" apostates.

And ISIS seems pretty firm on its whole "all heretics must die" thing.

And there seems to be more of an ideological/theological affinity between ISIS and Saudi Arabia. After all, ISIS is kind of like Saudi Arabia's Frankenstein monster, isn't it?

[Fred Sanders]

10. Any effort to link ISIS to the Houthis is doomed to fail on the clear historical and political facts

[bemildred]

13. It all depends on whom you hate the most.

And whom you fear the most. I think the situation is people are going to have to choose sides and there is a good deal of freaking out about that prospect.

But the Houthis and ISIS are both fundamentalist reforming groups who hate the Saudis. Now that the Saudis have committed in the South, this is their chance to attack in the North.

[riderinthestorm]

20. I haven't heard that the Houthis are radical fundamentalists

in fact, kinda the opposite....

Do you have a link?

Also, ISIS would slaughter the Houthis in a minute if they could get close enough. They're Shia who have been fighting against Salafism...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houthis

[Demeter]

5. Saudis are officially hoist on their own petard

and this country had better bow out of the entire Yemen strife. We've done enough damage.

[bemildred]

7. The moral confusion on Yemen

Wars in the 21st century need to have owners, nation states that are their sponsors but not necessarily boots-on-the-ground combatants, and that have the capacity to take on board other players — proxies. The war that is escalating in Yemen is part of the long struggle for regional power between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In crude terms, the Iranians are backing the Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia the elected government of Yemen, whose president fled his country and arrived in Saudi Arabia in the last week. The two sides are separated along sectarian lines.

Saudi Arabia has for decades been a very close regional ally of Pakistan. It has come to our aid in times of need with both money and oil, and now appears to be calling in the debt and seeking the assistance of Pakistan in its actions against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. This places Pakistan in a difficult position that is fraught with real and present dangers. In supporting Saudi Arabia, Pakistan will be sending a message to Iran as well as further igniting already simmering sectarian tensions within the country. Our support can only exacerbate those tensions. Pakistan shares a border with Iran, which may — eventually — be a key player in our energy sector if we buy Iranian gas, the risk of American sanctions notwithstanding. Iran is unlikely to be supportive of any move we may make to support Saudi Arabia.

In purely military terms, questions have to be answered with respect to our capacity to resource the Saudi Arabia operation with troops. Thus far in Yemen, there have been no foreign ‘boots on the ground’ and all of the action by the Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries has been in the form of aerial bombardment and intelligence gathering and sharing. However, as the Americans have found in Iraq and Syria, air strikes do not a victory make and the Islamic State remains undefeated. The Houthi rebels have the military initiative and if they were to take the southern port of Aden, would in effect have gained control of the entire country administratively.

The Pakistan military is already engaged in hard fighting against militants in the northwest of the country and cannot afford to relax its vigilance to the east in case India, for whatever reason, decides to exploit a momentary inattention. Our air force is also heavily engaged with the internal conflict and there is no ‘slack’ in the system that would allow for meaningful foreign deployments. That said, it may be possible to utilise our aerial surveillance capacity in support of Saudi Arabia without a significant degradation of our home defences. The battles we fight at home are crucial to our future as a developing nation, and we cannot afford the ‘luxury’ of going off to fight another’s war, particularly when the cost is likely to be more than just blood and treasure.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/860517/the-moral-confusion-on-yemen/

[Fred Sanders]

12. Interesting opinion, but Pakistan is not going to get involved in this, geographically distant.

Arguably being a nuclear power limits hasty decisions involving a far away headache of others.

[bemildred]

14. PM offers to send Pak Army troops to Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif extended an offer to Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz during a telephonic conversation to send Pakistan Army troops to Saudi Arabia for the protection of the holy land in the wake of the insurgency of the Houthis in Yemen.

The Saudi King made a telephone call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday evening and had a detailed discussion with him about operation Determination Storm against Houthi insurgents in Yemen which was causing a serious threat to the neighbouring countries, including Saudi Arabia.

King Salman, who dashed to the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharam el Shaikh to attend an emergency Arab summit meeting on developments in Yemen also made calls to some other important world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss the situation.

He thanked Prime Minister Nawaz for Pakistan’s support in the action and expressed his determination that the operation would continue till it achieved its logical conclusion. He expressed satisfaction that the whole world was supporting the action by Saudi Arabia and its allies for peace and stability in the region. The two leaders reportedly discussed recent developments on the regional and international fronts and decided to maintain a close liaison in the matter in the days to come.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-36669-PM-offers-to-send-Pak-Army-troops-to-Saudi-Arabia

[Fred Sanders]

15. That is not going to happen, Pakistan is a democracy, the PM does not have absolute authority.

The "offer" is to try to get authorization through Parliament.

"The whole world was supporting the action of Saudi Arabia......." sounds like propaganda, because it is not true.

What is the reputation of your sourced article and journalist?

[quadrature]

8. perpetual chaos is the new normal ...nt

[FrodosPet]

17. Perpetual chaos is the OLD normal as well!

Has there been any extended amount of time in any significant society in mankind's history that were NOT either chaotic or, if ordered, then held in order through oppression?

[roamer65]

11. I've seen unconfirmed reports Iranian General Qassem Soleimani is in Yemen.

He's there to reaffirm Iranian support to the rebels.

If you are unfamiliar with Gen. Soleimani, Google him. He runs the Al Qods force and most of Iran's black ops.

[Comrade Grumpy]

18. There are a whole raft of "unconfirmed reports" about Iran's role.

Mostly coming from Arab regime propagandists.

[Sunlei]

16. Saudis must not worry at all about 'collateral damage'

flatten the entire port-town.

[Comrade Grumpy]

19. ??????

[quadrature]

21. how do the rebels get supplies?

where do they (rebels) get ammo?
motor fuel
food

time for a blockade.
what am I missing?

[Comrade Grumpy]

22. From the army bases they overrun?

[quadrature]

23. these people are clueless as to how to fight a war ...

my suggestion to the Saudis,
is to starve them out.

destroy...
gasoline
water supply
electricity
and everything else

[Comrade Grumpy]

24. Uh, it's the Houthis' country, not the Saudis'.

Why would you be supporting medieval Arab dictatorships here?

Dictatorships that are attacking other countries.