'Only God can save us': Yemen blockade may cause world's largest famine in decades

Come on you're kidding, we're going to go to war with Saudi Arabia? All the US has to do is to tell them to stop it, and that would end that... unless you think we should go to war with Iran to support Saudi Arabia and Israel?

 

My preference is to bring all the troops home within US borders, abandon all foreign bases, and let the rest of the world fight over anything they want to fight over. In other words, take that neutrality lesson from the Swiss.

The US has troops in 100 countries. Ridiculous! There ain't but 193 countries in the world.

 

Hey, let us bring all of those people who think like the people in the middle east do...to europe and america!! We sure need the mindset of people from the middle east in the West. You know, to give our dull lives some excitement!!!

If we want to rid the world of the middle eastern mindset, perhaps we should just allow them to kill one another out. So there are fewer of them to address in the future? Not like anything we say to them will change what these people are, right?

 

Actually we have 800 bases in the world. We have to learn to live with the world, and stop feeling that any nation that doesn't adopt our liberal form of democracy is a threat, and start taking care of the people in this country. This is what Trump wanted to do, but as the saying goes, "you can't fight city hall,"... and it seems that Trump can't fight the swamp. To many self interests at stake, and too many generals.

 

What were the protests about?

The Houthis apparently ruled the North for hundreds of years until the 60's when the West disposed them in connection with oil.

I understand the original reason for the conflict with the Houthis comes from the assassination of their leader by Salef in 2003. Prior to that they were a peace making group. He was apparently assassinated because it was believed that he was trying to become an important Iman which they saw as a threat.

The Sauds had been bombing them for years with cluster bombs provided by the US. That is why they shout 'Death to the US' as it was US cluster bombs which the Sauds were using to mass kill them.

With the Arab Spring they put down their arms but then a problem came with the Constitution.

One person gave the reason for hating them being that they were not in favour of a Caliphate. To this person that put them on the side of the US and Israel. He was from London.

Al Qaeda took out a policy of deliberately killing ordinarily civilians claiming wrongly they were Houthis.

Salef kept making up stories about the Houthis to the US to try and get more and more money from the US to build up his military. He told the US that they were in cahoots with Iran but according to Jeremy Scahill the US were honest about knowing that was not true.

Now to what you said.

Well they could not have been about the Houthis could they as otherwise why was the first thing he did was set up an alliance with them - very much they eneny of my enemy kind of course....but no one steps down because they are afraid of people and then joins them with a large section of the countries army now do they.

Nope Margot.


I am going to find out what is really going on.

 

Sounds like you have a lot of bad information.. For starters, the Saudis reject a caliphate... The Gulf Cooperation Council is not a caliphate, but it is opposed by Iran.. The Houthis reject the GCC. The Houthis have only been around since the 1990s.

 

Al Houthis

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/blog/2014/10/8/confused-you-won-t-be-after-this

 

Sounds like you do no know how to read information. I never said the Sauds want a caliphate. I never said the Gulf Cooperation Council is Caliphate - though fascinating that you would have imagined I did say these two things. I never spoke about anything to do with Iran opposing or not opposing the Gcc. Indeed I never even mentioned the GCC in that post. There you go again about the GCC. The houthis may have only been around since the 90's, begun as a peace group but where they are from is the group that ruled the North for hundreds of years.

Who teaches you to answer questions by beginning by being rude by saying "Sounds like you have a lot of bad information.." and follow that up by talking about issues which were not even mentioned.

As I said. I am going to find out what is going on. Now I am off to the hospital.

 

I amn't going to look at that right now as I don't have time and I will tell you that I have now looked at a lot of different opinions on this, one of which being the London Muslim who spoke about being against them because they were not interested in a Caliphate which seems to have got your knickers really in a twist. Remember he also said they were on the side of Israel and the US.

I will just point out to readers that the source Margot has chosen is a Saudi funded one and the Sauds have been pretty much from what I can see trying to commit a genocide on the Houthis for many years.

 

but Margo, I will say again, I am going to find out what is going on

(supposed to be an edit)

 

I thought I had left a post on this before I went out. This was your post which I was answering. My question to you was why if what you say is true, did he then form an alliance with the Houthi and together with a large part of the Yemen army which he brought with him take over a large part of the country with the Houthis

he also helped them to get rid of Hadi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houthis

so lets start getting real. The Sauds or if you would prefer the GCC would appear to have disposed of Saleh and put Hadi in in his stead. However they have recently been getting health care for Saleh in both Saudi Arabia and Russia and talk is they are no longer that keen on Hadi and think they might manage better if they put Saleh back in. The Sauds are running Yemen. What was that you were saying about the GCC again?

I know what is being presented is not the truth. It will just take a little longer to find out what is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houthis

 

Saleh was burned over 40% of his body when the Houthis attacked and burned the palace. KSA didn't bomb Yemen until 3 years ago.

 

On 3 June 2011, Saleh was injured in a bomb attack on his presidential compound, multiple C4 charges were planted inside the mosque and one exploded when the president and major members of his regime were praying.

The explosion killed four bodyguards and injured the prime minister, deputy prime ministers, head of the Parliament, governor of Sanaa and many more. The man responsible for speaking at Saleh's public events was reported killed.

Saleh suffered burns and shrapnel injuries, but survived, a result that was confirmed by an audio message he sent to state media in which he condemned the attack, but his voice clearly revealed that he was having difficulty in speaking.

Government officials tried to downplay the attack by saying he was lightly wounded. The next day he was taken to a military hospital in Saudi Arabia for treatment.

According to U.S. government officials, Saleh suffered a collapsed lung and burns on about 40 percent of his body. A Saudi official said that Saleh has undergone two operations: one to remove the shrapnel and a neurosurgery on his neck.

On 4 June 2011, Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was appointed as acting President, while Saleh remained the President of Yemen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Abdullah_Saleh#Assassination_attempt.2C_aftermath_and_return

 

Do you have anything about Russia supplying Yemenis with arms, apart from empty words?

 

I wasn't talking about 2011. I was talking about the recent medical work to help him. Why would they work and get medical help for him when he was fighting against them. You do know about that turn of events I assume. It happened when he was made to step down that he joined with the Houthis

http://merip.org/mer/mer273/breakdown-gcc-initiative

After that when Salih left he went and joined the Houthis and brought half of the Yemen Military with him. Surely you have heard of this.

 

OK Margot here is an article on it. It is not the one I originally read. It wasn't a new injury, it was failing health still from the burns - the question remains why would the Sauds want to help him when he has been fighting with the Houthis against them.

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/or...bia-yemen-save-ali-abdullah-saleh-russia.html

I didn't realise he had held on till 2014. Obviously he and the Houthis are not ideological friends. They are wanting Democracy. He likes being a Dictator. However I have seen information that he has been speaking like he might turn against them again. Perhaps if the sauds offer him a big enough pot of gold and total power. I also read separately that Hadi was not in the Sauds good books.

 

I don't think Saleh needs Saudi money.. Saleh has looted Yemen of billions.

The al Houthis say, "We are a national movement that strongly subscribes to the principles of Arab nationalism and pan-Islamism."

All indications are that Yemenis are more tribal in affiliation than ideological.

Houthis are Shia, but more closely Sunni than other Shia.

The GCC states simply want Yemen at peace and stable. That's all they have ever wanted .. and that's what they have invested in for 40 years.

My classmate and friend was at the French embassy in Sa'na for 30 years..

 

I know but so far that and power is all I have heard he is interested in so how would the Saud's lure him. Why did he move to fight with the Houthis, the people he was forever telling the US were in cahoots with Iran if it is not for power.

I am not sure I agree with that form how much I have read so far. However I think what turned them off the constitution was first that it was not going to bring democracy and that second they apparently thought there was something in it which would have denied their identity. Everyone has an ideology. There are apparently very pragmatic. They do think of all the people, they can give a good 'populous talk' and they seem to avoid violence when possible.

No they are not Shia. They are Zaydis which people describe as a subsect of Shia but which also differs from it in many important ways. Yes, they seem to be close to the Sunnis. I have read they often used to share mosques and lets not forget many sunni are fighting with them. I think you seeming to find that strange must come from the people you were with in you childhood in Saudi Arabia. Sunni versus Shia is a new phenomenon as, according to the video I linked to you in another thread, was calling the Alawites Shia or Zaydis Shia prior to around 79, They were just Muslims. It seems that is how it is with a lot in Yemen. But it will not be so for any who believe the only true Islam is Wahhabism.

Then get out. They want what is in their interests. Indeed I have noticed they have been meddling for longer than 40 years. Here is how an Australian writer writes on what happened.

Why Australia Should Stop Supporting The War On Yemen
(The MEMRIP link they give is the same one I gave previously)
The Sauds and the GCC are doing what they want and so far that has kept Yemen down and poor.

Saleh and the Houthis now have 60% of Yemen. The Sauds cannot continue doing this much longer. They have brought the country to the edge of genocide with famine, disaster and cholera. They have destroyed about 50% of the schools and hospitals - and I sure as hell bet they have precision bombing so know what they are doing.

this is a good looking article on longer history

cont'd here

I am just off to read the second half

 

The Saudi haven't kept Yemen down and poor.. Quite the opposite.. They have bent over backwards since the 1960s to lift Yemen up.

Yemen has always been lawless and dangerous outside of the capital cities.

There has always been a Shia Sunni divide, its just not so dramatic in some countries.

I don't think the Houthis want democracy... just power.

Arab men... Muslim men are EXTREMELY immature until they are well into their 40s.

2008 attack on the American Embassy in Yemen - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_attack_on_the_American_Embassy_in_Yemen
The 2008 American Embassy attack in Yemen in Sana'a, Yemen on September 17, 2008, resulted in 18 deaths and 16 injuries. Six attackers, six Yemeni police, ...
‎The attack · ‎Responsibility and arrests


Yemeni Rebels Fire at U.S. Embassy - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/world/.../yemeni-rebels-attack-officials-home.html

Sep 27, 2014 - An affiliate of Al Qaeda fired a rocket at the United States Embassy in Sana, ... Earlier on Saturday, the rebels attacked the home of Yemen's ...

 

no I skimmed some things today and that is not so.

and the way to resolve such things is as the article I just left says is to deal with

It is your GCC who has been imposing wars, poor dictatorships and so on leading to the other issues mentioned above. The Sauds have never had their nose out.

I believe you, someone who has admitted an aversion to people because they are Shia or I believe the man whose name escapes me who is one of Britian's most intelligent Muslims used to political debate. I believe him.

You woundn't think anything good about them simply because of who they are. I am taking that from my reading. However as the Zaidis ruled North Yemen until the Saudis came to help in the 60's, maybe they want to have some more autonomy. I wouldn't say they wanted democracy if I had not been given reason to believe it. They gave up fighting for the Arab Spring - that is believing that there was going to be democracy. They started again when this proved false. You see no problem with the Saudis imposing their rule and or rulers on them. You clearly see them as inferior people who should be ruled and if not be starved to death and have their entire infrastructure destroyed and become subject to disease. I do not agree with you.

Just sounds like more prejudice.

 

Long before there ever was a GCC the Saudis invested in hospitals and clinics, schools and universities and business development. They provided food, medicine and gasoline... and they have been doing that for 40 years.

Arab men are very immature.. I have worked with many of them and they don't grow up until they are in their 40s.

All during the 1960s Yemen was in turmoil with the Monarchists fighting the Communists.

I don't see them as inferior at all.. so stop projecting crap at me.

 

Another plea from the World Food Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization for Saudi Arabia to stop its genocide, and to lift its blockade on Yemen. Even with a partial lifting of the blockade, over one million children might die from a diphteria outbreak, and the famine will hit 3 million people.

 

KSA lifted the blockade several days ago.. and the Houthis immediately announced they would escalate the conflict.

 

Yes they even bombed the Capital's airport on Tuesday.

https://www.juancole.com/2017/11/international-devastating-blockade.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/15/50000-yemeni-children-will-die-end-year-aid-group-warns/

Look at all the times before they have been blocking aid. It never stops. It just can't go on.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Saudi+still+styopping+aid+getting+to+Yemen&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=YK8NWrKnEfGGgAaAvrj4DA

 

No they didn't. No aid has come through yet and when they 'lifted the blockade' for a week or two they said they were not going to lift it in the areas held by ex President Saleh and the Houthis until a way could be shown that would mean nothing else could get in with the aid. That is impossible. Ex President Saleh and the Houthi are in charge of 60% of Yemen. That means 60% of Yemen may not get aid. On Tuesday when the Saud's bombed Sana’a airport and the Houthis were complaining about aid being stopped from coming in the UN said no aid had started being able to come in yet anyway.