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The Possible Solution to the Yemen Conflict

Viktor Mikhin, May 17, 2015

Y4222866The results of the one-day meeting in Riyadh amongst the heads of the Cooperation Council for Arab States of the Gulf (the first time it was attended by the President of France Francois Hollande) gave a crystal clear look at the tough trend to be continued by these leaders into a future military solution to the Yemen conflict. The joint decision communiqué states: “Leaders of the GCC reiterated their unconditional support for Saudi Arabia at the head of the Operation Determination Storm, which was carried out to restore the rule of law in Yemen. The leaders were satisfied with the outcome of a significantly positive campaign outcome and launched a new Operation Renewal of Hope in response to the request from Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to restore its legitimacy and to resume the political process in accordance with our initiative in the Gulf.”

Put simply, the President of Yemen called to the so-called Arab Coalition, who, abandoning self-preservation, leapt to his aid, levelling Yemeni cities, towns and villages alike. “While the United Nations did call for Saudi Arabia and its allies to stop the strike on the international airport of Sana’a and other Yemeni airports,” statement from the Humanitarian Coordinator of Yemen, Johannes Van Der Klau. According to him, “without access to airports, humanitarian agencies can not send employees essential medicines and other urgently needed supplies, nor to evacuate wounded personnel.”

By the way, the United Nations had earlier dubbed this a “very serious violation” of international humanitarian airstrike regulation, by the Air Force of Saudi Arabia on Yemeni airports. Secretary General of the world organization, Ban Ki-moon called on both parties of the conflict in Yemen to stop fighting or take a humanitarian pause to help the population.
In addition, he warned that due to the lack of fuel, humanitarian operations in the country can be stopped “in coming days.” As a result of uncontrolled airstrikes on its cities, in Yemen, according to official statistics, over 1,300 people have already died, with over 6,000 citizens injured and tens of thousands becoming refugees. Affording international humanitarian help has become extremely difficult.

At a regular briefing for journalists, the acting deputy head of the press service of the US State Department, Jeff Rathke demagogically said that Washington is checking the information indicating that Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions in its military operations in Yemen. The conclusion for Saudi armed forces raised by the United States to apply cluster bombs in Yemen was made by an international human rights organization, the Human Rights Watch. As we know, the use of cluster munitions in populated areas is prohibited under international law.

Generally, the term stands out, “check the information,” which implies that the Saudis will be justified on the subject and the world community will never know the real facts. Cluster bombs were delivered by the Pentagon and were used by the Americans, and so the question left open, just like, by the way, the question of the downed Malaysian “Boeing” in Ukraine, and will not be made public. In this case, the expression fits, “dog does not eat dog.”

In addition, the ground operation, which has repeatedly been mentioned in Riyadh, is also developing. Previously, the presence of soldiers from the “Arabian coalition” near the Aiden airport, and according to some, special forces, had already been reported by local authorities. Advisor to the Ministry of Defence of Sudan, which is actively involved in the attack on Yemen, Major General Mahmoud Younis, confirmed that in Aiden “an operation was carried out on the landing of special elements.” The creation of such a base will “allow the coalition to more precisely decipher the position of Huthis”, which, first of all, is necessary in order to launch a large ground operation. As to the humanitarian situation in the country, Younis Mahmoud stated that “as of now, the Yemeni people are living in horrible conditions”, deprived of access to food, drinking water, electricity as well as medical aid. “Yemen is currently on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe”, stated the Major General.

At the same time, the organizers of several Yemeni tragedies, attempting to wash off their , hands stained with the blood of innocent victims, now came to the region; namely, US Secretary of State John Kerry. After a series of meetings with their Arab counterparts, including with the ousted Yemeni president, at a joint press conference, he and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi satellite, Adel al-Dzhubeyr, solemnly announced some pauses in the military killings:
“At the moment we are working on the introduction of a ceasefire in Yemen for five days, so that the country can receive humanitarian aid.” In other words, the minds behind murders in Yemen decided to take a short respite to coordinate their actions, be equipped by a fresh batch of US bombs, rocket planes of the “Arabic Coalition” and prepare a ground attack on the territory of the sovereign government. In the meantime, you can play with words and stand before the world community as benefactors of Yemeni civilians, bombed by airplanes from the same “Arab coalition”.

In this situation, many politicians just believe that the Saudi military intervention in Yemen is not just an attempt to suppress any uprising or restore the rule of expelling former incompetent president. This is a consequence of internal and external dynamics, a freight train embarking from the “Arab Spring.” The new king of Salman is trying to change the course of natural events, and turn events of the past years into a fortunate opportunity. He invested in the security of his regime, threatened, as the facts show, by enormous economic, social and political problems. And all these negative dynamics for the Riyadh events are sharply increasing, still threatened by the collapse of the once artificially created the Saudi kingdom. History attests, that Ibn Saud ruled his kingdom with an iron fist, suppressing by force the resistance of the rulers that he disliked. On the other hand, to be able to control the regional dynamics, King Salman more like his father is active force in the political arena and intelligence in Iraq, Syria, Libya, expands the anti-Iranian front. He is forming an alliance with Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt. Saudi forces are working hard to nullify the losses from the new established relations between the US and Iran. However, it is well known that history is impossible to stop or turn in your own favour.

Current events taking place in the Arabian Peninsula will have far-reaching consequences, and they won’t be over tomorrow or the day after. “The blame for this belongs primarily to the United States, which is responsible for the consequences of aerial bombing in Yemen, as it supports the military operation undertaken by Saudi Arabia and its allies,” said Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin. In his opinion, this goes for humanitarian consequences, as well as situations when innocent citizens are threatened or more important, a diplomatic facility becomes the target of a rocket. In this regard, as we know, Moscow has offered to stop this genocide of the Yemeni people and resolving yet another conflict, let loose by the West and its satellites, by peaceful means, through peace talks between every interested party. But the latest events attest with some clarity, that this solution to the Yemen conflict is not in the best interests of the US and its allies. And as a result, the tragedy in Yemen among its people will continue.

Viktor Mikhin, member correspondent of RANS, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.