Saudi Arabia attacks Yemen

Bab-el-Mandeb waterway
The Bab-el-Mandeb is a strait located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Yemen Huthi advance raises fears over key waterway, Daily Mail 23.03.15

War In Yemen: Tankers Moving Unimpeded Through Bab Al-Mandeb Oil Shipment Choke Point 29.3.15

Airstrikes

 * Saudi Arabia starts bombing Yemen - envoy - RT, March 26, 2015
 * ''Saudi Arabian forces, joined by nine other countries, have launched a military operation in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels, the Saudi ambassador to the US said. The offensive, which started with airstrikes, will also involve “other military assets.”
 * ''According to Ambassador Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, the military operation in Yemen started at 7 p.m. EST (11 p.m. GMT). The US is not participating in the operation, the envoy stressed.
 * ''Al Arabiya reported that warplanes of the Royal Saudi Air Force bombed positions of Yemen’s Houthi militia, targeting their air defenses.
 * ''Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait issued a joint statement saying that they “decided to repel Houthi militias, Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State) in the country.” The Gulf states said they were responding to a “major threat” to the stability of the region, saying that their cause is to “repel Houthi aggression” in Yemen.


 * Saudi Arabia Launches Military Operations Against Houthi Targets in Yemen - Sputnik, 26.03.2015
 * ''Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies launched a military operation involving air strikes in Yemen against Houthi fighters, the Saudi envoy to Washington said on Wednesday.
 * ''Adel A. al-Jubeir said the military operation in Yemen started at 7 p.m. EST. It began with airstrikes, but will also involve “other military assets.”
 * ''“Having Yemen fail is not an option for us,” al-Jubeir said.
 * ''Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait issued a joint statement saying that they “decided to repel Houthi militias, Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State) in the country.”

Civilian Casualties

 * Charles Shoebridge ‏@ShoebridgeC 2 minutes ago "Ignored by almost all US UK media, #SaudiArabia is killing Yemen civilians - including children." Cited: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/saudi-arabia-leads-bombing-military-targets-yemen-article-1.2162846 (at least 18 civilians) - https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/03/yemen-six-children-killed-in-saudi-arabian-airstrikes/ (children)

The second report highlighting the killing of children is by Amnesty International. The Saudis may take some comfort from a later report they issued:
 * A doctor at al-Thawra hospital, one of the largest public hospitals in Sana’a, told Amnesty International that the vast majority - around 90 percent - of war wounded patients admitted to the hospital had been injured by anti-aircraft fire.

A second doctor there supported that it was a "majority", and "This was backed up by staff at the German-Saudi hospital and al-Mu’yyad Modern Hospital, where a doctor told Amnesty International that the majority of the wounded treated there were women and children suffering from fragmentation injuries caused by anti-aircraft fire." Lama Fakih, Senior Crisis Advisor at Amnesty International, says it doesn't matter who is responsible and it's both sides, the people pay the same price. She lectures
 * Both sides have failed to take the necessary precautions to protect civilian lives in violation of the laws of war. Instead they have carried out attacks that have had devastating consequences for the civilian population ... The sheer number of injuries caused by anti-aircraft fire in Sana’a points to a disturbing pattern of attacks in which the obligation under international law to protect civilians during a conflict is being flouted."

Does this mean there are so many harmless Saudi attacks that there's so much defensive fire it's killing people? Or is it reckless "attacks" with AA fire that's killing people? --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:30, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Joint Military Force
Arab leaders agree joint military force, after a summit dominated by a Saudi-led offensive on Shiite rebels in Yemen and the threat from Islamist extremism.

Al Qaeda and Daesh

 * April 26: IIS declares caliphate in Yemen
 * The Islamic State, or ISIS released a new video on Friday officially declaring the terrorist group's presence in Yemen and threatening the Houthi Shiite rebels in control of much of the country. Saudi-led airstrikes and ground fighting resumed in Yemen early Sunday morning as part of a month long campaign against Houthi rebels who seized the capital, Sanaa and the surrounding area in January.


 * In the latest video, more than twenty ISIS terrorists appear in full military gear and claim to be located near the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The apparent leader of the group in the video announced the “soldiers of the Caliphate" have arrived in Yemen to “cut the throats” of the Houthis. The video was posted online the day after a newly-announced division of ISIS, known as the Green Brigade, claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on the Shiite rebels.


 * Al-Qaeda in Yemen declares support for ISIS, against US-Iran conspiracy, Gulf monarchies (and the Houthis too, maybe?)


 * Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen is declaring its support for the Sunni extremist group that has taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria, creating the potential for a new alliance against the United States.


 * “We announce solidarity with our Muslim brothers in Iraq against the crusade. Their blood and injuries are ours and we will surely support them,” said a statement published by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen Times reported Tuesday.


 * “We assert to the Islamic Nation [all Muslims worldwide] that we stand by the side of our Muslim brothers in Iraq against the American and Iranian conspiracy and their agents of the apostate Gulf rulers," the statement continued. --Caustic Logic (talk) 22:52, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

Commentary

 * Middle East Eye, April 27:
 * The outgoing UN envoy on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, has told the UN Security Council that rival Yemeni groups were on the verge of a peace deal before Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes last month and declared that “outside interference” will only worsen the conflict. --Caustic Logic (talk) 22:41, 28 April 2015 (UTC)


 * Russia Behind the Headlines cites Interfax (primary source needed) cites an "expert on Oriental studies, Higher School of Economic pedagogue Leonid Isayev, who returned from a trip to Yemen on Wednesday" criticizing the Saudi offensive as unlikely to be effective. He's quoted as telling Interfax:
 * "In my opinion, the military campaign will be absolutely unsuccessful for the Saudis. I have no faith in the ability of the Saudis to achieve something in Yemen. The Army of Saudi Arabia is really nothing: there is emptiness behind beautiful gear. This army is inferior to the Yemenis by its combat readiness. The Saudi army has never fought anyone in its history. They simply cannot do that.

Isayev also points to the terrain and general Yemeni "knack for war," and more importantly that the country's populace generally supports the Houthi rebels by far over the Saudi kingdom's intervention. So he concludes "I think that unless the Saudis come to their senses," they and "the countries that get involved in the war against Yemen" are bound for defeat.


 * 'Great Game' in Yemen: "Saudi Arabia and Iran are engaged in their own decades-long strategic rivalry for power and influence in the Middle East..." Martin Reardon, Aljazeera, 26.03.15

Central Bank
I've never really looked into it, and in fact I'm going off memory from an excerpt of a book I haven't read. But I hear there were only these countries, in the year 2000, that still maintained a Soviet-style central bank, as opposed to the "Rothschild" private model: The list I think would have included Yugoslavia too, but was assembled at about the time that country was fully destroyed. So this could be a "who's next" list. Afghanistan was attacked soon after, Iraq was in between attacks, they and NK and Iran became the "axis of evil," Libya was taken out, Sudan was split in half, Iran's ally Syria is being attacked, Yemen had its president overthrown in an "Arab Spring" event, and their correction of this results in air strikes coupled with a renewed Islamist invasion. On the other hand, relations with Cuba, installation of embassies with Robert Ford/V. Nuland types, is on track, so they should feel pretty comfortable, right? --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:03, 28 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Yemen
 * Sudan
 * Libya
 * Cuba
 * Iraq
 * Iran
 * Afghanistan
 * North Korea