An air war that is already taking its toll on the civilian population of the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa is just the beginning, as Saudi Arabia is telegraphing their planned ground invasion of Yemen, and touting the number of Sunni Arab allies who will be going along.
The latest reports are that some 150,000 Saudi ground troops have massed along their border with Yemen, along with heavy artillery. Egypt also confirmed an undisclosed number of troops on transport ships off the Yemeni coast, who will join the invasion.
Egypt is not alone in joining the war, as a number of other Sunni Arab nations are reportedly involved, with an eye on fighting the Shi’ite Houthis, who control the capital city of Sanaa.
At present, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are confirmed to have help from Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan. There are also reports of Libya’s government giving its approval, though they are unlikely to contribute troops, and Saudi state media also claimed Pakistan as part of the coalition.
The news of the war sent the price of oil jumping, as while Yemen itself is not a major producer, Saudi Arabia is, and its own oil production is centered around the territory of its Shi’ite minority. If fighting spreads to the Yemeni coast it could also imperil key shipping lanes.
Saudi officials are already trying to downplay the scope of the war, saying they don’t intend to 100% occupy Yemen, but rather to just fight a big war and weaken the Houthis in the hopes that President Hadi, who resigned in January, will take over again.
That seems unlikely, with Hadi having fled the country yesterday in the face of a minor Houthi offensive. The more likely immediate impact of the Saudi intervention will be emboldening the Sunni Islamist forces in the country, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS, and giving them an advantage in expanding their territory.
Insanity, This new war may very well go belly up like the previous 5 wars in the region.
This time however Saudi Arabia and Egypt may very well find themselves stuck in a drawn out insurgency and occupation.
on top of the Sunni ISIS war waging right now, it's safe to say regional war has begun
Saudi Arabia is a US/Israel puppet and would not dare to invade anywhere unless has an order from Washington. Shame on Obama a baby killer and a war criminal.
> Saudi Arabia is a US/Israel puppet
LOLWHAT.
This puppet is seeding hardcore extremism like a Johnny Appleseed of Evil, giving the US and Israel major pains in the behind.
Some puppet.
Hold on, what was that Post-WWII International Order Violated by Putin That the US Has Sworn To Uphold?
Isn't this against that?
The Sunnis to restore AlQuaeda /ISIS to its rightful position in Sanaa. What a f..ked up world we live in.
Saudi Arabia should start building settlements on choice land taken from the Yemenis, populating them with immigrants from Europe, and prohibiting the locals from using the settlers' roads and infrastructure.
Dear King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,
Thanks for launching a war on a neighboring state to protect your country's interest and also for raising the the price of oil.
Your wisdom and courage is much admired.
May your efforts and those of your valiant allies bring peace and joy to the righteous.
Your pal,
Vladimir Putin.
RSVP
This comment makes no sense as the U.S. is the party colluding withe Saudi Arabia. And just what is your motivation for taking a dig at Putin? He has been reacting to U.S. and western aggression not initiating it.
I thought I was taking a dig at the US for approving of the Saudis doing what they heavily criticized Putin for doing – defending his country's near-interests. I'm also snarking at the Saudis for, first, reducing oil prices, no doubt with US approval, to hurt Russia and Iran and then launching a war which has the potential to cause oil prices to skyrocket.
Guess I missed the mark.
Beyond stupid.
No need to apologize. I made the comment too dense.
Righter (below) said in plain words what I was trying to wrap in satire.
The Saudis make Putin's actions look good.
So Saudi Arabia is doing what we don't want Russia to do in Ukraine, with one exception. The deposed Ukrainian President was democratically elected.
Rightster, your statement puts things in the right perspective.
Thanks.
Any chance this has something to do with the building that blew up in NY today?
The Saudis might just do the Sunni thing and massacre the Houthi population. I'd like to see videos of Saudi troops herding Houthi/Shiite males into trenches, dousing them with a mixture of gas and oil, and burning them alive – just like ISIS does. After all, the Shiites deserve it. Everyone is entitled to a little revenge.
Your example of a little revenge is more like a suggestion the Saudis commit atrocities or what is considered a crime against humanity. Totally warped even if you were trying to be sarcastic or whatever your perverse point might be.
The Saudis along with their coalition of violent dictatorships are thugs and state sponsor of terrorism. Funny how the DC crowd fully supports these thugs and state sponsors of terror.
This doesn´t look very good – the US DOD and State run for their lives from Yemen and in comes the Arabian Calvary to save the day.
Golly gee, how did all of those Arab Muslim countries get together on such short time to create such a massive army? What terrific organizational skills! It´s obvious that they should be training the US, who hasn´t managed to win a war since WW-II , not even their wars on drugs, wars on poverty, etc. Well, now things are in good hands with the super coalition about to invade Yemen.
ISIS will be watching things closely, they could move in to attack countries who have their armies in Yemen, no? Oh that´s right, ISIS is actually friends with those countries attacking Yemen, but sworn enemies of the US. What´s going on here?
Invasion by the richest of the oil rich
The Yemen Civil War is over, and Houthis won it fair and square by superior deadly force. Whereupon, the Houta did a most honorable thing, requested that the US-backed dictator resign and for Parliament to create a real government with real elections.
Comes now an invasion by the richest dictators the world has ever known, orchestrated by Empire USA and hell-bent on preventing the danger of a good example, a democracy that opposes everything our Empire stands for.
It's the Coalition of Lockheed Martin. Every one of the states in the article are supplied by U.S. Merchants of Death. Blackwater and all the other mercenaries are probably there, too.
The world burns, Our Dear Corporate Leaders laugh all the way to the bank, and working stiffs everywhere are too exhausted from daily struggles to even look up and notice…
If they put in 150,000 troops, poverty-striken Yemen is theirs for the taking.
What then? What are they going to do with the place? It is hopeless now before all the damage their war will do.
They've just bought a nightmare. Let's hope it isn't the US buying that nightmare with secret assurances as we arranged all this in DC!!!
Saudi Arabia seems to have backed off some today concerning a full scale invasion. The relatively green Saudi army would have no trouble rolling into Yemen and taking over large areas. Then what would they do? Quickly be ensnared in a long factional war with no end point and no clear road to victory against hardened Yemeni veterans of several wars.
When was the last time the desert bedouins fought a war and won? And for that matter when did anybody allied to Egypt has won? And finally when did Egypt win a war, even on their own soil?
150.000? I doubt the Wahabi iron age kingdom has that many troops in total.
The saudi military is a joke. They regularly resort to using mercenaries from Pakistan and other countries.
The Houthis are tough fighters so if the terrorist kingdom does invade they'll be in for a treat. In fact, the saudis and before them, the egyptians, never had much to celebrate in the way of military victories in Yemen.
Pat Lang, former military attache in Yemen, wrote of the Houthi:
"Spectacularly gifted in field craft, endowed with a wry, dry sense of humor and fiercely independent among the clans and against whatever government might be, these perpetually armed little hill men make good friends but bad enemies."
Luca K Is correct. The Saudi's have a total of 75,000 ground troops–and many of them are tied up in efforts to suppress insurrection inside the "Royal Kingdom".