150,000 Saudi troops and an unknown number of others from assorted Sunni Arab nations are poised to pour into Yemen, an invasion aimed at weakening the Shi’ite Houthi faction and reinstall a former president.
Though Saudi officials are still comparatively mum on the timing of this invasion, it is seen as likely to be sooner, rather than later, with today’s Saudi attack on a north Yemen refugee camp seen by many as underscoring the eagerness of the nation to get the ground war underway.
Though Saudi officials are brimming with optimism that the war can be won comparatively quickly, the Houthis have shown resilience from the air campaign of the past several days, and the Shi’ite population of Yemen, some 30% of the national population, is likely to resist what is largely a sectarian war of aggression.
Even during the best of times, Yemeni governments have had very tenuous control outside of the capital city, and the nation’s large population is not at all used to being ruled, and even less so by a foreign power. That’s setting the stage for a protracted war, with no end in sight.