The Saudi-backed Hadi government in Yemen issued a statement today condemning yesterday’s move by key figures across the nation’s south to establish a secessionist council that is aiming to formally declare independence from Yemen and return to an independent South Yemen.
The Hadi government’s territory roughly overlaps the territory of pre-1994 South Yemen, and officials complain that making it an independent nation would undermine the Saudi war, which aims to conquer all of Yemen for President Hadi, whose two-year term in office ended in 2014, and who resigned in 2015.
Since the 1994 conquest of South Yemen, there has been an active secessionist movement there, mostly violently cracked down upon by the national government. The Saudi invasion of Yemen in 2015 has split the country into two halves, roughly along the historical lines, which has emboldened the southerners on the idea of reasserting themselves as independent.
Saudi officials are refusing all comment on the matter, but even the notion that the Saudis might ultimately conquer the whole country for him seems to be enough to incentivize Hadi, who is himself a southerner, to keep the war going. With little territory changing hands in months, however, there appears to already be a de facto split, and it’s just taking a long time for everyone to come to terms with it.
Let us not lend legitimacy to whatever Hadi is up to by calling it the (or even a) government. You could just as easily say Hadi territory is Saudi territory, effectively. Or that the Houthis were and are the legitimate government. Or focus on the fact that things are so chaotic and dysfunctional that there is no government. Or focus on human rights instead of governments. Etc etc.
What is really despicable is calling the Yemeni people Houthis. This is done ON PURPOSE, so we will not understand the longevity of those people in the mountains of Yemen. If truth were told, we will be talking or ZAIDI YEMEN, people who fleeing Saudi persecution following the split in Islam, inhabited Yemeni highlands, and its few natural ports on Red Sea coast. They had until fifties, the oldest continuously reigning dynasty in the Middle East. They are people with roots, and the lame neocon story of their serving Iran’s goals, is despicable. Despicable as anything else coming from neocons’ mouths. Inventing lies, and having servile media publish them as ordered, is all that is left to neocons’ essence. But they have their tentacles everywhere, so proud Zaidi Yemen, has become named after one tribal leader, a Houthi. Deceptive, despicable. This is how genocide happens — you first destroy the victims identity, make them nobody. And the world would not notice.
“ZAIDI YEMEN, people who fleeing Saudi persecution following the split in Islam, inhabited Yemeni highlands over 1,000 years ago”
Neat trick, considering that the house of Saud is less than 300 years old.
In the US News story linked, notice they claimed the Houthis were “Iran backed/allied” TWICE and spelled out Hadi’s absolutely full name… two details that are false or utterly unimportant. How many American readers get confused by dozens of different people named Hadi being talked about?
For the sake of good journalism, I cannot see how can one come up with a title “Yemen Government” in association with Saudi backed ousted President Hadi. Being ousted is in fact, not really a problem. Hadi had NEVER been legitimate president of Yemen. After ouster of the President Saleh, Hadi was in fact appointed by Western forces with Saudi Arabia doing the honors of supporting him. He was “elected” on a list of one, himself. Being from the South, Hadi had little to offer to solve Yemen crisis, and he himself tried to extricate himself from the role he found himself in. No such luck.
At present, what does Hadi control, or for that matter, Saudi Arabia. Having failed to control either north or south, Saudi Arabia embarked on the genocide project — and easy one, by taking Yemeni port of Mocha and blocking the main port of Hodeidah. Mocha, even though small, it helped with supplying food to people, as the main port was blocked. Now, as Saudi Arabia and its backers shamefully embark on genocide, hoping the exhausted people would capitulate, we all stand by and watch the gruesome spectacle.
The title should have read: Norther Yemen, aka Houthi forces supports Southern secession. Both have from the beginning agreed to split along the previous border, before South was forcibly annexed to north in a post cold war drunkenness of imperial might. This “union” never made sense for either of them, but it is the megalomanic Saudi Kingdom, in obedience with our own Hubris, that insisted on one country. The collapse of the economy of the unified entity was THE reason Yemen went through political turmoil. And instead of correcting the mistake, the arrogance marches on, and millions are dying around the globe. Lack of food, medicine, wars, terrorism, lack of basic necessities for human habitation, are propelling millions to move around the globe in search of salvation.
Yet, the hubris does not give up, until self-destroyed by Nemesis that grew from within its dark soul.
Newest examples? Today, prominent ISIS commanders in Raqqa-Deir Azzor area declared “the split” from ISIS, and became — Free Syrian Army! As nearly all Free Syria Army in the north has joined Turkish army in order to reclaim their homes back from Kurdish expansion, it became obvious that US needed somebody else to fund and arm on another front — Palmyra and Deir Azzor, where Syrian Government had success in pushing ISIS back.
So, when only ISIS and Al-Qaeda were left in that region, an urgent need arose to create a more respectable name other then Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Voila! ISIS changes name, becomes Free Syria Army — and focuses all their efforts on fighting Syrian Government in Deir Azzor. And periodic bombing of Raqqa civilians by US and “allies’ — the same civilians that for years had to endure ISIS occupation, has become a PROOF that we are actually fighting ISIS? What we are doing in terrorizing Arab civilians, the majority in Raqqa region, to accept Kurds as their overlords. in fact, Kurds are given territory by ISIS, as ordered, and we call it a win, so they can expand their nascent US supported state. The mother of all nation building projects! So, ISIS now has new identity, will be supplied and paid for by US taxpayer, and can with impunity chop heads and practice their cult. This is how ISIS will be defeated — by morphing into “democratic” entities, to be at the negotiating table.
The Yemen government headed by the victor of the Yemen Civil War, namely the Houthi Army of Yemen, they I know. All of the other groups mentioned in this article, I don’t know who they are or what they intend to accomplish.