Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry reported over the weekend that back-channel peace talks with Yemen’s Houthi movement are continuing despite a recent uptick in violence, and that while they are not ready to advance to the highest levels, they continue to make progress.
Recently, the Houthis shot down a Saudi warplane over the Jawf Province, and Saudi warplanes killed at least 31 civilians in attacks on Shi’ite controlled territory in the aftermath. Such upticks remain disturbingly common in the Yemen War.
The peace process is seen as increasingly vital to the Saudis, however, because there has been little meaningful military progress in Yemen in recent years, and a 2015 invasion that was initially seen to be a quick operation has become a quagmire.
Despite huge increases in military spending, the Saudis have still proven incapable of winning militarily, and the large civilian death toll resulting from the war has done the Saudis substantial harm internationally.
A huge Saudi increase in military spending? Unchecked murder of non-combatant civilians? Bogged down in a quagmire they cannot win? No wonder they’ve become such a “vaunted” US ally.