(Sana'a) The conflict in Yemen is one mired in confusion and a lot of propaganda. In a nutshell The dictator for life Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted from power by the people during the Yemeni revolution in 2012 which was but one branch of the Arab spring which had brought down numerous dictators for life across the Arab world. Unlike the rest Saleh was allowed to leave office with the $60 billion he had pilfered and told he was ok if he kept out of the country. Unfortunately for somebody who had been in power since 1978 (North Yemen 1978-1990, unified Yemen 1990-2012)
Saleh couldn't let go and so he returned to the north of the country in 2015 (The former North Yemen) and throwing in his clan with the local tribesmen (The Houthi) they decided to try and take control of the county which saw them capture the former lands of North Yemen and expand somewhat slightly and take the area around Aden.
There they were defeated when Saudi Arabia throw in its lot with the President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi since then the Houthi have been pushed back into what was North Yemen , where the geography of the land (mountainous) has kept them safe until they decided to murder Saleh in December 2017 followed by a murderous clamp down on his clan. They on mass decided to throw in their lot with Hadi and the Saudis and since then the Houthi have lost a lot of land mainly lowlands,
but they remain tight in the mountainous areas they still hold.
Now this is where it gets murky , the Houthi are Shia Muslims and as such have the support of Shai Iran, whose mullahs are happy to cause trouble for the Sunni Muslims of the Gulf nations, primarily their regional rival Saudi Arabia which just happens to be next door. In fact the first thing the Houthi did when they took the West of the country was throw in their lot with Tehran. Which kind of explains the advance weaponry the Houthi have apparently invented themselves (like the over 200 Scud missiles launched into Saudi Arabia) The recent use of tactical cruise missiles
Since the reversal of Houthi fortunes after they removed Salah and his clans, there has been in play a huge propaganda effort in which to play the victim card for the houthi, This has been aimed at the peace groups in the West and are surely funded by Iran. For example until Jan this year the death toll for the war was around 6000 people, now that figure has been risen these past few months to over 230K really 250 thousand people killed in 4 months, Much has been made of millions starving, yet the only people starving are those in Houthi held areas and that is due not to the Saudi backed Yemani army, rather it is due to the Houthi. In fact yesterday the UN stated it was going to have to stop food aid to the Houthi areas due to the theft of aid by the Houthi.
Funny how all the do-gooders in the West remain silent on this.
Now this is where it gets murky , the Houthi are Shia Muslims and as such have the support of Shai Iran, whose mullahs are happy to cause trouble for the Sunni Muslims of the Gulf nations, primarily their regional rival Saudi Arabia which just happens to be next door. In fact the first thing the Houthi did when they took the West of the country was throw in their lot with Tehran. Which kind of explains the advance weaponry the Houthi have apparently invented themselves (like the over 200 Scud missiles launched into Saudi Arabia) The recent use of tactical cruise missiles
Since the reversal of Houthi fortunes after they removed Salah and his clans, there has been in play a huge propaganda effort in which to play the victim card for the houthi, This has been aimed at the peace groups in the West and are surely funded by Iran. For example until Jan this year the death toll for the war was around 6000 people, now that figure has been risen these past few months to over 230K really 250 thousand people killed in 4 months, Much has been made of millions starving, yet the only people starving are those in Houthi held areas and that is due not to the Saudi backed Yemani army, rather it is due to the Houthi. In fact yesterday the UN stated it was going to have to stop food aid to the Houthi areas due to the theft of aid by the Houthi.
Funny how all the do-gooders in the West remain silent on this.
