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War in Yemen: More
Links 2 Krieg im Jemen:
Weitere Links 2 Die hier
zusammengestellten stamemn aus der Anfangsphase des Krieges. Sie berichten
die damals aktuellen Ereignisse, zeigen Hintergründe und Zusammenhänge auf.
Dabei sind die Autoren keineswegs alle derselben Meinung. Die Verantwortung
für die Entwicklung wird bei Saudi-Arabien und den USA gesehen. Dabei
wird durchaus sehr unterschiedlich gewichtet: Sind nun mehr die USA oder mehr
Saudi-Arabien für die Eskalation der letzten Woche verantwortlich? Eines
sollte ja wohl sicher sein: Ohne die moralische wie auch sonstige
Unterstützung der USA (Aufklärung) hätte Saudi-Arabien wahrscheinlich viel
zurückhaltender agiert. Und würden die USA womöglich unter Androhung von
Sanktionen die Saudis zu einem Ende der Aktionen auffordern, dann wären sie
sehr rasch zu Ende. Eine
Variante, um Saudi-Arabien wie die USA von der Verantwortung zu entlasten, war
in der Anfangsphase des Krieges, auf den Iran zu zeigen. Doch das ist wohl
eher ein Ablenkungsmanöver, dazu auch der verlinkte Artikel von Sharmine
Narwani. Ältere
Artikel aus der Zeit vor dem Ausbruch des Krieges zeigen, dass das, was jetzt
eskaliert, eine lange Vorgeschichte hat. Was jetzt passiert, haben kluge
Beobachter schon vor Jahren kommen sehen. Immer schon vorne dabei:
Saudi-Arabien und die USA. Wikipedia-Artikel zum aktuellen
Jemenkrieg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Yemen_offensive_(2015)
und http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_military_intervention_in_Yemen Wikipedia-Artikel zur Machtergreifung
durch die Houthi-Rebellen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E2%80%9315_Yemeni_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
und zu den Folgen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath_of_the_2014%E2%80%9315_Yemeni_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat Wikipedia-Artikel zu den Kämpfen um
den Flughafen von Aden am 19. März: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aden_Airport Wikipedia-Artikel über die
Selbstmordanschläge auf Moscheen in Sanaa am 20. März: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Sana%27a_mosque_bombings Wikipedia-Artikel zum Bombenanschlag
in Sanaa im Januar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2015_Sana%27a_bombing 1.4.2015 – Washington Post Ex-Dictator’s Support as Key for Yemen’s Rebels http://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-washington-post/20150401/281732677991523/TextView 1.4.2015 – Global and Mail Air strikes in Yemen kill 23 in factory, witnesses say An air strike on Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodaida destroyed a dairy
factory on Tuesday night, killing 23 workers, medical sources said, in what
appeared to be one of the biggest cases of civilian deaths in a Saudi-led
campaign against Houthi militia. 1.4.2015 – Reuters Yemen air strikes kill 23 in factory: residents An air strike on Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodaida destroyed a dairy
factory on Tuesday night, killing 23 workers, medical sources said, in what
appeared to be one of the biggest cases of civilian deaths in a Saudi-led
campaign against Houthi militia 1.4.2015 – Pakistan Today 62 children killed in Yemen in past week: UNICEF At least 62 children have been killed and 30 injured in Yemen over the
past week as fighting has escalated with a Saudi-led air campaign, the UN
children’s agency UNICEF said Tuesday. “Children are in desperate need
of protection, and all parties to the conflict should do all in their power
to keep children safe,” said UNICEF’s representative for Yemen, Julien
Harneis http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/04/01/national/62-children-killed-in-yemen-in-past-week-unicef/ 1.4.2015 – CNN Civilian Casualities are Mounting in Yemen (Film) Saudi-led airstrikes have been hammering Houthi rebels in Yemen for a
week and civilian casualties are on the rise. CNN's John Vause reports 31.3.2015 – Times Republican and other Yemen civilians shudder, bristle under bombing campaign Yemeni civilians shuddered in fear and bristled with anger under an
intense Saudi-led bombing campaign against Shiite rebels on Tuesday, day six
of fighting that prompted international aid organizations to express alarm
over high civilian casualties from the strikes and violence roiling the
country. Residents of the capital, Sanaa, sought shelter and got little sleep
during the night, while some took to the rooftops in anger or frustration,
firing automatic rifles skywards toward the roar of warplanes. Schools,
universities and government offices were all closed, along with most shops.
Few cars ventured onto the mostly deserted streets – by Associated Press http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/821263/Yemen-civilians-shudder--bristle-under-bombing-campaign.html?isap=1&nav=5015 = http://news.yahoo.com/iran-sends-aid-yemens-rebels-amid-saudi-led-072102862.html 31.3.2015 – Washington Post Saudi generals use Yemen war to showcase their new swagger A report on the daily press conference of the spokesman of the
Anti-Yemen Arab coalition, Brig.Gen. Ahmed Asseri – by Brian Murphy 31.3.2015 – CNN Saudi-led coalition tightens grip on Yemen; casualties rise The onslaught on Houthis rebels in Yemen continued Tuesday, with the
Saudi-led coalition asserting increasing control while locals fled the chaos
and casualties piled up -- dozens of civilians among them. The International
Red Cross said that intense fighting had brought "disturbing reports of
civilian casualties," with some of the worst violence around the port
city of Aden. Erich Ogoso, a spokesman with the United Nations' humanitarian
agency, reported 182 dead and hundreds more wounded just between last
Wednesday and Sunday. Some 75,000 people have been displaced in the past
week, many health facilities shut down and food prices have skyrocketed –by
Greg Botelho, Nic Robertson and Don Melvin http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/31/world/yemen-crisis/ 31.3.2015 – New York Times Saudi Arabia’s Ominous Reach Into Yemen The Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen threatens to turn what
has been a civil war between competing branches of Islam into a wider
regional struggle involving Iran. It could also destroy any hope of stability
in Yemen. Even before the Saudis and their Arab allies started the bombing,
Yemen was in severe distress … Unlike that Qaeda affiliate, the Houthis are
indigenous to Yemen and won’t be defeated militarily, or at least not without
destroying the country. It would be a catastrophic mistake for Saudi Arabia
and other Arab states to allow the Yemeni civil war to become the catalyst
for a larger sectarian Shiite-Sunni war with Iran. President Obama should
press this fact upon the Saudi leadership – by Editorial Board http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/opinion/saudi-arabias-ominous-reach-into-yemen.html 31.3.2015 – RT Will Yemen kick-off the 'War of the two Blocs?' This is not just a regional fight – it is a global one with
ramifications that go well beyond the Middle East. The region is quite simply
the theatre where it is coming to a head. And Yemen, Syria and Iraq are
merely the tinderboxes that may or may not set off the conflagration. The
battle, at its very essence, in its lowest common denominator, is a war
between a colonial past and a post-colonial future. For the sake of
clarity, let’s call these two axes the Neo-Colonial Axis and the
Post-Colonial Axis. The former seeks to maintain the status quo of the past
century; the latter strives to shrug off old orders and carve out new,
independent directions. If you look at the regional chessboard, the Middle
East is plump with governments and monarchies backed to the hilt by the
United States, Britain and France. These are the West’s “proxies” and they
have not advanced their countries in the least – neither in
self-sufficiencies nor in genuine democratic or developmental milestones.
Indebted to ‘Empire’s’ patronage, these states form the regional arm of the
Neo-Colonial Axis. On the other side of the Mideast’s geopolitical fault
line, Iran has set the standard for the Post-Colonial Axis – often referred
to as the 'Resistance Axis.' Based on the inherent anti-imperialist worldview
of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and also as a result of US/UK-driven
isolating sanctions and global politics, Tehran has bucked the system by
creating an indigenous system of governance, advancing its developmental
ambitions and crafting alliances that challenge the status quo. … The Saudis
(and the US) identify the Houthis as ‘Shiites’ and ‘Iranian-backed’ in order
to galvanize their own bases in the region. But Iran has had little to do
with the Houthis since their emergence as a political force in Yemen. And WikiLeaks showed us that US officials know this too. A 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Riyadh notes that Yemen’s former
Saudi-backed President Ali Abdullah Saleh provided “false or exaggerated
information on Iranian assistance to the Houthis in order to enlist direct
Saudi involvement and regionalize the conflict.” Saleh was deposed in 2011 as a result of Arab Spring pressures, and in
a twist worthy of the complicated Middle East, the wily former president now
appears to be backing his former adversaries, the Houthis, against his old
patrons, the Saudis. The Houthis are adherents of the Muslim Zaydi sect
– which falls somewhere between Sunnism and Shiism, and is followed by around
40 percent of Yemenis. Saleh, who fought the Houthis in half a dozen wars, is
also a Zaydi – evidence that Yemen’s internal strife is anything but
sectarian. In fact, it could be argued that the Houthi – or Ansarallah
movement – are a central constituency of Yemen’s ‘Arab Spring.' Their demands
since 2003 have, after all, largely been about ending disenfranchisement,
gaining economic, political and religious rights, eliminating corruption, railing
against the twin evils of America and Israel (a popular Post-Colonial Arab
sentiment), and becoming stakeholders in the state. To ensure the
balance continued in their favor during the Arab Spring, the Neo-Colonial
Axis installed a puppet transitional leader upon Saleh’s departure – an
unelected president whose term ran out a year ago. … Despite a global ban,
the United States has sold the Saudis $640 million worth of cluster bombs
over the past two years, some of which have been used to carpet bomb parts of
Yemen in the past few days. The cluster munitions were part of an overall $67
billion worth of arm deals with Saudi Arabia since the Arab uprisings kicked
off in 2011 – by Sharmine Narwani http://rt.com/op-edge/245585-us-yemen-policies-middle-east/ = http://jomenschenfreund.blogspot.de/2015/04/der-neo-koloniale-widerstand-im-jemen.html 31.3.2015 – Foxtrot Alpha Saudis Fear Iranian Control Of Yemen Due To This Strategic Choke Point There is no doubt that the idea of Iran controlling Yemen via their Houthi
Rebel proxies is a nightmare for Saudi Arabia. A large part of this nightmare
is the possibility that Iran could deny access to the Red Sea and the Persian
Gulf simultaneously, cutting off Saudi Arabia's main avenues for energy
exports and causing hell for global commerce. The issue of Iran strangling
Sunni-ruled Arab States' oil exports has existed for decades. At any time,
Iran can launch throngs of anti-ship and ballistic missiles into and across
the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, along with executing swarming fast boat
attacks and deploying
hundreds of sea mines. Such an action, which could occur quickly, would in
effect shut down the Persian Gulf and choke off 20% of the world's oil supply
and about 88 percent of the region's energy exports with a massive impact on
the global economy. If Houthi Rebels were to consolidate their power and
territorial gains in Western Yemen, and had time to stabilize and establish
formal rule there, Iran could step in and begin to build up its proxy with
similar weapons and tactics as it uses in the Persian Gulf. It all takes money. Lots and lots of money, and in order to keep
making that money, and for Saudi Arabia, the stability of the one thing that
produces any substantial income, that being oil and natural gas exports,
needs to be assured at all costs. Even if their exports were interrupted of
temporarily, the economic and security effects could be damning. As a result,
anything that will ensure that Iran does not get a second way to shut off the
Kingdom's oil spigot to the outside world is worth the cost of an open check
in blood and treasure, and seeing how volatile the situation is on the ground
right now in Yemen there isn't a more complicated or deadly place for which
to cash that check – by Tyler Rogoway http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/saudis-fear-iranian-control-of-yemen-due-to-this-strate-1694709328 31.3.2015 – German Foreign Policy In Flammen Auch nach den jüngsten Luftschlägen
vom gestrigen Montag billigt die Bundesregierung den Krieg eines von Saudi-Arabien
geführten Militärbündnisses gegen Aufständische im Jemen. Man habe
"Verständnis" für die bewaffnete Intervention, heißt es im
Auswärtigen Amt. Saudische Luftschläge trafen gestern unter anderem ein
jemenitisches Flüchtlingslager; dabei starben mindestens 45 Personen. Riads
neuer Krieg richtet sich gegen einen angeblichen Machtzuwachs Irans, dem gute
Verbindungen zu den schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen nachgesagt werden. Er
entspricht den Interessen der NATO-Staaten: Man wolle verhindern, dass
Teheran mit Hilfe der Huthis "neben der Meerenge von Hormuz auch noch
die Meerenge zwischen dem Jemen und Afrika kontrollieren könnte, durch die
jeden Tag Millionen Barrel Erdöl transportiert werden", erläutert ein
renommierter Kommentator. Für ihren Krieg stehen den saudischen Streitkräften
deutsche Kriegswaffen zur Verfügung, darunter Tornado- und
Eurofighter-Kampfflugzeuge sowie - für den Fall eines Einmarschs saudischer
Bodentruppen im Jemen - Sturmgewehre der Modelle G3 und G36. Beobachter
halten eine vollständige Entgrenzung des jemenitischen Bürgerkriegs für
durchaus wahrscheinlich. Die arabische Welt steht nach zahlreichen offenen
oder verdeckten militärischen Interventionen des Westens unkontrollierbar in
Flammen - vom Süden der Arabischen Halbinsel bis Nordsyrien, von Libyen bis
Irak. Bereits vor Beginn der aktuellen
Luftangriffe auf Stellungen der Huthi-Rebellen hatten die westlichen
Großmächte und ihr regionaler Hauptverbündeter Saudi-Arabien zur Eskalation
des innerjemenitischen Konflikts beigetragen. Dies geht aus Analysen von
Experten hervor. So weist die International Crisis Group, ein internationaler
westlicher Think-Tank, darauf hin, dass Washington "und andere westliche
Regierungen" den jemenitischen Staatspräsidenten Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi
um jeden Preis an der Macht zu halten suchten, da er im
"Anti-Terror-Krieg" stets bereitwillig mit ihnen kooperierte. Hadi
stellte etwa den Vereinigten Staaten den Stützpunkt Al Anad unweit der
Hafenstadt Aden zur Verfügung - für Drohnenoperationen aller Art, aber auch
für die Ausbildung jemenitischer Spezialkräfte. Dass der kooperationswillige
Präsident weithin dringend gewünschte Reformen verschleppte und in der
Bevölkerung kaum noch Rückhalt hatte, sei im Westen ignoriert worden, heißt
es bei der Crisis Group. Im Herbst letzten Jahres berichtete die Büroleiterin
der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (SPD) im Jemen, Hadis "politisches
Überleben" werde "derzeit nur noch durch die internationale
Gemeinschaft garantiert". Wie die Crisis Group schildert, hat
Saudi-Arabien zuletzt sogar mehrfach denkbare Verhandlungslösungen in dem
eskalierenden Konflikt sabotiert. So habe sich Hadi im Februar einem
Teilkompromiss per Flucht aus der Hauptstadt Sanaa nach Aden entzogen -
"unterstützt von den Saudis", berichtet der Think-Tank. Noch in
diesem Monat habe Riad erneut eine Einigung unmöglich gemacht, indem es
Gespräche an Vorbedingungen geknüpft habe, die für die Huthis unerfüllbar
gewesen seien. http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/59081
= http://principiis-obsta.blogspot.de/2015/04/yemen-in-flammen.html Ein Artikel von Stephen Lendman im
Counterpunch vom 31.3.2015, « Obama’s Dirty War in Yemen“, wird hier nur
erwähnt, aber nicht verlinkt, wegen zu großer Polemik. 31.3.2015 – BBC Yemen on verge of total collapse, UN human rights chief warns The UN high commissioner for human rights has warned that Yemen is
"on the verge of total collapse", as Houthi rebels battle a
Saudi-led coalition backing the government. "The killing of so many
innocent civilians is simply unacceptable," Mr Zeid said. "The
principles of proportionality, distinction, and precaution fully apply in
this context. International human rights law and humanitarian law should be
fully respected." http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32133203 31.3.2015 – The Week Don't cheer Saudi Arabia's foolhardy war in Yemen Indeed, Saudi insistence on the sanctity of global order and stability
might surprise more than a few, seeing as its fingerprints can be found on
decades of uprisings, insurgencies, and acts of terrorism. The monarchy's
reliance on a radical class of Wahhabi clerics to ensure its hold on power
has resulted in chaos all across the globe. Loath to tolerate yet another
Tehran-friendly government along its border, the Saudis have cobbled together
an alliance of like-minded governments to help it wage what has become a turf
war for power and influence in the Middle East. Its battlefields include the
civil war in Syria, the highly sectarian campaign against
the Islamic State in Iraq,
and now Yemen. Saudi Arabia has been meddling in Yemeni affairs for decades now, often using its oil wealth to buy off rival tribes
and warring factions. What plagues this incredibly poor country is largely
local and inherently tribal, but none of that has stopped many in American
media and government from painting the crisis in absurdly broad strokes – by Kevin B. Sullivan http://theweek.com/articles/546977/dont-cheer-saudi-arabias-foolhardy-war-yemen 31.3.2015 – Qantara.de Der Jemen
und die Büchse der Pandora Beinahe stündlich verschlechtert sich die
Lage im Jemen. Die saudischen Luftangriffe heizen den Konflikt weiter an. Es
droht die Destabilisierung einer ganzen Region. Es ist kaum absehbar, in
welche Richtung sich die Geschehnisse im Jemen entwickeln. Um ein
vergleichbares Schicksalsmoment in der Geschichte des Landes zu finden, muss
man die Zeit bis zur Ära nach der Revolution gegen das jemenitische
Königreich im Jahr 1962 zurückdrehen. In dem in diesem Jahr beginnenden
Bürgerkrieg rangen ähnlich viele Akteure um die Macht wie heut. Einen Ausweg
kann einzig ein friedlicher Dialog bieten. Weder Saudi-Arabien, noch der
Iran, noch die USA, und selbstverständlich auch nicht die Jemeniten selbst,
profitieren von einer Ausweitung des Konflikts. Doch die Zeit für Gespräche
ist möglicherweise bereits verstrichen. Durch ihren Angriff könnte die
Anti-Huthi-Koalition bereits die Büchse der Pandora geöffnet haben: Eine Tat,
die das Potenzial hätte, die Arabische Halbinsel und die Region in den
kommenden Tagen, Wochen und Monate bis in die Grundfesten zu erschüttern –
von Adam Baron http://de.qantara.de/inhalt/krise-im-jemen-der-jemen-und-die-buechse-der-pandora 31.3.2015 – Der Standard Erneut 35 Tote bei saudi-arabischen
Luftangriffen im Jemen Bei einem Luftangriff der von
Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition auf schiitische Huthi-Rebellen sind im
Jemen mindestens 35 Menschen getötet worden. Kampfjets hätten rund 140
Kilometer südlich der Hauptstadt Sanaa einen Kontrollpunkt der Huthis
bombardiert. 20 Opfer seien Kämpfer der Rebellen gewesen, weitere 15
Zivilisten. Dutzende Menschen seien bei dem Angriff in der Stadt Yarim
verletzt worden http://derstandard.at/2000013669771/Jemen-Chinesen-per-Schiff-nach-Dschibuti-gebracht 31.3.2015 – World Socialist
Web (Hört sich zwar nach Altkommunisten
an, aber trotzdem verlinkt, da doch m. E. ganz gut die Zusammenhänge erklärt
werden) Der Krieg im Jemen und Amerikas
Streben nach Weltherrschaft Das Ziel des Kriegs ist die
Zerschlagung der Houthi-Rebellen, die vom Iran unterstützt werden, und der
Truppen, die auf der Seite des langjährigen Diktators Ali Abdullah Saleh
kämpfen und einen Großteil der westjemenitischen Provinzen erobert haben. Die
USA wollen außerdem den Luftwaffenstützpunkt Al Anad zurückerobern, der als
Basis für Drohnenangriffe innerhalb des Jemen benutzt wurde. Bei diesen Angriffen
wurden seit 2009 mehr als eintausend Menschen getötet. Der
Luftwaffenstützpunkt wurde vergangene Woche am Mittwochmorgen von
Houthi-Rebellen erobert, kurz bevor Saudi-Arabien seine Luftangriffe begann.
Warum ist die amerikanische Regierung daran interessiert, den Jemen zu
kontrollieren? Die Antwort ist einfach: wegen Öl. Die Meerenge Bab el-Mandeb,
die zusammen mit dem ägyptischen Suezkanal das Mittelmeer mit dem Indischen
Ozean verbindet, liegt zwischen dem Jemen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel und Dschibuti
und Eritrea am Horn von Afrika. Ein Großteil des Öls, das vom Persischen Golf
nach Europa, in die USA und Asien exportiert wird, muss durch diese Meerenge
transportiert werden. Mit anderen Worten, es geht in diesem Krieg um
geostrategische Vorteile und um Weltmacht http://www.wsws.org/de/articles/2015/03/31/pers-m31.html 30.3.2015 – Telepolis Jemen: Internationaler Kampfplatz.
Eine ganz große Kriegskoalition beim "Sturm der Entschlossenheit" Einen Militärschlag mitsamt Androhung
noch massiverer Einsätze und in so breiter Beteiligung von
"willigen" Staaten hat es in der arabischen Welt bisher nicht
gegeben: Saudi-Arabien bombardiert den Jemen, Kriegsschiffe stehen bereit und
150.000 Mann Bodentruppen, die USA leisten "logistische Hilfe", 10
arabische Staaten haben ihre militärische Unterstützung angesagt, die
britische Regierung gibt dem Rückhalt, das deutsche Auswärtige Amt erklärt
die kriegerische Operation für legitim. Auf der Gegenseite: Die so genannten
"Huthi-Rebellen", einige Zehntausende, keineswegs modern
ausgerüstet. Eine Weltgefahr? Saudi-Arabien, wie Thomas de Maizière es dem
deutschen Publikum in Sachen Waffenlieferung dargelegt hat, "ein Anker
der Stabilität" im Nahen Osten? – von Arno Klönne http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/44/44526/1.html 30.3.2015 – Foreign Policy Make No Mistake — the United States Is at War in Yemen. The White House
just doesn’t want to admit it. To see Yemen exclusively through the lens of U.S. counterterrorism
goals, and thus deem it a foreign-policy “success,” is not only insensitive
to the chaos Yemenis are experiencing, it is incredibly shortsighted — if not
downright disingenuous. … As Fred Iklé wrote in his 1971 classic Every War
Must End, “[I]t is the outcome of the war, not the outcome of the
campaigns within it, that determines how well their plans serve the nation’s
interests.” The manner and speed with which the Obama administration decided
to wholly back one side in Yemen’s latest proxy civil war — with no clear
outcome — should be alarming. Unfortunately, this has become standard
operating procedure for how the United States keeps going to war – by Micah
Zenko 30.3.2015 – Global Research US-Sponsored Slow-Motion Genocide in Yemen Bush and Obama administrations murdered Yemenis for years – through
drone terror-bombings and internal subversion killing mostly civilians. On
the one hand, it ousted Ukraine’s democratically President Viktor Yanukovych
– replacing him with putschist Nazi thugs. On the other, it supports illegitimate Yemeni president Abd
Rabbuh Mansur Hadi – coronated
in a 2012 election with no opposing candidates. … Yemen is Washington’s
latest imperial high crime against peace – by Stephen Lendman http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-sponsored-slow-motion-genocide-in-yemen/5439548 30.3.2015 – taz Krieg im JemenViele Tote in
Flüchtlingslager Die jemenitische Nachrichtenseite
Barakish.net meldete, Flugzeuge der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition
hätten das Lager im Nordwesten des Landes bombardiert. Zunächst war von 45
Toten gesprochen worden. Jemenitische Sicherheitskreise berichteten am
Montag, Kampfflugzeuge hätten vier Angriffe auf das Flüchtlingslager
Al-Masrak nahe der Grenze zu Saudi-Arabien geflogen. Unter den Toten seien
auch Frauen und Kinder, hieß es weiter. In dem Lager leben laut der
Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen vor allem Menschen, die vor Kämpfen zwischen
schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen und der Armee geflohen sind. In den vergangenen
zwei Tagen seien 500 Familien eingetroffen, die vor den saudischen
Luftangriffen geflohen seien. 30.3.2015 – Middle East Eye 45 dead in air strike on Yemen refugee camp: IOM On day five of Saudi strikes on Yemen, 45 refugees are killed in a
tented camp in northern Yemen At least 45 people were killed on Monday when an air raid struck a
camp for displaced people in northwest Yemen, the International Organization
for Migration said. "IOM is reporting 45 dead among internally displaced
persons, 65 injured (and counting)," spokesman Joel Millman told AFP by
email. Earlier Doctors Without Borders reported at least 15 dead in the
strike. Al-Mazrak Camp is home to at least 17,000 people displaced by the
fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government from 2004 to 2010, largely
in the northern Sa'dah governorate. http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/45-dead-air-strike-yemen-displaced-camp-iom-1242339590 31.3.2015 – WTAE How Yemen could spiral into regional war: Saudi, Iranian influence prods
local political maneuvers Foreign intervention in Yemen's chaos has dramatically raised the
stakes in the Arabian Peninsula, threatening to expand what is already a
civil war into a conflict pitting Iran against Saudi Arabia and an Arab
coalition … Many analysts were surprised at the speed and scale of the Saudi
air campaign, which the Kingdom said would continue until the Houthis -- a
Shia minority that has swept across the country in the last six months --
retreated and laid down their arms. Essentially the Saudis are trying to bomb
the Houthis to the negotiating table. The Houthis have responded by
threatening a campaign of suicide bomb attacks inside Saudi Arabia. Iran,
which has supported the Houthis as fellow Shia, described the Saudi offensive
as a "dangerous move that would kill any chance at peaceful resolution
of the crisis." Yemen is becoming the latest battleground in a contest
for regional superiority between Saudi Arabia and Iran that goes back to the
overthrow of the Shah during Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979. It now
resembles Syria, or Bosnia 20 years ago. "This combination of proxy
wars, sectarian violence, state collapse and militia rule has become sadly
familiar in the region. Nobody is likely to win such a fight," the ICG
says. – by Tim Lister, CNN http://www.wtae.com/national/how-yemen-could-spiral-into-regional-war/32082996 30.3.2015 – Daily Sabah The power struggle in Yemen While looking for answers to these questions, we need to resort to the
historical background of the matter that goes back centuries. The origin of
Houthis, who have risen against the Yemeni government, goes back to Hussein,
the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Hussein's grandson, Zaid, was killed when
he revolted against the Umayyads, and the caliph of the Umayyads hung his
body from a tree where it stayed for years. Those who followed Zaid's lead
were called Zaidis, also known as the "Fivers" branch of
Shia. The Zaidis' struggle for sovereignty in Yemen dates back to the
ninth century. They did not submit to Ottoman domination, and their
insurgency continued for many years. The Ottoman Empire could never achieve
full domination over Yemen due to the Zaidis and withdrew from the country
during World War I. Although the ongoing turmoil stopped temporarily when
South Yemen was united with North Yemen in 1993, it reappeared in the course
of time. http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/nagehan-alci/2015/03/31/the-power-struggle-in-yemen 30.3.2015 – Washington Post Dozens killed in airstrike at refugee camp in Yemen An airstrike killed dozens of people Monday at a camp for displaced people
in northern Yemen, in what appeared to be the single deadliest attack since a
Saudi Arabia-led coalition sent warplanes to target Shiite insurgents
advancing across the country. As many as 40 people died and about 200 were
wounded in the attack on the Mazraq camp in Hajjah province http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/saudi-led-airstrikes-shake-sanaa-for-fifth-day-as-rebels-push-towards-aden/2015/03/30/0f3b3b76-d6bf-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d_story.html see also http://www.newsweek.com/strike-refugee-camp-yemen-kills-45-317762 30.3.2015 – Vox Obama's love of the "Yemen model" sums up his disastrously
shortsighted foreign policy The Obama administration's approach to Yemen has all along exemplified
some of its worst foreign policy instincts in the Middle East: treating drone
strikes and armed proxies as the solution for everything, finding short-term
solutions to long-term problems, and refusing to deal seriously with the
underlying issues that keep creating crises in the region. But this model
failed in Yemen — just as it has failed, and will continue to fail, in the
rest of the Middle East. The "Yemen model" of counterterrorism is
all about achieving short-term goals. It focuses on treating the symptoms of terrorism
— going after specific militant targets and attempting to disrupt specific
plots — but does nothing to address the underlying political problems that
allow terrorist organizations to flourish. The US partners with whichever
local group or dictator will help fight our counterterrorism
enemies today, then throws in some drone and air strikes to back them
up. And sometimes that does bring short-term successes! But evidence is
mounting — not that it should have been difficult to see this coming — that
the long-term costs of this model outweigh the short-term gains. Obama seems
to assume the only two options are either short-term thinking or hubristic,
Bush-style attempts to remake the region in America's interests. But surely
there is some middle ground available that takes underlying political
problems into account, and accepts short-term costs in exchange for pursuit
of long-term gains. But instead, we get the continuous insistence that the
Yemen model is super-duper awesome in the face of its obvious, significant,
demonstrable failures – by Amanda Taub http://www.vox.com/2015/3/30/8309797/obama-yemen-model 30.3.2015 – Zee News Scarcity of food, water in Yemen: Indian returnee There is a shortage of food and water in Yemen and continuous bombing and shelling is taking place in the
country, an Indian expatriate has said on returning to Kerala. http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/scarcity-of-food-water-in-yemen-indian-returnee_1570150.html
dagegen http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-yemen-security-food-idUSKBN0MQ1M620150330 30.3.2015 – Deutsche Welle Airstrikes hit refugee camp in northern Yemen An airstrike in the northwest of Yemen has killed a number of people
in a camp for displaced people. A Saudi-led coalition has been pounding
Shiite Houthi rebels positions for days. http://www.dw.de/airstrikes-hit-refugee-camp-in-northern-yemen/a-18349667
dazu http://www.yementimes.com/en/1872/news/5011/Strike-hits-IDP-camp-on-Saudi-Yemeni-border-dozens-feared-dead.htm 30.3.2015 – Zeit Online Jemen: Viele Tote bei Luftangriffen
auf Flüchtlingslager Die saudische Luftwaffe bombardiert
Stellungen der Huthi-Rebellen im Norden des Jemen. Doch auch ein
Flüchtlingslager nahe der Grenze wurde getroffen, es gab viele Tote. Durch
einen Luftangriff auf ein Flüchtlingscamp im Jemen sind nach Angaben von
Beobachtern mindestens 45 Menschen getötet worden. 65 weitere Menschen seien
bei dem Angriff auf das Lager im Nordwesten des Landes verletzt worden, sagte
ein Sprecher der Internationalen Organisation für Migration (IOM). In dem
Camp sollen sich rund 700 Flüchtlinge aufgehalten haben. Unter den Toten
seien auch Frauen und Kinder, hieß es aus jemenitischen Sicherheitskreisen. http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-03/jemen-angriff-fluechtlingslager
dazu auch http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/jemen-271.html 29.3.2015 – Yemen Times Deadly Strikes Hit Yemen for Forth Night aturday evening the fourth round of Saudi-led air raids began in
Sana’a, at 8 p.m. striking the 48th Command Headquarters, housing the
military’s elite Reserve Forces, in the south of the capital. Hussam Mujahed,
a soldier inside the camp, said the bombing killed several soldiers and
injured many others, leaving the 48th Command in a blaze. http://www.yementimes.com/en/1871/news/5009/Deadly-strikes-hit-Yemen-for-fourth-night.htm 29.3.2015 – Tagesschau Luftangriffe im Jemen: Sanaas Airport
angeblich lahmgelegt Seit vier Tagen bombardieren
Saudi-Arabien und seine Verbündeten Huthi-Stellungen im Jemen. Dabei seien
alle Kampfflugzeuge zerstört worden, hieß es. Auch der Flughafen sei nicht
mehr benutzbar. Beobachter rechnen mit dem Einmarsch von Bodentruppen http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/luftangriffe-jemen-101.html
dazu http://www.blick.ch/news/ausland/jemen-flughafen-von-sanaa-bei-luftangriffen-schwer-beschaedigt-id3611651.html 29.3.2015 – Global Research The Geopolitics Behind the War in Yemen: The Start of a New Front
against Iran The truth has been turned on its head about the war in Yemen. The war
and ousting of President Abd-Rabbuh Manṣour Al-Hadi in Yemen are not
the results of a «Houthi coup» in Yemen. It is the opposite. Al-Hadi was
ousted, because with Saudi and US support he tried to backtrack on the power
sharing agreements he had made and return Yemen to authoritarian rule. The
ousting of President Al-Hadi by the Houthis and their political allies was an
unexpected reaction to the takeover Al-Hadi was planning with Washington and
the House of Saud … While the House of Saud has long considered Yemen a
subordinate province of some sorts and as a part of Riyadh’s sphere of
influence, the US wants to make sure that it could control the Bab Al-Mandeb,
the Gulf of Aden, and the Socotra Islands. The Bab Al-Mandeb is an important
strategic chokepoint for international maritime trade and energy shipments
that connects the Persian Gulf via the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean
Sea via the Red Sea. It is just as important as the Suez Canal for the
maritime shipping lanes and trade between Africa, Asia, and Europe … Saudi
Arabia was visibly afraid that Yemen could become formally aligned to Iran
and that the events there could result in new rebellions in the Arabian
Peninsula against the House of Saud. The US was just as much concerned about
this too, but was also thinking in terms of global rivalries. Preventing
Iran, Russia, or China from having a strategic foothold in Yemen, as a means
of preventing other powers from overlooking the Gulf of Aden and positioning
themselves at the Bab Al-Mandeb, was a major US concern … The US is also
involved and leading from behind or a distance. While it works to strike a deal
with Iran, it also wants to maintain an alliance against Tehran using the
Saudis. The Pentagon would provide what it called «intelligence and
logistical support» to the House of Saud. Make no mistakes about it: the war
on Yemen is also Washington’s war – by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya 28.3.2015 – Foxtrott Alpha Second Air War Erupts In Middle East With Wide Ranging Implications Both the Shiite Houthi and President Hadi's backers, which are largely
Sunni, are by and large against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the
Islamic State. Still, there is no love-lost between staunchly Sunni Saudi
Arabia and the Shiite Houthi Rebels. Saudi Arabia has said it will focus its
efforts to see that Aden does not fall into Houthi, Al Qaeda or IS hands.
They have made true on part of this statement when Saudi fighter aircraft
struck a large armored column making its way from the Capital of Sanaa to
Aden, destroying what appeared to be the core mechanized force of Houthi
Rebels that would have assaulted the embattled port city. … The key take away
from these rapid developments is multi-fold. On one hand, you have an
Arab-centric coalition finally leading the way against extremists and
instability in the region. Yemen has largely been an "American
problem" over the last decade or so, with local Arab states, especially
neighboring Saudi Arabia, providing logistical and intelligence support.
These roles have now switched drastically, with the US only playing a
supporting role in this new military coalition. … There appears to be a very
strong tint of proxy warfare in regards to Saudi Arabia's leap into this new
front on the war against Islamic Extremism. The Houthi Militias are Shiite.
The Arab states involved in this new air campaign are predominately Sunni.
Iran is a known supporter of the Houthi. So currently the state of affairs in the Middle East goes something
like this: The US is fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria in tacit conjunction
with Iran to some degree. The US is not directly fighting against, but wants
to depose the Assad regime in Syria which is backed by Iran. Iran is fighting
via Shiite militia proxy against a pro-US established and Sunni dominated
government in Yemen, while Saudi Arabia, our closest Arab ally, along with
other Sunni Arab nations, the majority of which are close US allies as well,
are now fighting this Iranian backed Shiite militia. Meanwhile, mostly
everyone in the region is hoping that Iran is not allowed to reach nuclear
breakout capability. The whole situation is a total mess, where murky intentions
abound and the real chance of deepening hostilities exists around every bend.
Even worse, this all could be just a weak preview of what is to come should
Iran move forward with its nuclear program. As for trying to identify a firm
US foreign policy in the region, you can't, unless we are just going to go
with the age old and dangerous adage: The enemy of my enemy is my friend – by
Tyler Rogoway http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/second-air-war-erupts-in-middle-east-with-wide-ranging-1694268668 5.10.2010 Bibliothecapleyades Yemen – The Covert Apparatus of the American Empire Yemen is perhaps an excellent example of America being on the “wrong
side of a world revolution,” as the secret war in Yemen being exacerbated in
the name of “fighting al-Qaeda” is in actuality, about the expansion and
supremacy of American power in the region. It is about the suppression of
natural democratic, local, revolutionary elements throughout the country
seeking self-autonomy in changing the nation from its current despotic,
authoritarian rule sympathetic to American interests, into a nation of their
own choosing. It is about repressing struggles for liberation. This brings in
the involvement of Saudi Arabia, itself interested in ensuring Yemen is a
loyal neighbor; so they too must suppress indigenous movements within Yemen
seeking autonomy, especially those that are Shi’a Muslims, as the Saudi state
is a strict Wahhabist Sunni Muslim regime. Shi’as are primarily represented
in the region through the state of Iran, Saudi Arabia’s “natural” enemy; both
vying for influence in Iraq and both vying for influence in Yemen. Through
this we see another key American imperial aim in this war, that of seeking to
stir up a conflict with Iran, perhaps through a proxy-war within Yemen. This
essay examines the American war in Yemen as a war of empire, as a war against
the rising tide of people’s movements and the “global political awakening”
that is taking place around the world – by Andrew Gavin Marshall http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalmilitarism67.htm 7.2.2010 – Wikileaks SAUDI ARABIA: RENEWED ASSURANCES ON SATELLITE IMAGERY Ambassador met with Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation Prince
Khaled bin Sultan to relay U.S. concerns about sharing USG imagery with Saudi
Arabia in light of evidence that Saudi aircraft may have struck civilian
targets during its fighting with the Houthis in northern Yemen. Prince Khaled
described the targeting decision-making process and while not denying that
civilian targets might have been hit, gave unequivocal assurances that Saudi
Arabia considered it a priority to avoid strikes against civilian targets.
Based on the assurances received from Prince Khaled, the Ambassador has
approved, as authorized in reftel, the provision of USG imagery of the Yemeni
border area to the Saudi Government. End summary. https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10RIYADH159_a.html 7.1.2010 – Ari Rusila Yemen – the next target for the War on Terror? Yemen’s southern provinces have recently been the scene of US air
strikes which Washington claims to be aimed at uprooting an al-Qaeda cell
operative in the Persian Gulf state. But the residents of the area dismiss the
claims that al-Qaeda members are being targeted in the US-sponsored air
strikes, while Yemen’s government says the strike targeted militants and
their relatives. The Yemen-based group, which claims to be affiliated with Osama bin
Laden’s organisation, had earlier claimed responsibility for the failed
attack and called for strikes on embassies in Yemen. The US operation in southern Yemen comes on top of a joint
Saudi-Yemeni military campaign in the country’s war-weary north where Sana’a
and Riyadh forces are engaged in a fierce fighting against the Houthi
fighters. The Houthis, who accuse the Sunni-dominated Sana’a government of
discrimination and repression against Yemen’s Shia minority, were the target
of the army’s off and on attacks before the central government launched an
all-out fighting against them in early August. Saudi Arabia joined the
operation later following alleged clashes between its border guards and the
Houthis, carrying out regular air strikes and ground incursions against the
fighters. The actual reason for planned U.S. involvement can be the fact that
the U.S.-backed dictator, Yemen’s President Saleh, increasingly is losing
control after two decades as despotic ruler of the unified Yemen. Economic
conditions in the country took a drastic downward slide in 2008 when world
oil prices collapsed. For U.S. Yemen is important for two energy related
issues: one is Yemen’s geopolitical location as one of the world’s most
important oil transport routes and the other is undeveloped – some say one of
the world’s largest – petroleum reserves in the territory. http://arirusila.blogactiv.eu/2010/01/07/yemen-the-next-target-for-the-war-on-terror/ 7.7.2009 – US Congressional Research Service Yemen: Background and U.S. Relations As the country’s population rapidly rises, resources dwindle, and
terrorist groups take root in the outlying provinces, the Obama
Administration and the 111th Congress are left to grapple with the
consequences of Yemeni instability. Traditionally, U.S.-Yemeni relations have
been tepid, as the lack of strong military-to-military ties, commercial
relations, and cross cultural exchange has hindered the development of strong
bilateral ties. During the early years of the Bush Administration, relations
improved under the rubric of the war on terror, though Yemen’s lax policy
toward wanted terrorists has stalled large scale U.S. support. As President
Obama and the 111th Congress reassess U.S. policy toward the Arab world, the
opportunity for improved U.S.-Yemeni ties is strong, though recurring
tensions over counterterrorism cooperation and lack of U.S. interest in Yemen
within the broader foreign policy community persist. – by Jeremy M. Sharp http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/128389.pdf Zum saudisch-jemenitischen Verhältnis auch: 1.5.2000 – Der Überblick Saudi-Arabien und Jemen erkennen ihre
Grenzen: Mit einem Vertrag werden alte Rivalitäten begraben Das Verhältnis zwischen den Nachbarn
Jemen und Saudi-Arabien war lange durch die unterschiedliche
Lebensbedingungen und politische Auseinandersetzungen belastet. Jetzt regelt
ein Vertrag den Grenzverlauf. Darin wurde der spezifischen Wirtschaftsweise
der nomadisierenden Grenzstämme Rechnung getragen. Um künftige Konflikte um
die Nutzung bislang noch unentdeckter Rohstofflager im Grenzgebiet zu
vermeiden, wurde festgelegt, dass bei Entdeckung neuer Reserven Verhandlungen
mit dem Ziel der gemeinsamen Ausbeutung geführt werden sollen –von Victor
Kocher |