27-Feb-18 World View -- Saudi Arabia sacks its top tier of military commanders as Yemen war drags on

[John]

27-Feb-18 World View -- Saudi Arabia sacks its top tier of military commanders as Yemen war drags on

From missile strikes and bombings to cholera, war-torn Yemen deteriorates

** 27-Feb-18 World View -- Saudi Arabia sacks its top tier of military commanders as Yemen war drags on
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e180227




Contents:
From missile strikes and bombings to cholera, war-torn Yemen deteriorates
Saudi Arabia sacks its top tier of military commanders


Keys:
Generational Dynamics, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Houthis, Iran,
United Arab Emirates, UAE, Egypt,
World Health Organization, WHO, cholera, diphtheria,
King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, MBS

[devorah]

The UN strikes again. Those of us who operate in the real world of direct unnuanced communications that bring results find diplomatic subtleties to be laborious and wasteful. Oft times denials of reality. Russia and Iran are stacking the deck. The UN resolution only matters because America continues to play overtly at word games with enemies similarly engaged. The real transactions take place in hotel rooms and dark alleys.
Meanwhile Yemenis starve and die of diseases while dodging rocket fire and surviving in filth. Will the new Saudi cast of characters step up the destruction of Yemen? Distribution of funds from the auction of corrupt businessmen's assets will be part of this story. Follow the money and the Russian/Iran temporary alliance.

[Guest]

Sunni is a religious designation. Peoples as diverse as Bedouins, Berbers, Kurds, and Turks can all be Sunni. So to say that Yemen had an "ethnic Sunni" government is misleading. The government belonged to an ethnic Arab tribe that adhered to the Sunni branch of Islam.

[John]

> Sunni is a religious designation. Peoples as diverse as Bedouins,
> Berbers, Kurds, and Turks can all be Sunni. So to say that Yemen
> had an "ethnic Sunni" government is misleading. The government
> belonged to an ethnic Arab tribe that adhered to the Sunni branch
> of Islam.

What tribe is that?

[Guest]

> Sunni is a religious designation. Peoples as diverse as Bedouins,
> Berbers, Kurds, and Turks can all be Sunni. So to say that Yemen
> had an "ethnic Sunni" government is misleading. The government
> belonged to an ethnic Arab tribe that adhered to the Sunni branch
> of Islam.

What tribe is that?

The Sanhan tribe, also called the Sanhan clan.

[Guest]

I have to say that we all should be ashamed of our so-called allies Saudi Arabia.

Although the parallels are not perfect, since U.S. planes are not bombing Yemen, do we not leave ourselves open to criticism that by providing military support to Saudi Arabia by means of selling them jet fighters and bombers and tanks and other war materiel, we are not much better than the Russians who are directly (by dropping chlorine-laced metal-debris barrel bombs) helping the loathesome Syrian genocidist accomplish ethnic genocide within the Syrian mess?

Granted, the Houthis started this mess in Yemen as an ethnic genocidal campaign of their own, so perhaps the argument exists that they're getting what they deserve. But hard to explain that one to the millions dying from infections in Yemen.

And now the Yemen thing is such a mess, that even if the U.S. wanted to help bring that Yemen combat to a decisive conclusion by sending in its own troops (and planes, and bombs, etc.) to defeat the Houthis in short order, our hands are now tied, since the U.S. would be stupid to send in its own troops into that cholera-infested mess.

But certainly, the U.S. ought to bring its political pressure to bear on Saudi Arabia to stop the embargo (that's cutting off food and medical supplies) and instead legitimately make bigger efforts to selectively cut off military supplies only, and at the same time increase their military effort against the Houthis proper, instead of inflicting death upon the whole Yemen population.

[John]

> Sunni is a religious designation. Peoples as diverse as Bedouins,
> Berbers, Kurds, and Turks can all be Sunni. So to say that Yemen
> had an "ethnic Sunni" government is misleading. The government
> belonged to an ethnic Arab tribe that adhered to the Sunni branch
> of Islam.

> What tribe is that?

> The Sanhan tribe, also called the Sanhan clan.

The Sanhan tribe is the tribe that Ali Abdullah Saleh belonged to.
But it's hardly correct to say that the Sanhan tribe governed Yemen.
It would be more correct to say that Yemen was governmed by the Hashid
confederation, which consists of numerous tribes. But even then, the
Hashid confederation was closely associated with the Bakil and Madhaj
confederations, with dozens more tribes. They all played a part in
governing Yemen.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/y ... s-1.391643

And that doesn't even mention the current official government, led by
Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. I can't figure out what tribe he belongs to,
but he's from Abyan, which is in the south, so he can't be from any of
the confederations or tribes described above.

So when I write an article about Yemen, I have to come up with a
phrase to describe the opposition to the Houthis, and the best that I
can come up with is "Sunni tribes" in some sort of collectivist sense.
But to say that Yemen is or was governed by the Sanhan tribe is
clearly wrong.