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| Arabia |
| In tightly ruled Saudi Arabia, Yemen war is 'something good' |
| 2015-04-19 |
| [DAWN] A newspaper hails Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's "brave gunnies". Students build a remote-controlled fighter plane as a tribute to warplanes bombing Yemeni rebels. A phone company offers patriotic songs as ringtones. This is wartime in Saudi Arabia, a tightly controlled Islamic kingdom where almost every audible voice is behind the three-week-old air campaign against sock puppets of the Medes and the Persians in neighbouring Yemen. "Our king has done something good," said Saud Mubarak, an unemployed man in his mid-20s. He echoed the government view of the absolute monarchy that the Saudi-led military coalition acted to stop the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews... rebels' advance and to help the legitimate government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. "We're all happy about that," said Mubarak, a former security guard. Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamdi, former head of the "I feel that what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did was 100 per cent right ... not only for Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... but all the countries of the Gulf, and Arabs and Islam," said Ghamdi, who sparked a controversy in the conservative kingdom last year when he appeared in a video with his wife whose face was uncovered. On Yemen, his views follow the official line which accuses Iran of supporting the Houthis, despite Tehran's denial of supplying weapons to them. Saudi Arabia's top holy man, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, has called the Yemen operation "a blessed step". |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 steve white: yes correct from my armchair the Saudi military is not there to defend the borders but to keep them occupied in the service of the kingdom makes everyone feel a lot more loyal considering they are Islamonutz and the IS are calling them.... |
| Posted by: anon1 2015-04-19 21:41 |
| #5 the same job militaries have in every thugocracy... We, on the other hand, are much more enlightened and use our military for social engineering and to promote gender equality. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2015-04-19 15:08 |
| #4 The Saudi military isn't there to fight wars and defend the borders. It's there to keep the royal family in place. In other words, the same job militaries have in every thugocracy... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2015-04-19 14:16 |
| #3 ^Sorta. Is the kingdom all in or overly dependent on Mighty Pak Army Landser? Or Egyptians? Outside chance the Zkingdom becomes something other than a clearing house? I dunno, I just dunno. It would be the chance of a lifetime to the current headman to gain military credit ability by sending in the Saudi Guard. Who am I kidding? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-04-19 09:55 |
| #2 As long as they don't have the draft? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-04-19 04:44 |
| #1 Al Arabiya is in full blown propaganda mode. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2015-04-19 01:04 |