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2015-04-04 Arabia
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Saudi airstrikes against Yemen a historic first
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[al-Monitor] On March 25, tribal gunnies loyal to Yemen's Houthis, along with Yemeni military forces, tightened their siege on the southern city of Aden, which President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi declared as a temporary capital after he fled there from Sanaa more than six weeks ago.
Two weeks earlier, 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 ...
gunnies, in conjunction with some Yemeni army units, conducted a military exercise in Saada province on 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 southern border. These Houthi activities may have been the direct cause of the largest-ever bombing campaign against Yemen, which has not fought a war with another country in 80 years. Ongoing internal wars, however, have torn 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...
apart -- including the current one between Hadi's forces and the Houthis; al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
(AQAP) and the army; and the six wars between 2004 and 2009 in Saada between the Houthis and the government. Yet, March 26 was a defining moment in Yemen's modern history, as Sanaa residents woke up to the sounds of continuing Arclight airstrikes.
The Houthi threat against Saudi Arabia has increased. Saudi Arabia considers the Houthis an extension of its traditional foe, Iran. Yemen's legitimate president became trapped in Aden after escaping from a monthlong house arrest imposed by the Houthis, who surrounded his house in Sanaa. He escaped Feb. 21, the third anniversary of the referendum that made him president. If Aden falls into the hands of Ansar Allah, the Houthis would effectively tighten their control over the country's key locations, especially Aden's international airport and the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The fall of Aden is considered a threat to one of the largest oil routes in the world and would affect the global oil economy.
The Houthis' military progress from their northern stronghold has been an unprecedented source of concern for Riyadh since mid-2014. That concern culminated in September 2014, when the Houthis tightened their grip on Sanaa, whereby the army and security establishments came under their direct control.
On March 21, high-ranking Saudi security officials met with representatives from other Gulf countries in Saudi Arabia. This meeting seems to have put the finishing touches on a secret operation being prepared against Yemen. This meeting took place nearly two weeks after the Houthis, in conjunction with pro-Houthi army units, conducted a military exercise with live ammunition and heavy weapons on Saudi Arabia's border.
The Saudi-led military operation against the Houthis in Yemen, known as Operation Decisive Storm, started by bombing quality targets that paralyzed Yemeni air defenses. About 185 modern military aircraft, mostly Saudi Arabian, destroyed military targets, most notably the air bases of al-Dailami and al-Adan. They also destroyed weapons stores in Sanaa and Saada, as well as camps for special forces and reserve forces loyal to former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
located west and south of the capital. Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Bugs Moroni was holding Slats from behind while his brother Greasy Thumb was pounding his face into paste ...
Hadi headed to the 26th Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on March 28. He traveled by road to Oman, and then to Riyadh, which is sponsoring his return to power by using US F-16 jets. 
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Posted by Fred 2015-04-04 00:00||
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