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Arabia
Large Saudi armored force crosses into Yemen to fight Iran-backed rebels
2009-11-07
Thursday, Nov. 5, a substantial Saudi armored infantry force and tank column crossed the border into Yemen to do battle with Iran-backed Houthi rebels the day after they killed a Saudi border guard.

Saudi air force F-15 and Tornado jets have been bombing Yemeni rebel positions near the border with the southern Saudi Jizan province since Wednesday. The Yemeni Houthi rebels are the second Iranian ally to be attacked after Israel's Cast Lead operation against the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza earlier this year.

"This is not a hit-and-run, this is a sustained action" to clean out the rebel camps in coordination with the Yemeni authorities, said a Saudi source Thursday night.

Sources in Riyadh report a number of Saudi casualties in the first hours of combat. The Saudis decided to send troops into northern Yemen to wipe out the Yazdi Houthi bases after the rebels crossed into Jizan Tuesday, Nov. 3, and captured three villages in the rugged Jebel al-Dukhan district. They killed a Saudi soldier and injured eleven before being driven out.

At this point, the oil kingdom's royal rulers decided to draw the line lest the Yemeni revolt spill over into southern Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim tribes which have an affinity with the Yazdis, a branch of the Shia. Most of all, they are concerned to prevent pro-Iranian fighters from encroaching on Saudi soil.

In the last two weeks, Saudi warships have helped the Yemeni navy apprehend at least three ships bringing fresh arms supplies from Iran to the Houthis, by the same method as Tehran arms supplies reach Hizballah and Hamas.

Tehran denied it is sending weapons to the rebels, but the Saudi rulers decided that Iran had crossed too many red lines and it was time to go on the offensive before the throne was imperiled by Iranian proxy belligerence.

For the last five months, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been providing Yemeni president Abdullah Salah with military assistance against the Yazdi Houthi insurrection, mainly military equipment and ammunition.

Nonetheless, the Yemeni military has not been able to quell the rebellion. The Houthis' strength has been constantly reinforced from Tehran to the point that the Salah regime is in danger.
Posted by: Anonymoose

#12  we always have a budget item to take care of contingencies like Saudis going into Yemen.

I am not aware that anyone thought the Saudis would actually use their expensive army for more than parades, Alaska Paul.
Posted by: trailing wife    2009-11-07 22:22  

#11  I wonder how many "innocent civilians" they're going to kill and whether somebody will notice?

It's brown-on-brown. Figure the odds.
Posted by: Pappy   2009-11-07 19:45  

#10  Don't spend your money on popcorn, Grom. Barbara Scolaut is the RB Popcorn Czar, and we always have a budget item to take care of contingencies like Saudis going into Yemen.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2009-11-07 16:00  

#9  Nah, I'm spending my money on popcorn.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-11-07 11:01  

#8  assuming there are anything like a school or an hospital in there, or even in yemen

Don't be silly. Of course there are. That's where pious muslims go to kidnap and murder stupid infidels.
Posted by: ed   2009-11-07 10:59  

#7  G(r)om, instead of constructing and trying to push sophisms like that, I think you should do something constructive instead... like starting a donations campaign so those houthi fellows can start stockpiling rockets, they can then lob randomly toward the nearest saudi population centers (preferably from some kind of school or hospital yard, assuming there are anything like a school or an hospital in there, or even in yemen).

It's the right thing to do, because it's always better to give than to receive, isn't it?
Posted by: anonymous5089   2009-11-07 10:25  

#6  I would respond to that if I weren't so busy---constructing an argument why Islam is not responsible for Fort Hood massacre. I got stuck on
"Just because a religion has been associated with violence and genocide: both physical and cultural, from its very inception to the present. And, furthermore, openly proclaims that its ultimate intention is World conquest. Is not a reason to discriminate against its adherents."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-11-07 04:39  

#5  Now, G(r)om, this is just mean, next thing you know, there will be rumors flying around about use of WP or DU against hapless civilian refugees - you wouldn't want the UN to make some kind of war crimes push against our friends the suadis, would you? So unfair.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2009-11-07 03:56  

#4  Quagmire!
Posted by: anonymous5089   2009-11-07 03:53  

#3  The Yemeni Houthi rebels are the second Iranian ally to be attacked after Israel's Cast Lead operation against the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza earlier this year.

That's gives me an idea---lets spread rumors that Soodies have IDF advisers with them.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-11-07 02:02  

#2  
(a) That's, to the best of my knowledge, the first time Soodies are actually fighting instead of bribing somebody else to do it for them.
(b) I wonder how many "innocent civilians" they're going to kill and whether somebody will notice?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-11-07 01:50  

#1  Yet another example of brotherly love.
Posted by: 3dc   2009-11-07 00:24  

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