Saudi deploys 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers for anti-Houthi campaign

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/Saudi-deploys-100-fighter-jets-150-000-soldiers-for-anti-Houthi-campaign.html

Saudi deploys 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers for anti-Houthi campaign

Jordan, Sudan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates are among the nations taking part in the Suadi-led operation.


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By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Saudi Arabia deployed 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and other navy units on Thursday, after it launched its operation against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.
The Saudi aerial deployment enabled the Royal Saudi Air Force to take control of Yemen’s airspace early Thursday.

Infographic: The 'Decisive Storm' coalition

(Design by Farwa Rizwan/ Al Arabiya News)
Reports also emerged that top Houthi leadership Abdulkhaliq al-Houthi, Yousuf al-Madani, and Yousuf al-Fishi were killed, and head of the Revolutionary Committee for the Houthis, Mohammed Ali al-Hothi, was wounded.
Saudi allies including its Gulf counterparts - except Oman - also showcased their military power to curb the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from reaching Aden to dislodge Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who remained in the southern city.
The Gulf nations said they decided to “repel Houthi aggression” in neighboring Yemen, following a request from the country’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
In their joint statement Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait said they “decided to repel Houthi militias, al-Qaeda and ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] in the country.”
The Gulf states warned that the Houthi coup in Yemen represented a “major threat” to the region’s stability.
The UAE contributed 30 fighter jets, Bahrain 15, Kuwaiti 15, Qatar 10 and Jordan 6 in the operation.
On Thursday, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and Sudan also expressed their readiness to participate on the ground in Yemen.
The Western-backed Syrian National Coalition opposition group said it backed the Saudi operation and voiced its support to Hadi as Yemen’s “legitimate” leader.
The campaign has also received the backing of the U.S..
The White House on Wednesday said Washington is coordinating closely with Saudi Arabia and regional allies in the campaign, providing intelligence and logistical support.
Read also: King Salman orders airstrikes against Houthis

Another Middle East War Breaks Out: Saudis Begin Bombing Yemen, US Military Taking Action


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/25/2015 23:53 -0400

OBAMA AUTHORIZED LOGISTICAL AND INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT TO GULF, U.S. MILITARY TAKING MILITARY ACTION TO DEFEND SAUDI BORDER, TO DEFEND AGAINST HOUTHI VIOLENCE

 
John McCain & Lindsay Graham explain Obama's move...

Quote :

U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the following statement on Saudi Arabia leading an international coalition conducting air strikes against Iranian-backed separatists in Yemen:
 
“Saudi Arabia and our Arab partners deserve our support as they seek to restore order in Yemen, which has collapsed into civil war.
 
“We understand why our Saudi and other Arab partners felt compelled to take action. The prospect of radical groups like Al-Qaeda, as well as Iranian-backed militants, finding safe haven on the border of Saudi Arabia was more than our Arab partners could withstand. Their action also stems from their perception of America's disengagement from the region and absence of U.S. leadership.
 
“A country that President Obama recently praised as a model for U.S. counterterrorism has now become a sectarian conflict and a regional proxy war that threatens to engulf the Middle East. What's worse, while our Arab partners conduct air strikes to halt the offensive of Iranian proxies in Yemen, the United States is conducting air strikes to support the offensive of Iranian proxies in Tikrit. This is as bizarre as it is misguided – another tragic case of leading from behind.”

*  *  *
Earlier today we reported that, on very short notice, Saudi Arabia had moved heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, "raising the risk that the Middle East’s top oil power will be drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict." In other words, Saudi Arabia was preparing for war.
Shortly thereafter, but before Yemen's president bravely fled the country over fears of the Houthi rebel advance, Yemen's foreign minister called for Arab military intervention against advancing Shiite rebels.
As we explicitly warned, "the conflict risked spiraling into a proxy war with Shi'ite Iran backing the Houthis, whose leaders adhere Shi'ite Islam, and Saudi Arabia and the other regional Sunni Muslim monarchies backing Hadi."
Moments ago all these warnings were borne out when Al-Arabiya reported that the latest middle-east war is now official after Saudi Arabia and Arab Gulf States had launched a bombing campaign against Yemen.
More details:

ADDITIONAL INFO


Yemen Ground Invasion By Saudi, Egyptian Troops Imminent
Published: March 26, 2015
  



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Source: Zero Hedge


As reported first thing today, while the initial phase of the military campaign against Yemen has been taking place for the past 18 hours and been exclusively one of airborne assaults by forces of the "Decisive Storm" coalition, Saudi hinted at what is coming next following reports that it had built up a massive 150,000 troop deployment on the border with Yemen.
And as expected, moments ago AP reported that Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that the military intervention will go further, with a ground assault into Yemen by Egyptian, Saudi and other forces, planned once airstrikes have weakened the capabilities of the rebels.
.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2015/03/saudi troops.jpg][/url]
Will this invasion mean that Yemen as we know it will no longer exist and become annexed by Saudi Arabia? According to coalition military sources, the answer is no, but that remains to be seen:

Quote :

Three Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that a coalition of countries led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia will conduct a ground invasion into Yemen once the airstrikes have sufficiently diminished the Houthis and Saleh's forces. They said the assault will be by ground from Saudi Arabia and by landings on Yemen's Red and Arabian Sea coasts.
The aim is not to occupy Yemen but to weaken the Houthis and their allies until they enter negotiations for power-sharing, the officials said.
They said three to five Egyptian troop carriers are stationed off Yemen's coasts. They would not specify the numbers of troops or when the operation would begin. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the plans with the press.

Egypt's leadership role in the next stage of the campaign has come as somewhat of a surprise to observers. Egypt's presidency said in a statement Thursday that its naval and air forces were participating in the coalition campaign already. Egypt is "prepared for participation with naval, air and ground forces if necessary,"Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said at a gathering of Arab foreign ministers preparing for a weekend Arab summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
This may be just the beginning:

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The Arab Summit starting Saturday is expected to approve the creation of a new joint Arab military force to intervene in regional crises. The Egyptian security and military officials said the force is planned to include some 40,000 men backed by jet fighters, warships and light armor. Hadi is expected to attend the summit.

The locals do not sound much enthused about the prospect of allowing foreign troops to enter their country uncontested, and as AP notes, support for the Houthis is far from universal in Yemen - but foreign intervention risks bringing a backlash

Quote :

On Thursday, thousands gathered outside Sanaa's old city in the Houthi-organized protest, chanting against Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Khaled al-Madani, a Houthi activist, told the crowd that "God was on the side of Yemen." He blasted Saudi Arabia saying it is "buying mercenaries with money to attack Yemen. But Yemen will, God willing, will be their tomb."
Anger against the strikes was already brewing - particularly after airstrikes targeting an air base near Sanaa's airport flattening half a dozen homes in an impoverished neighborhood and killing at least 18 civilians, according to the health ministry.

For now Yemeni anger is focused on Saudi Arabia:

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TV stations affiliated with the rebels and Saleh showed the aftermath of the strikes Thursday. Yemen Today, a TV station affiliated with Saleh, showed hundreds of residents congregating around the rubbles, some chanting "Death to Al-Saud", in reference to the kingdom's royal family. The civilians were sifting through the rubble, pulling out mattresses, bricks and shrapnel.
Ahmed al-Sumaini said an entire alley close to the airport was wiped out in the strikes overnight. He said people ran out from their homes in the middle of the night, many jolted out of bed to run into the streets. "These people have nothing to do with the Houthis or with Hadi. This is destructive. These random acts will push people toward Houthis," he said, as he waved shrapnel from the strikes.
Strikes also hit in the southern province Lahj and the stronghold of Houthis in the northern Saada province. In Sanaa, they also hit the camp of U.S.-trained Yemeni special forces, which is controlled by generals loyal to Saleh, and a missile base held by the Houthis.

But that will soon change, as it is a virtual certainty that the US will intervene at a point in the near future, with its own military assets. So while we await to see just where US troops make landfall, here is the most updated map showing the locations of US naval assets around the globe in general, and in proximity to Yemen in particular. Keep a very close eye on the LHD-7 Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship (which carries some 2,000 marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit), currently located just off the coast of Yemen.
.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2015/03/us navy update.jpg][/url]
 

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http://www.prisonplanet.com/saudi-failure-in-yemen-will-result-in-direct-u-s-military-intervention.html

Saudi Failure in Yemen Will Result in Direct U.S. Military Intervention


Gulf Emirate Sunni coalition does not have the ability to defeat Shia Houthi militias
Kurt Nimmo
Prison Planet.com
March 27, 2015
The corporate media is attempting to push the narrative that the Gulf Emirate attack against Shia Houthi militias in Yemen is about restoring the “the legitimate government of Yemen,” as Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said Wednesday.
https://youtu.be/JhR3rj-cETw


The ambassador’s remarks serve as a thinly veiled cover for the real objective for the attack on Yemen — taking control of one of seven strategic world oil shipping chokepoints. The removal of sitting President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi from power by the Houthi militias threatened this control. It also potentially increases Iranian influence in Yemen and the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab el-Mandab where more than 10 percent of the world’s seaborne petroleum passes.
F. William Engdahl explains:

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An excuse for a US or NATO militarization of the waters around Bab el-Mandab would give Washington another major link in its pursuit of control of the seven most critical oil chokepoints around the world, a major part of any future US strategy aimed at denying oil flows to China, the EU or any region or country that opposes US policy.

On Thursday the United States confirmed it is supporting Saudi military operations underway in Yemen.
National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said:

Quote :

In support of [Gulf Cooperation Council] actions to defend against Houthi violence, President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to GCC-led military operations. While U.S. forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen in support of this effort, we are establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate U.S. military and intelligence support.

In other words the US launched a proxy war to regain control of Yemen.
On Thursday Egypt said it is prepared to send troops. Egypt has the largest army in the Arab world. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi provided cover for Egypt’s participation in the operation by saying his country must “fulfill the calls of the Yemeni people for the return of stability and the preservation of the Arab identity.


In addition to helping the Gulf Emirates — and the United States — maintain control of the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab el-Mandab, the remark by el-Sisi about “preservation of the Arab identity” is an allusion to preventing Iranian influence in the region.
Hot War Between Sunni and Shia Islam
The establishment media in the West has correctly identified the coalition arrayed against Shia militias in Yemen — including Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and Jordan — as a Sunni undertaking.
https://youtu.be/SCp6yx3tjHQ





For now, the US and the UK are on the sidelines. If, however, the Saudis fail to reinstall Abdurabu Mansour Hadi’s government in Sanaa or create a situation in the country favorable to the global financial elite, the US and Britain will undoubtedly intervene.
The British Foreign Office is said to be considering a direct military role and the United States is currently “coordinating military and intelligence support” for the Sunni operation.
IHS Jane’s Intelligence Weekly says “Saudi Arabian and other Arab League ground forces are ill-placed to support the reinstatement of President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi’s government in Sanaa without a high-risk commitment to taking on the Houthi in their mountainous homeland in north Yemen” and will likely use Yemeni proxies on the ground supported by Arab coalition — and eventually US and British — airstrikes.
“The success of a Saudi ground force intervention against the Houthi would be far from guaranteed, and also likely to prove highly costly for the Saudis, as well as increase domestic instability risks,” writes Firas Abi Ali.

Saudi Arabia Known for Numerous Foreign Policy Failures
“Saudi Arabia believed that it had allies in Yemen but they turned against its initiative and today it is incapable of military intervention and is just watching the begetting of a new entity in Yemen,” writes Saudi activist and renowned academic, Dr. Madawi Al-Rashid.
This inability and the dismal track record of Arab military success in the Middle East may ultimately result in a more direct military role by the United States and Britain