Geopolitical
Ramifications of US-Saudi Armed Interventionism in Yemen
By Prof. Henry Francis B. EspirituApril 15, 2015 "ICH"
- The Houthi rebellion in
Yemen that was already in existence more than five years ago had recently turned
into a full-blown conflict that escalated into an international crisis in the
first week of April of 2015 when Houthi rebels in Yemen deposed President Abed
Rabou Mansur Hadi, throwing him out of the helm of Yemeni government. Hadi fled
to Saudi Arabia while the Houthis effectively captured the capital Sana’a.
Thereafter, Saudi Arabia, has initiated massive aerial bombings against the de
facto Houthi government in Sana’a and in various strategic areas of Yemen that
are now being occupied by the Houthi militia.
Saudi Arabia, together with its allies in the Arabian
Peninsula has justified its invasion into another sovereign territory by
claiming that they want the Houthis to return the reins of power back to the
erstwhile government of President Hadi. However, it is really interesting to
notice that the unilateral Saudi interventionism in the internal affairs of
Yemen may have deeper reasons other than the above claim since the United
States and its allies in the Arabian Peninsula are actively supporting this
Saudi initiative of undeclared war against Houthi de facto rule in Yemen.
It is as clear as the midday sun that US plays a great role
in Saudi’s armed interventionism in Yemen. It is indeed a wonder why Saudi
Arabia and its allies against Houthis have not taken any confrontational
military action against the ISIS of Iraq and Syria when the so-called
“Islamic State” committed heinous crimes against Arabs and Kurds in these
areas.
Saudi Arabian armed forces did not invade nor bother to bomb
even one ISIS camp in Iraq, Syria and the Levant when the inhumanities that
this so-called “Islamic State” has done and is still continuously inflicting
up till now against Sunni Muslims, Shi’a Muslims, Sufi Muslims, Christians
as well as against Yezidis were far more brutal, far more cruel and far more
heinous compared to any acts committed by other rebel movements in the
Middle East, Houthi rebels of Yemen included. It is very telling to note
that America immediately and directly condones the undeclared war and
unilateral military interventionism of Saudi Arabia against the Houthis,
whereas US and Saudi Arabia did not do anything that can be construed as
serious military operations against ISIS in Iraq, Syria and the Levant.
The reason why the USA is enthusiastically supporting the
undeclared war of Saudi Arabia against the Houthi rebels in Yemen is clearly
geopolitical: imperialistic design to control the politics and the economy
of Yemen, and eventually the Gulf states in the Arabian Peninsula, by using
Saudi Arabia as its more than willing proxy warrior.
The US strategic plan for the Middle East in general,
and in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf countries in particular, is to exploit
the volatile situation of the region, by initiating regime changes, by
manufacturing dissent and by financing proxy wars so that the US can, in
effect, hold each nation-state by their necks and thus realize its
imperialistic intentions in these countries so that US can make these
countries subservient to its hegemonic dream of controlling the geopolitics
in this region (for example; military and economic control of the sea lanes
in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea
using military and tactical cooperation with US’ allied regimes in these
regions) and controlling economic resources: fossil fuel being the foremost
resource in these countries.
We can now observe that Yemen’s situation is truly hazardous
from the point of view of international politics, and the ultimate result of
this US-Saudi interventionism upon Yemen is indeed perilous for Yemen and
for its people. It can be accurately predicted that US-Saudi interventionism
in Yemen if absolutely successful, may have the same tragic results as that
of present-day Libya, Iraq, Egypt and Afghanistan—these nations are now
failed states, thanks to the unabashed and unabated US military intervention
in these countries!
Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian and totalitarian theocratic
monarchy. Despite of this, US continues to actively support Saudi monarchy
even though the latter’s government is one of the most undemocratic
dictatorships among nation-states in the entire Middle East! The sad truth
is that US never cares to propagate democracy in the Middle East, contrary
to what is being harped and proclaimed far and wide by the Western
mainstream media outfits that are unthinking supporters of the already
discredited CIA propaganda called “Arab Spring”.The
glaring proof that US is not interested in the democratization of the Middle
East is the fact that the US supports the most corrupt and cruel dictators
of the world: the dictators of the Middle East first and foremost—for so
long as these tyrants actively support the continued US hegemonization in
the region! And in return, these dictators and tyrants in the Middle East
must pay absolute allegiance to US hegemony in order to be assured of US
support against internal democratic movements within and domestic rebellions
that are constantly besetting their totalitarian regimes.
The old adage, “it takes two to waltz or tango” proves to be
an apt and veritable depiction describing the reciprocal, co-dependent,
symbiotic yet parasitic relationship between US hegemony and the corrupt
monarchs and dictators in the Middle East region.
Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu is
Associate Professor-VI of Philosophy and Asian Studies at the University of
the Philippines (UP), Cebu City. He was former Academic Coordinator of the
Political Science Program at UP Cebu from 2011-2014. His research interests
include Islamic Studies particularly Sunni jurisprudence, Islamic feminist
discourses, Islamic philosophy, the writings of Al-Ghazali on tolerance and
pluralism, Turkish Sufism and Public Theology. He can be freely contacted at
his email address: espirituhenryfrancis@yahoo.com.
