Britain At War With Yemen?
War That Does Not Get Much Coverage.
It would seem all we ever hear about on the media when it comes to international conflict is the on - going war between the various factions and nations in Syria. However to the south of the Syrian conflict on the Arabian Peninsula is a conflict raging that is just as brutal and damaging.
It is war between the Houthi rebels and the government of Yemen that the UN says is the legitimate government of Yemen and must be restored under international law.
The UK is involved in this conflict very deeply, we may not have as far as is known have British troops taking part in the direct combative roles against the Houthi rebels but the UK has military advisers helping the Saudi forces and also we sell them all our best war planes currently bombing the heart out of the country which consists of 26 million people in total.
The Saudis who are supposedly an ally of the West have a regime as bad as anything Islamic State ever do with daily be - headings, crucifixions, floggings. Their human rights record when it comes to women is deplorable and they export a particular awful brand of Islam around the world called Wahabism something the Islamic State themselves could identify with no doubt.
It seems in the coalition Saudi has built itself to fight the Houthis of Yemen Saudi is now taking up the mantle of Arab super power and has unashamedly said it would not rule out acquiring a nuclear weapon from Pakistan.
Undoubtedly all sides are responsible for atrocities in the war but Saudi in its air campaign against the Houthis has been accused of most attacks on civilians. However the UK's standing in the world may not be looked on by some too kindly as the UK supports a regime in the shape of KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) with weapons and advisers.
Of course the conflict in Yemen does shadow its fellow conflict in Syria in that it is a Shia - Sunni clash where Saudi support the Sunni side i e the government side and the Iranians are supporting the Houthi driven Shia side which is a proxy war between Iran and Saudi in this case which is another dangerous development for the area.
Calls have been made for a ban on selling hardware to the Saudis while the conflict rages by some British MPs but that is unlikely to happen
Yemen has been called Saudi's Vietnam maybe that is too premature a comparison as yet but one man who knows all about the Vietnam conflict because he was there is one John Kerry American Foreign Minister who says the Saudis can count on US support which thinking about it is ironic indeed.
