Daily Scope: Saudi Aggression with Arab Coverage and US Patronage
Local Editor
Newspapers Headlines:
AS-SAFIR:
US Support and "Israeli" Ease.., Tens of Air Strike Victims
Haphazard War On Yemen, To Where Will it Lead the Arabs?
AL-AKHBAR:
Saudi Aggression with Arab Coverage and US Patronage
AL-BINAA:
Armies of 8 Countries Mistake the Path from Palestine to Yemen
THE DAILY STAR:
US, Iran Nuclear Talks Enter Crucial Round
NY TIMES:
A Policy Puzzle of US Goals and Alliances in the Middle East
The US-backed Saudi aggression on Yemen prevailed over news and media outlets, with Lebanese papers as well having focus on the Saudi war. Yet, as Lebanese papers follow on the conflict, Lebanon chose a policy of isolation rather than taking side in the recent development.
Joining Saudi Arabia in this offensive are Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Sudan, Pakistan, Morocco, Somalia, and Egypt which said will provide boots on the ground if necessary, not to metion the US which swiftly presented logistical and intelligence support.
Lebanon Adopts Policy of Dissociation on Yemen - As-Safir
Lebanon took an ambiguous stance that is in the vein of its famous "dissociation policy" towards regional conflicts, voicing support for any joint Arab action that "reassures everyone," after Saudi warplanes bombed Shiite rebels in Yemen and sparked Iranian warnings.
As-Safir newspaper said even though the dissociation policy is difficult for Lebanon to achieve as it lies in the heart of the region, but it pointed out that the country is trying hard to keep that policy viable particularly in an attempt to protect Lebanon on the inside, through the stance of its Foreign Minister.
According to ministerial sources, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam will not ‘go far in expressing himself in the stance he will give at the Arab Summit, and Hizbullah as well might set a blind eye to that stance if he does not go too far as Hizbullah is adherent to an ongoing dialogue and a functioning government."
"Any joint Arab action is lauded if it is based on standards that guarantee (the interests of) everyone, reassure everyone and involve everyone," Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said, addressing a meeting for Arab FMs in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Lightning Strikes Palestinians as 8 Arab Countries Unite to Fight Yemen! - AL-BINAA
Al-Binaa newspaper wrote on Friday "Since 70 years, the Araabs have been awaiting to hear the news, and in Palestine particularly. Something no one would have ever dreamt of, that all this money and arms, hence governments and armies unite. To see that, the Palestinians would have lit candles and raised flags as they expect these armies to head to one direction: Palestine."
But, according to the paper, the surprise struck them to see that 8 Arab countries have united together, gathering their armies and planes, setting up an operation room as well, but lost path and headed to Yemen instead of Palestine.
The Saudi decision to start a war against Yemen, according to the paper, will draw a new path in the history of the region, as Saudi Arabia has formed a coalition for this mission with US support and "Israeli" special welcoming.
Western Media Draws Image before Every War: The Opponent is Evil - AL-AKHBAR [Analysis]
Before every war, mainstream media seems to dissociate the notion of humanity from the and turn him into an icon of evil and threats, to guarantee popular support when the air strikes start. This was what happened when Western media turned Russian President Vladimir Putin into a ‘warmonger' only a few years after he was a ‘friend', wrote Amer Mohsen in al-Akhbar newspaper.
Mohsen said the same policy as adopted when it comes to Yemen, where the Gulf ‘war' media presented Ansarullah as a mere ‘Iranian-proxy' in the region, and presented it as part of the created Sunni-Shia conflict [even though the two concepts of Sunnism and Shiism do not have clear definition in Yemen].
The analyst noted a few points: first, the Houthi Movement known as Ansarullah is not a foreign invasion, but rather a people that have long history, popularity and legitimacy that many may not know as they got acquainted to the Yemeni domestic affairs last summer! Second is that Saudi Arabia and the US did not launch the war on Yemen for to support the Arabs in face of the Persians, nor to support the Sunnis in face of the Shias, but rather to preserve the regional situation as it is and protect the natural riches and resources from which they benefit.
The Houthis, wrote the analyst, in return for the haphazard foreign attack, is not dealing with the matter as weak and oppressed, but rather firmly and calmly declared they will retaliate to any aggression, and this is the mentality with which the Houthi movement has succeeded in face of the many wars launched against it.
The leader of Yemen's Houthi fighters has heaped scorn on Saudi Arabia for conducing unjust and heinous attacks on Yemeni people, saying the Arab kingdom is serving as a puppet for the United States and the "Israeli" regime. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi made the remarks in a televised address on Thursday in reaction to Saudi Arabia's "unjustified" deadly attacks targeting Yemeni people in the capital, Sana'a.
"You think you can kill Yemeni people, but this is because of your stupidity," he said. "This unjustified aggression shows the hostility and arrogance of this regime. The attacks are reflecting the inhumanity of the aggressor."
Ground Offensive Looming, Considerable Number of Victims: Yemen - The Guardian
In the wake of air strikes launched by US-backed Saudi Coalition on Thursday, the possibility of a ground offensive in Yemen has grown significantly as Egypt declared its readiness to send troops into the embattled country "if necessary", wrote the Guardian.
The Guardian quoted three senior Egyptian security and military officials telling the Associated Press that Saudi Arabia and Egypt would lead a ground operation in Yemen after a campaign of air strikes to weaken the rebels, saying the forces would enter by land from Saudi Arabia and by sea from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. They said on Thursday that other nations would also be involved. The Gulf states have intervened on the ground before in recent years, with Saudi troops moving in to quell the uprising in Bahrain in 2011 in support of the Khalifa monarchy against the peaceful popular protests.
The Ansarullah leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, declared that Yemen would be the "graveyard of invaders" if the coalition launched a ground invasion and called for an end to what he declared an illegal, unprovoked aggression.
On another note, Cedric Schweizer, the head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen, said it had been "a long and difficult night" for residents of Sana'a, Aden, Lahj and al-Baydha. "It is very difficult at this stage to establish the exact figures of those who lost their lives or were injured, but we have learned from our contacts with the ministry of public health and population on that there was a considerable number of civilians killed or wounded."
Sharp Rise in Oil Prices after Saudi War on Yemen - New York Times
The New York Times reported that oil prices rose sharply on Thursday amid concerns that fighting in the Arabian Peninsula between a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi fighters in Yemen could disrupt supplies.
While Yemen is a minor-league oil producer, the fact that Saudi Arabia, the country's northern neighbor and one of the world's leading oil exporters, had become embroiled in an armed conflict roiled the market, even though analysts said there was very little near-term chance of a disruption in petroleum production. What might matter more, they said, is the longer-term market impact of rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
"This is a subset of a broader regional conflict, and as it intensifies, the odds of it affecting a major oil producer continue to rise," said Seth Kleinman, an analyst at Citigroup in London.
War Not Sectarian, US Dipping Toe in another Conflict - The New York Times [Analysis]
In an analysis on the current developments in the Persian Gulf, The New York Times said in an analysis that the United States is now dipping its toe into another conflict as it already is struggling to navigate the chaos engulfing much of the Middle East.
Making sense of the Obama administration's patchwork of policies "is a puzzle," said Tamara Cofman Wittes, a researcher at the Brookings Institution and former senior State Department official.
"But whether that puzzle reflects the lack of a coherent policy on the administration side or whether that puzzle simply reflects the complexity of the power struggles on the ground in the region - well, both are probably true," she said.
In addition, the analysis quoted Stephen Seche, a former American ambassador to Yemen, saying that the Houthis had rarely defined their struggle in Yemen in sectarian terms and that their ties to Iran had been overstated by Gulf nations.
"The Saudis and the Sunnis have made this a sectarian issue," he said. "This military campaign is the Sunni world saying to Iran: Get out of our backyard."
But amid the confusion, some experts said that there cannot be an overarching American policy in the Middle East at the moment. The best the White House can do, they said, is tailor policies according to individual crises as they flare up.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, called for an "immediate cessation of military activities" in Yemen in phone conversations with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
Iran, which has aligned itself with the Houthis, strongly objected to the Saudi air strikes, urging their immediate halt.
"We demand an immediate stop to the Saudi military operations in Yemen and we believe they are an infringement to Yemen's sovereignty," said Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, according to the semi-official Isna news agency. "These operations will only lead to bloodshed and we will spare no efforts to contain the crisis in Yemen."
Source: al-Ahed news
