Chaos in Yemen and Saudi intervention
- By Sajjad Malik
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 30, 2015
Yemen's economy is in tatters. It has one of the worst Human Development Index ratings among Arab nations. Though, it had a semblance of democracy with an elected presidency, its democratic institutions are too weak to withstand the current chaos.
On the top of this, Saudi Arabia has launched attacks to dislodge the Houthis who have tacit Iranian support. There are media reports that Houthi leaders have been spotted in the Iranian city of Qum - not surprising as Iran is already supporting the Shiite regimes and groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Yet, the Saudi attack is unnecessary as there was hardly a threat of invasion by the Houthis. The Saudis have a strong armed force, including air force. King Salman's anger at Iran's strategic overreach is understandable but his policy makers should have weighed other options to deal with the rise of the Houthis as supposed Iranian proxies.The Saudi government should have fortified its border to check the expansion of the chaos rather than sending troops to topple the insurgents in Sana'a.
Indeed, the Saudis may have been trapped by the Iranians, as such interventions have a beginning but no scheduled ending. We have several examples like Soviet in Afghanistan, American intervention in Somalia, the Iraq war of 2003 etc. In all cases, the interventions backfired with disastrous consequences.
Yemen is lost for time being and massive military and economic efforts are required to retrieve the situation. It is still questionable whether the Saudis had done their homework for a land invasion to restore President Hadi. Sending ground troops without express backing of the UN will set a dangerous precedent.
Even if they defeat the Houthis, they will have to station troops for a fairly long period to keep the governing in the saddle. The expense of restoring economic stability will also be high.
Armed interventions are a foreign policy tool, but should be avoided as much as possible. In case of unavoidable circumstances, the intervention should be fast and brief.
The writer is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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