Three Years into the Yemen War, Saudi Dreams Seem to Never Materialize

Three years of a Saudi-led unequal war in Yemen has bided nothing for the Saudi rulers but the shattering of all their dreams.

When the Saudis first launched their invasion of Yemen in 2015, they pledged to bring back to power just within two weeks the deposed president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crush Yemen's Ansarullah Movement, the popular forces in the country that from the outset were resisting the aggression by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

But after three years of unending brutal attacks against the nation, killing the Yemeni children and women and destroying the country's infrastructures, now the Saudi rulers and their allies feel helpless in dealing with the resistance of Yemeni people. 

In fact, the fledgling movement of the Yemeni popular forces now has turned into an outstanding capable resisting force with a high degree of self-esteem.

True, the Saudi aggression damaged the infrastructures of Yemen and delayed development of the revolution process in the country. But at the same time it gave rise to radical and sectarian trends as well as the internal rifts to provide terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda more opportunity to broaden their influence and put at risk more than the past Saudi borders.

Even the sophisticated state-of-the-art weapons and military hardware possessed by the Saudis have failed to help Riyadh achieve its ambitious goals in the war against its neighbor, Yemen.

Reports suggest that in 2016, 13 percent of the total arms exported by the United States went to Saudi Arabia while Britain and Spain ranked second and third, respectively as supplier of the Saudi armaments.

Yet, the Saudi war in Yemen demonstrated the weakness and ineffectiveness of the kingdom's armed forces. And that is the main reason behind the massive reshuffles took place last month in the Saudi army.

On the other hand, the war in Yemen inflicted massive economic problems on the country. 

The considerable cost of waging war in Yemen has forced Riyadh to ask for a loan from the Global Bank. The Kingdom has also offered investors part of the shares of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Aramco.

More, bad economic conditions in Saudi Arabia have resulted in a fuel price hike and suspension of major development plans in the kingdom.

According to international reports, over three years of the Saudi-led war in Yemen 36,000 Yemenis have died or injured with women and children forming one third of the victims. 

The war in the impoverished nation has also caused widespread epidemic of cholera affecting 900,000 and killing more than 200,000 so far. 

The blockade of Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition forces, on the other hand, is threatening 20,000,000 people in the country with famine while 2,000,000 are suffering from absolute hunger.

However, the Yemeni people have managed to stand against the Saudi-led invasion of their country and defeat policies followed by Riyadh and its main ally Washington. 

Three years of war have taught them to believe in themselves and develop a remarkable level of self-reliance. 

The Yemeni war constituted a turning point both for the Saudi foreign policy and Yemen. On one hand, it aborted a Saudi strategy for the region; something that in turn defeated the US policies as well, and most importantly it helped stabilize Yemen's Ansarullah Movement letting it emerge as a socio-political player in regional and global balances.

Translated by: Reza Bahar

Source: IRNA