begin quote from:
One Year Later: Why We Saudis Went to War in Yemen
| Wall Street Journal | - |
When
I woke the next morning, I began to understand what was weighing on
King Salman: Saudi Arabia and its allies had launched “Operation
Decisive Storm,” a military campaign to restore stability to Yemen, a country in chaos on our southern border.
One Year Later: Why We Saudis Went to War in Yemen
My nation cherishes peace and stability. The anarchy backed by Iran on our doorstep was intolerable.
ENLARGE
Examining damage to
Yemen’s Taiz National Museum on Feb. 3 after it burned during fighting
between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces in the city of Taiz.
Photo:
Associated Press
When I woke the next morning, I began to understand what was weighing on King Salman: Saudi Arabia and its allies had launched “Operation Decisive Storm,” a military campaign to restore stability to Yemen, a country in chaos on our southern border. The action was urgently requested by Yemen’s President Abd-Rabu Mansur Hadi, after Iranian-backed Houthi militias occupied most of the country, including its capital, San’a.
As we approach the cease-fire and peace negotiations scheduled for next month, and the April 21 Gulf Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, which President Obama will attend, it is worth reviewing events since Operation Decisive Storm began one year ago.
I was out of government service when the operation was launched. So like many Saudis, I wondered why the kingdom had taken this unusually bold action. Saudi Arabia is not a country that has a tendency to leap into military ventures. It cherishes peace and stability above all, and our nation has no expansionist ambitions. The Saudi government has been the largest supporter of successive Yemeni governments, providing crucial economic and security assistance in their counterterrorism effort. So what drove Saudi Arabia to war?
In 2014 the Houthis, who are a component of Yemen’s population, abandoned peaceful participation in their country’s political discourse. Instead, they opted to exploit the situation in Yemen as the newly-elected legitimate government was still finding its footing. Houthi militias, spurred by Iran and backed by forces allied to Yemen’s former president, began to take over city after city by force. Yemen’s legitimate government attempted to resolve the crisis through peaceful negotiations. The Houthis repeatedly announced that they would agree to resolve the crisis peacefully, only to renege on their commitments and continue their takeover of the country.
When the capital fell to the Houthis in December 2014, flights between Tehran and San’a quadrupled overnight, some of which carried weapons and military advisers to support the Houthis. Pushing farther south in 2015, the Houthis were at the doorstep of the port city of Aden, the last remaining bastion of legitimacy in Yemen, where the government and many embassies had relocated after the takeover of San’a. Something had to be done.
Saudi Arabia shares a border with Yemen that stretches for almost 1,000 miles. The events in Yemen had become a direct threat to Saudi Arabia’s national security. Our neighbor was almost completely controlled by a militia influenced and supported by Iran, an internationally recognized state sponsor of terrorism. This armed militia on the border was in control of ballistic missiles and an air force.
Houthi propaganda also raised sectarian tensions in the country and the region. This made it easier for al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen to recruit and expand, finding its strength in the security vacuum created by the Houthi takeover of state institutions. This is the same branch of al Qaeda that bombed the USS Cole in the Gulf of Aden in October 2000, and carried out the murders of several Saudi and Western nationals.
No country would accept a similar situation on its border. It is not only destabilizing for Saudi Arabia, but for the global community, and many countries, including the U.S., graciously and bravely joined or supported the kingdom in answering the Yemeni government’s calls for intervention. The international community supported the operations: The U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 2216—including sanctions and demands that the Houthis withdraw from all territory they seized—without a single objection, although Russia abstained.
In this brew of anarchy and turmoil, Saudi Arabia’s goal is to restore order and implement Resolution 2216, to make it possible for Yemen’s legitimate government to return to San’a. We must begin a robust reconstruction program and preserve the integrity of both borders and national security. Saudi Arabia has been working with its allies to take all precautions to protect civilians, medical staff, humanitarian organizations and journalists in Yemen. As part of these efforts, the kingdom established a high-level independent committee to assess the coalition’s operations and rules of engagement.
By February, the kingdom and its partners had destroyed the ballistic-missile launch capabilities that the Houthi militia were using to attack Saudi Arabia. Today, Yemeni government forces, supported by the kingdom and members of our coalition, have recaptured 80% of Yemeni territory.
From the beginning, our country’s goal in this conflict has been to restore the legitimate order that will bring economic and social growth. I am optimistic that the continuing negotiations will result in a breakthrough, and I hope that any positive outcomes are honored by the Houthis and their allies.
The international community must also do its part in confronting the Houthis and those who support them, to make it clear that the world will not stand idly by while a militia attempts to take over a country by force. Yemen is a tragedy in which an outside force is at work to expand its influence by exploiting localized factions. Unless this aggression is ended, the prospect of graver consequences will continue to threaten regional stability.
Prince Abdullah is Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States.