No Way Out of Yemen for KSA: The Economist
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An article published by The Economist reports that Saudi Arabia rolls back its frontiers and desperately looks for help.
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The Economist analyzes that Saudi Arabia has reached a military deadlock in Yemen.
"The Saudis are eager to cut their losses, but they cannot find a way to do so," reports The Economist, in an article "Saudi Arabia cannot find a way out of Yemen."
Drawing parallels between Yemen and the Korean War in the 1950s, a US army general did not simply roll back America's frontiers, but rather "advanced in a different direction." Perhaps, Saudi Arabia, reaching a dead-end in its war, has followed suit.
In the middle of November, the Saudi-led coalition withdrew their forces from al-Hudaydah, a strategic point that engulfs the main port bordering the Red Sea, as Ansar Allah succeeded in seizing it from the Saudi aggression.
The withdrawal was a shock to "almost everyone", according to the newspaper, constituting a major shift in the fronters. The withdrawal could have been pressured by the United Arab Emirates. An old Stockholm ceasefire agreement came to memory, but Saudi Arabia did not commit to it the way they were supposed to. The troops never really withdrew from al-Hudaydah; although the agreement did somewhat reduce violence, it was repeatedly violated on many accounts.
However, al-Hudaydah, being a crucial point in the Saudi war on Yemen, has become a 'small' issue compared to the bigger fish to fry, which, today, is Marib.
Marib is a strategic point, as it contains the main oil refinery of north Yemen, as well as a highway that connects Yemen with Saudi Arabia.
Not only will Ansar Allah's victory in Marib be strategic, but it will also be symbolic, and a victory may just be on the horizon, despite Ansar Allah's losses. According to the Southern Transitional Council's Ministry of Defense, since June, 14,700 fighters have been killed in Marib, and the UN reports that over 40,000 people have been displaced over the past two months.
Saudi Arabia, according to the article, "is growing desperate to end the war," especially for the reason that when they waged the war in 2015, their "excitement" crumbled into a series of strategic losses, which only led them to their own grave.
As Ansar Allah advances further in Yemen, Saudi Arabia anticipates setting up more defenses to protect itself, despite the coalition's claims that they intercept 90% of the attacks - a claim that is hard to verify, according to The Economist.
In desperation, Saudi Arabia has turned to Iran to try to talk to Ansar Allah, which in itself has not seen much reason to negotiate, neither with the United States nor with Saudi Arabia. However, the latter has little to offer to Iran, and Iran does not enjoy control over Ansar Allah, a grassroots Resistance movement in Yemen.
In this war of attrition, Saudi Arabia scurries to minimize its material and human losses - but it has only reached a stalemate in this war; a military and political deadlock.
