“So why are you not going to Geneva for the Yemeni peace dialogue?” some TV anchors and reporters keep asking. “Isn't a peaceful resolution of the Yemeni crisis what you want? Why don't you stop your war on Yemen to help the Yemenis resolve their differences in UN-sponsored negotiations? When will proxy wars between Iran and Saudi Arabia end so that Arab people can go back to living in peace and harmony?”
Those are not innocent questions. They are loaded with accusations, biased assumptions and tilted stands - much like asking a man: Have you stopped beating your wife?
Here are my answers to these questions:
Saudi Arabia is not waging war on Yemen. The war is being waged by Iran-supported rebels who over a year ago began attacking the Yemeni government and people. They took over cities and provinces one after another with the support of former President Saleh's forces. They imprisoned the democratically elected president and his cabinet. And when he managed to escape to Aden, they went after him with vengeance, bombarding his palace and putting a reward on his head.
It was the president and his government that called on the Arab League for help. According to the Arab Defense Pact, League members are required to answer such a call. UN members are also requested to do the same in similar cases.
Ten members, led by Saudi Arabia, made up an Arab Alliance, supported by the international community, which went to war to help the government regain its authority and institutions from the rogue militias. A legitimate war was necessary to stop an illegitimate war - just as the world has done in similar cases like the invasion of Kuwait and the Nazi occupation of Europe.
The National Dialogue in Yemen reached its conclusions, signed and sealed by all including the Houthis and Saleh's party, only to find that the Iran-supported militias decided to cancel everything and attempt to take everything by force. The UN failed to condemn these developments, even when the rebels overran the government and occupied the capital. In fact, its representative, Jamal Benomar, went as far as Saada to negotiate with the militia, which legitimized their coup. Houthis never implemented any agreement, including those signed with Benomar, and continued their march on the rest of the country. And when he proposed a conference in Doha sponsored by the UN, they refused to attend and went on with their offensive to capture Aden and other southern regions.
That was the point at which Decisive Storm was launched with the clear goal of implementing UN and Security Council resolutions, the last of which was 2216 under Chapter VI of the UN Charter. The Riyadh conference, attended by all, including the UN, was boycotted by the Houthis. It drew up a road map to implement the National Dialogue and the Security Council resolutions. Therefore, it makes no sense to hold yet another conference in Geneva, as long as those resolutions have not been recognized, let alone implemented by the militias. Otherwise, we will have another Geneva soap opera, like the series of Syrian conferences. Talk for talk's sake is a waste of time and energy. It gives the oppressors legitimacy and the go-ahead to finish what they started.
The UN should invest its power and energy in getting the Syrians and Houthis to recognize and respect UN authority and implement its resolutions, then we may be able to talk.
It takes two to tango. Ceasefires should be respected by all parties. What is the use if one party is holding fire while the other is still shooting. The Alliance has offered a humanitarian ceasefire twice, on the condition that it be respected by the other party, but the Houthis did not! They continued to bombard cities and town, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure and neighborhoods. The humanitarian aid was stolen and resistance areas were denied their share of food, water, energy, and medicine. Even the supplies in private gas stations and merchant and pharmacy storehouses were confiscated, not to mention those in banks, shops and homes. Such ceasefires only serve the aggressors, not the victims.
A proxy war is when you sponsor rebel groups to fight on your behalf. That is what Iran has been doing all the time. It supported Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Shiite parties in Iraq and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia only supports legitimate governments. It aids Lebanon in its fight against terrorism, strengthening its army, financing its development plans, rebuilding destroyed areas, etc. In the same fashion, it supports the Egyptian, Jordanian, Moroccan, Yemeni and Bahraini governments.
A proxy war is not about government-to-government cooperation. When Iran supports rogue militias which disturb the peace and threaten the social fabric of neighboring countries, that is called an outlawed proxy war - and that is what should be condemned and punished.
— Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @kbatarfi
