A Tragically Terrible Joke

So I wasn’t going to comment on this, but I can’t help myself.

As you may or may not be aware, Saudi Arabia and a Sunni coalition comprising the usual suspects has been at war in Yemen for two years now. “Operation Decisive Storm”, designed to retake the country from the Iran-backed Houthis who quite literally drove Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi into the Gulf of Aden (he fled on a boat),  began in March of 2015 and it’s been a sh*t show ever since.

I don’t want to delve too far into the details, but suffice to say Yemen is just another Sunni/Shiite proxy war. Just like the conflict in Syria. And just like the ongoing violence that grips Iraq.

The bottom line is that it’s really just a matter of who’s fighting by proxy and who’s actually got boots on the ground. In Syria, Riyadh and Doha fight by proxy and Tehran fights via Hezbollah and the IRGC. In Iraq, everyone’s fighting by proxy with Tehran controlling a collection of Shiite militias and ISIS representing the Sunnis (and yes, I’m aware that saying “ISIS represents the Sunnis” will be offensive to some folks, but before you cast aspersions at Heisenberg, do me a favor and show me where ISIS’ brand of extremism differs materially from Wahhabism). In Yemen, Tehran fights by proxy and while Riyadh fights via its own army.

Needless to say, the Saudis have been variously accused of all manner of bad sh*t (to use a colloquialism) including, but by no means limited to, intentionally bombing weddings, funerals and hospitals. 

The conflict in Yemen has global implications thanks to the strategic significance of the Bab-el-Mandeb.

Ok, so given all of that, the following is so blatantly absurd not to mention horribly hypocritical, that there really are no words to describe it, so I’ll present it without further comment (but do note the one bolded passage which is representative of a tragically ridiculous attempt to spin this bullsh*t).

Via Al-Arabiya (which is Saudi controlled)

Saudi Arabia is to donate $10 billion in aid to Yemen, the country’s president, Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi revealed in a meeting on Wednesday.

Of the total, $2 billion will be given to the central bank, while $8 billion will be ploughed into reconstructing the run-down areas, including areas destroyed by the Houthi militia.

The meeting included Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr and the governors of Aden, Taiz, Sanaa, Lahij, Abeen, Al-Dhale, Shabouh, Al-Bayda, and Sukotra.

The government placed the priority on streamlining services related to electricity, health, water, education, roads and telecommunications.

Hadi said, “The conflict is continuing with the terrorist forces represented by the Houthis and Saleh. We will succeed in overcoming them, because we are in the right and we hold the nation’s concern in bringing back normal life to our country.

"Saudi Arabia Offers $10b for Yemen Reconstruction: Arabiya"
translation: "we destroyed your entire country, now here's $10 billion"

— Heisenberg Report (@heisenbergrpt) February 22, 2017