The
last thing Saudi Arabia and its Western allies want is a
self-sustaining, economically viable, militarily strong, and
anti-imperialist Yemen at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula,
controlling the Red Sea and its strategic waterways. Yemen’s
geographic placement in regards to the flow of world capital cannot
be stressed enough.
by
Randi Nord
Part
8 - Challenging the international isolation and skewed media coverage
Saudi
Arabia has failed nearly all of its political and military objectives
in Yemen. There is, however, one goal Riyadh has achieved: isolating
Yemen from the international community.
In
the rare event that mainstream media covers Yemen, the content is so
filled with lies and blame-shifting as to distract from Riyadh’s,
Abu Dhabi’s, and Washington’s war crimes.
Between
the media blackout, travel restrictions, ban on foreign journalists
entering the country, and financial blackmail in the United Nations,
Yemen’s suffering is all but forgotten.
The
Saudi-imposed and U.S.-enforced blockade restricts all land, sea, and
air imports, exports, and transportation. Not only has the Sana’a
airport been closed for most of the war, but coalition warplanes also
destroyed the airport’s communication infrastructure.
Anyone
who wishes to enter or exit the country must pass through Aden, where
Riyadh and its allies have set up an improvised capital. Although
mainstream media outlets like Reuters and The Guardian say that the
so-called Houthis limit press freedoms and detain journalists, it is
really the Saudi coalition creating the media blackout.
Foreign
journalists are not allowed to enter the country. The very few who
are able to enter must receive security clearance from Riyadh —
where the Yemeni “president” lives.
As I’ve
covered for MintPress in the past, Saudi Arabia has a tight grip on
both Western and Arab media outlets. Through thousands of
subscriptions at inflated rates and other backdoor financial methods,
Riyadh ensures that news outlets take a “containment” or
“neutralized” approach when covering its behavior. WikiLeaks
exposed this systemic control of the media through the “Saudi
Cables.”
Owing to
Riyadh’s media monopoly, I found it important to ask al-Houthi what
he thought English-language readers should know about the Saudi
aggression and skewed coverage of his movement.
His
first response included the truth about al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP).
Although Saudi Arabia and the United States claim to fight terrorism,
their militias — including senior commanders — arm and fight
side-by-side with terror groups like AQAP and ISIS against
Ansarullah. As Al-Houthi pointed out: “All they are doing is
supporting them – al-Qaeda and ISIS – by arming them and granting
them many opportunities to be the stronger in the face of the Yemeni
people. They want [from what they do through these militias that they
claim to be terrorists] to control the Yemeni people. They know that
some of the ministers in Hadi’s government are included in the
[terror] list declared by the U.S. Treasury, and they today stand by
this government, which has these wanted terrorists, or have links to
terrorists, yet they – U.S.-Saudi-U.A.E. coalition – fund them
financially, economically and militarily.”
For an
example, al-Houthi points to the former so-called Vice President
General Ali Mohsin with ties to the al-Islah party, Yemen’s Muslim
Brotherhood offshoot. Al-Houthi says Mohsin, as well as other members
of al-Islah, are either wanted by the U.S. Treasury Department for
recruiting al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan or have links to
individuals on this terror list. Despite this, al-Houthi says the
United States supports Mohsin and has even helped him open camps to
strengthen AQAP and ISIS in Yemen. Mohsin (who has links to both
Osama bin Laden and the late President Saleh) has a history of
resettling Afghan terrorist fighters in Yemen.
But
terrorism isn’t Ansarullah’s only concern. One of its top
priorities has always been fighting political fraud — in a country
notorious for corruption.
Al-Houthi
said all the most corrupt entities in Yemen stand with the Saudi
coalition today and, in order to tackle this systemic corruption, the
entire state administrative apparatus must be dismantled and
recreated.
He said
this self-determination is Yemen’s right, which should include
democratic and transparent presidential elections, parliamentary
elections, and referendums: “We have moved against those corrupt
people by a legitimate action, a popular movement that came from the
people’s concerns, aspirations and hopes, and therefore the
international community must recognize that the Yemeni people have
the right to self-determination.”
Al-Houthi
also pointed out the hypocrisy of the United States — which calls
itself a champion of democracy, yet supports oppressive monarchies,
reactionary regimes, and notorious human-rights violators like Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
With
this history, how can it possibly offer a solution to Yemen — a
republic?
“I
think it is very stupid for anyone to look at reactionary states such
as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the coalition
countries that stand by them as pioneers of democracy or able to
offer solutions to the Republic of Yemen. This is counterproductive
and unrealistic. A monarchy — which imprisons anyone who criticizes
them for years, like activist Ra’if Badawi or others who have been
jailed or executed — cannot provide democracy to the people of
Yemen or work to give the Yemeni people their full rights.”
The
Kingdom is known for its “radical reactionary” rule, criminal
behavior, and hostility towards genuine democracy at home and abroad.
How can anyone who claims to support human rights and political
freedom ally themselves with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates?
Al-Houthi
concluded: “What is clear is that the U.S. administration stands
by criminal regimes that do not work for rights and freedoms, but
rather to confiscate the rights of Arabs.”
***
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