Yemen crisis: This exotic war will soon become Europe's problem

[Jefferson23]

World View: Terrorism and boatloads of desperate migrants will be the outcome of the Saudi air campaign

Patrick Cockburn
Sunday April 26, 2015

Yemen is short of many things, but weapons is not one of them. Yemenis own between 40 and 60 million guns, according to a report by UN experts published earlier this year. This should be enough for Yemen’s 26 million people, although the experts note that demand for grenades that used to cost $5, handguns ($150) and AK-47s ($150) has increased eightfold. Whatever else happens, the war in Yemen is not going to end because any of the participants are short of weaponry.

Yemeni politics is notoriously complicated and exotic, with shifting alliances in which former enemies embrace and old friends make strenuous efforts to kill each other. But this exoticism does not mean that the war in Yemen, where the Saudis started bombing on 26 March, is irrelevant to the rest of the world. Already the turmoil there is a breeding ground for al-Qaeda type attacks such as that on Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

The collapse of the country into a permanent state of warfare will send waves of boat-people towards Western Europe or anywhere else they can find refuge. It is absurd for European leaders to pretend that they are doing something about “terrorism” or the refugees drowning in the Mediterranean when they ignore the wars that are the root causes of these events.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yemen-crisis-this-exotic-war-will-soon-become-europes-problem-10204156.html

Tawakkol Karman calls for ousted Yemeni President Saleh to be put on trial

Friday, 24 April 2015

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/18238-tawakkol-karman-calls-for-ousted-yemeni-president-saleh-to-be-put-on-trial