Saudi Gift of $10bn to Yemen may be the Worst Thing That Could Happen

Yesterday I posted an article on Saudi Arabia giving Yemen $10 billion for rebuilding the country's infrastructure. I questioned the timing of rebuilding while a war is still in progress. I wondered if the Saudis were trying to impress world opinion, but I can't think of anytime in history where they did that. Then I thought maybe they feel guilty for all the death and destruction they are responsible for. But Saudis are Salafists - I question whether they are capable of feeling guilt and shame. 

Today, I question the motives behind the move.

I mentioned it on Facebook yesterday to some friends in Yemen and was a little surprised at the response which was basically, "We don't want their money, we want them to stop the war."

I thought that surely if the Saudis are going to be spending billions rebuilding infrastructure, they are going to be disinclined to want to blow it up again. The Iranian-backed Houthis, who are in control of the capital city of Sana'a, however, would not be under such a disinclination. 

Then an historian friend in Germany jumped in and added what he considered to be the probable motivation for the 'gift'. It is his contention that the Saudis want the roads and bridges rebuilt for the express purpose of being able to move the military men and machinery into Saudi-controlled areas from whence they could solidify their hold and attack Houthi-held areas, like Sana'a.

The inspirational Saba Yallas can be found on Facebook

He pointed out that Germany's great Autobahn system was first built in earnest by Hitler between 1936 and 1943. It turned out to be of limited value in the war effort, however, as it was much more efficient to use trains than trucks, tanks couldn't use the highway, and there was a scarcity of gasoline. It was, however, frequently used for landing strips for airplanes.

Saudi Arabia has no shortage of gasoline, and no railways running into Yemen, in fact, Yemen has no railways. Saudi Arabia has lots of armoured vehicles and personnel carriers which they have purchased from the west, Canada included, and they are well suited for travel on highways. 

Part of the infrastructure is certainly likely to be airport runway resurfacing which will be very useful for tactical air warfare. They will be able to protect that infrastructure while they pulverize Sana'a very effectively from airports within Yemen.

So, it has become obvious that this $10b gift is most likely to lead to more death and destruction of a beautiful people and a beautiful country. Proxy wars are flat-out evil! 

The west needs to stop selling military vehicles and weapons to Saudi Arabia, and Russia needs to stop selling them to Iran. The possibility of that happening, however, is slightly less than zero. These are the people who run the world - the Oligarchs who make money every time a woman or child is killed, raped, or maimed, and they are laughing all the way to their off-shore bank.

 Pray for Yemen, please.