GARY LEUPP—Yemen was governed by a Shiite imamate for a thousand years. It was Shiite before Iran became so. Its Zaydist form of Shiism differs from the Twelvers form prevalent in Iran, although it resembles the Shiism practiced by maybe 15% of Saudis (suffering discrimination in the kingdom). The war is not about Iran’s alleged influence but about Shiism, and Saudi determination to push back what they consider Shiite gains throughout the region since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
SAUDI CONNECTION
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STEPHEN LENDMAN—Arbitrary arrests and detentions are commonplace. So are state-sponsored kidnappings and disappearances – due process and judicial fairness denied. Torture and other abuses substitute. Besides its oil, Saudis are best known for public beheadings, whippings, torture, political imprisonments, sponsoring terrorism, wars of aggression and other lawless actions.
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MEHDI HASAN—“AT JUST 32, Mohammed bin Salman seems fearless and determined. He has quickly become the most dominant Arab leader in a generation.” That’s how “60 Minutes” began its interview with, and profile of, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, Sunday evening, ahead of his visit to the White House on Tuesday.
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RAMIN MAZAHERI—As a daily journalist covering a wide range of fields, I get a lot of unsolicited emails which give me news tips, unique outlooks and recommendations. This email below came with so many threats and oaths against my person that I almost didn’t publish it, but I think some of what was written regarding the Russophobia campaign across the West makes sense.
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The $1.5 Billion Campaign to Whitewash Genocide in Yemen
27 minutes readDAN GLAZEBROOK—You would think a strategy aimed at starving the world’s most starving population still further would be a hard sell. But, then, money not only talks, it silences. And $1.5 billion is a lot of money. The UN’s own ‘Humanitarian Response Plan’ for Yemen, issued just two days before the YCHO, on 20th January, had noted that “Al Hudaydah port, which accounts for 70-80 per cent of commercial imports in Yemen, remains a critical lifeline, despite operating at reduced capacity after being hit by an airstrike in August 2015”, adding that “the extended blockade imposed on Al Hudaydah and Salif ports on 6 November 2017 significantly threatened this lifeline of Yemenis” and that “only a sustained flow of imports of essential basic goods can avert further catastrophe”.