Yemen’s Guerrilla War Tests Military Ambitions of Big-Spending Saudis
Yemen’s Guerrilla War Tests Military Ambitions of Big-Spending Saudis by Angus McDowall, Phil Stewart and David Rohde, Reuters
Six years ago, Saudi and American officials agreed on a record $60 billion arms deal. The United States would sell scores of F-15 fighters, Apache attack helicopters and other advanced weaponry to the oil-rich kingdom.
The arms, both sides hoped, would fortify the Saudis against their aggressive arch-rival in the region, Iran.
But as President Barack Obama makes his final visit to Riyadh this week, Saudi Arabia’s military capabilities remain a work in progress – and the gap in perceptions between Washington and Riyadh has widened dramatically.
The biggest stumble has come in Yemen. Frustrated by Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and the US pullback from the region, Riyadh launched an Arab military intervention last year to confront perceived Iranian expansionism in its southern neighbour.
The conflict pits a coalition of Arab and Muslim nations led by the Saudis against Houthi rebels allied to Iran and forces loyal to a former Yemeni president. A tentative ceasefire is holding as the United Nations prepares for peace talks in Kuwait, proof, the Saudis say, of the intervention’s success.
But while Saudi Arabia has the third-largest defence budget in the world behind the United States and China, its military performance in Yemen has been mixed…