Oh Joy, Another One
Nov. 5th, 2009 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danalwynAnother news item of interest: Saudi Arabia has finally started bombing Yemen.
If you haven't been keeping up with the convoluted mess of Middle Eastern politics, an over-simplified explanation is this: Saudi Arabia (a rich country largely populated by and supportive of Sunni Muslims), and Iran (a large country mostly populated by and supportive of Shi'a Muslims) are the two largest powers in the "central" Middle East, and each of them is trying to make themselves the only power in the region. Yemen, a small country bordering Saudi Arabia, has a government dominated by Sunnis currently being challenged by a tribal rebellion, from Shi'a tribes, and makes a convenient battleground. There have long been rumors that Iran was backing the Shi'a groups, and that Saudi Arabia was backing the government, and with their proxies in Iraq temporarily busy rearming, it appears that the Saudi-Iranian feud has erupted here instead. Hopefully Saudi Arabia will content themselves with the occasional airstrike, but if not we may have a repeat of Israel vs. Hezbollah to look forward to in the Yemeni desert, with the Saudis starring as the Israelis, and Yemen playing the unfortunate role of Lebanon.
(I don't know why I post so many news things, I don't think anyone reads them).
If you haven't been keeping up with the convoluted mess of Middle Eastern politics, an over-simplified explanation is this: Saudi Arabia (a rich country largely populated by and supportive of Sunni Muslims), and Iran (a large country mostly populated by and supportive of Shi'a Muslims) are the two largest powers in the "central" Middle East, and each of them is trying to make themselves the only power in the region. Yemen, a small country bordering Saudi Arabia, has a government dominated by Sunnis currently being challenged by a tribal rebellion, from Shi'a tribes, and makes a convenient battleground. There have long been rumors that Iran was backing the Shi'a groups, and that Saudi Arabia was backing the government, and with their proxies in Iraq temporarily busy rearming, it appears that the Saudi-Iranian feud has erupted here instead. Hopefully Saudi Arabia will content themselves with the occasional airstrike, but if not we may have a repeat of Israel vs. Hezbollah to look forward to in the Yemeni desert, with the Saudis starring as the Israelis, and Yemen playing the unfortunate role of Lebanon.
(I don't know why I post so many news things, I don't think anyone reads them).