US support emboldens Saudis to continue war on Yemen: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Weber, director of the Institute for Historical Review from California, to get his thought on Saudi Arabia’s relentless airstrikes against the Yemeni people.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Give us your opinion on the continued Saudi airstrikes on Yemen. We’ve been seeing a recent trend over the past few days where residential buildings, orphanages, schools, hospitals and even aid convoys are being targeted by the Saudis.

Weber: Right, the latest Saudi attacks against Yemen, I think, underscore the growing confusion of Saudi policy regarding Yemen and suggest, I think, growing desperation by Saudi leaders about just what to do. That’s because these continuing Saudi attacks, which began as you pointed out in March…, do not contribute to stabilization, but in fact contributed to destabilization of the region, and ironically increased the danger of destabilization for the Saudi kingdom itself. So there’s a great deal of confusion in these attacks, because there’s no clear notion, as these attacks show, of what the Saudi kingdom is trying to achieve in the long run, because the only real solution is some sort of political solution [with] all the parties involved.

Press TV: What about your opinion on what took place in Ma’rib on Friday, where Saudi and Emirati forces suffered some significant losses? Do you think it could be kind of a game changer on the ground?

Weber: I think it underscores again the Saudi officials and leaders don’t really know what to do. They’re trying to bring about a military solution to a problem that can only be solved really politically. This is really obvious, but that’s why the Saudi and now the Emirates’ involvement is really a very confused one. It’s hard to see, what they’re trying, what they hope to achieve by this as already mentioned, it really increases the danger of destabilization even for the kingdom and the Emirates itself as the despair and the confusion have so far spread across the region.

Press TV: You believe that the Saudis are confused. What about the international community? So many innocent Yemenis have died in an excess of five months of bombing, and there is still no tangible action on behalf of the international community.

Weber: The international community has done very little. However, humanitarian organizations and the United Nations have all condemned in the strongest possible way the escalation of the conflict. But as long as Saudi Arabia continues to receive the massive amount of military support, modern warplanes, bombs and so forth from the United States and has the backing of the United States, Saudi Arabia can continue to do what’s doing with little risk of any effective opposition or dispute.

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