From PressTV and Liberty Pulse:
Saudi Arabia forces intervene in Yemen
Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:24PM
Interview with Editor Jeff Steinberg of the Executive Intelligence Review.
Saudi Security Forces Saudi Arabia has currently intervened in a violent crackdown in the US-backed Bahrain to crush protesters, killing several people attending a peaceful sit-in at Manama's Pearl Square.
Press TV interviewed Editor Jeff Steinberg of the Executive Intelligence Review from Washington regarding the uprisings in the Middle East and Western and Saudi interference.
Press TV: I would like to get your opinion on this state of emergency that's been imposed on Yemen. Do you think it's going to give the green light for further bloodshed in the country as the protests continue?
Steinberg: I'm afraid it's quite possible, and this is not simply an internal Yemeni situation any long. The Saudis have intervened in a very dramatic way as they have also in Bahrain. In both Bahrain and Yemen they are strongly pressing for the governments of those two countries to use brutal force to simply suppress the protesters who have been up until now demanding reforms. But with the level of brutality that has been used in both cases with strong Saudi backing; in addition, they have support from London.
What you've got now is a danger that the reform demands have not been sectarian in nature. In Bahrain, demonstrators were both Shia and Sunni joining together in the initial phases. Now there is an attempt to turn this into a sectarian issue. There are completely false allegations that Iran is secretly steering these Shia rebellions when in fact these are legitimate demands for economic and political reform in these countries that have been under jackboot rule for a long time. Now this resulting to violence is only going to make things worse. There is no way these regimes can succeed using the methods they are using.
Press TV: Can you elaborate a bit more on the Saudi intervention here in Yemen? We do realize there is a lot here at stake with these uprisings moving forward into the countries in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia is keeping a very close eye not only in Bahrain but also Yemen. We have discussed in length the repercussions [that] the intervention can have in Bahrain. What about in Yemen? Can you elaborate a bit more on that?
Steinberg: Well going back to two years ago when the Saudis carried out a very brutal cross-border military operation largely through helicopter bombardment of villages along the border area. These are predominantly members of a Houti sect that is not even really officially a Shia Muslim sect. Nevertheless, along that border area the Saudis directly intervened militarily. Then they greatly exacerbated the tensions inside of Yemen.
So what we are getting is intelligence here at Executive Intelligence Review and the Saudis are active all over the place throughout the [P]GCC region, and they are basically drawing a line in the sand. They are saying under no circumstances can there be reform, under no circumstances can the people be given a greater voice or a greater share of the economic benefits of these oil rich areas. In the case of Yemen, which is the poorest and least developed of these countries, they are engaging in direct support and demanding the kind of brutal actions we saw today just as we saw the same thing in Bahrain.
I would not be surprised at all to find out that Saudi forces are directly involved in backing up the Yemeni government in some of these actions. Again there is a propaganda-smear campaign claiming that the Houtis are agents that are armed and secretly controlled from Tehran. Anybody in their right mind knows that this is complete propaganda and there is not an ounce of truth in it.
Press TV: We do know a lot is at stake here in Yemen not just for Saudi Arabia, but also for the US. Let's not forget Ali Abdullah Saleh has been an ally of Washington with regards to its war on terror fighting the so-called al-Qaeda in Yemen in the South of the country. Now when you are judging by the US reaction, which is very numb on this, the US has decided to sit this one out. With the Saudi influence that you have just spoken about the US is directly or indirectly involved in this, isn't it?
Steinberg: Yes, but there is also a big conflict here that people are trying to keep below the surface. The fortune between the United States and Saudi Arabia on this is great. The core ally of the Saudis in pushing what could be a permanent sectarian war throughout the Islamic world is actually Great Britain. These are the old divide and conquer policies that the British have been perfecting since the time of when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Secretary Gates was in Bahrain. Gates and Hilary Clinton have been in touch with the government in Yemen.
The US preference in all of this is for there to be a certain reform opening process. We don't want instability. The US does not believe there is any better viable alternative to Saleh in Yemen at this point but the US has a big problem with the use of particularly foreign troops or mercenaries as we've seen in Bahrain and in Libya. We don't want that. We know there is no inherent stability in this kind of brutal sectarian crack down. The Saudis have gone against the United States. We have an added factor that the President of the United States has been disengaged and completely indecisive on these issues to the point that his two leading cabinet officials Hilary Clinton and Bob Gates are getting ready to leave.
They have reached the point of total frustration and cannot get a coherent policy out of the White House. So in that context the Saudis are acting with British backing to go with the same old kind of brutal and oppressive policies, and if they think they are going to get away with it they are going to wind up the big losers in this case. That's my firm belief.
Press TV: This lack of a coherent policy on the part of Washington that you just touched upon, why do you think that is in place right now? Is it because of the inefficiency of the Obama Administration or is it them not being able to realize that their interests in the region will change from country to country.
Steinberg: There is a case by case approach being adapted here which is in itself problematic. You have to have a coherent and consistent policy especially in a part of the world that is as important as the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. So that is one part of the problem, but the bigger factor is that the Obama Administration is deeply divided, and the President is incapable of making touch leadership decisions. He listens to Gates and Hilary and he goes in a certain direction, and later in the same day he is bombarded by Human Rights, the UN Ambassador and Dennis Ross and even his own wife.
So he's incapable of making the kind of firm decisions that is the first qualification for being president. He's a terribly failed president and it's becoming more and more of an open secret around Washington. I hear it every day from prominent democrats as well as republicans as well as people in the administration who are just totally frustrated, and fed up that you don't have a functioning presidency.
Press TV: So what kind of repercussions can this have as old leaders are seeking to crush all these uprisings they are witnessing in their countries?
Steinberg: Well two things can happen. Number one, because the entire international economy and especially the international financial system are completely fragile at this point. The US banks are still carrying more toxic non-performing debt. They are hiding it on their books. The Fed is printing money as fast as possible to bail out the banks. We are getting into a hyper inflationary problem that is hitting the entire world with increased food prices and increased oil prices.
So if that goes any further because of unending crisis and violence and brutality in the worlds' oil patch then the whole world economy is in jeopardy. Secondly, if the Saudis and the British get this traction on a sectarian conflict when in fact this has been an outpouring of the Arab streak both Sunni and Shia demanding more participation, better economic benefits and freer and more open government.
If this goes into a nasty sectarian direction, then the Middle East is in a hopeless quandary that is going to potentially last for generations. In Europe from 1492 to 1698 you had permanent religious warfare going on. That was within Christianity. The danger is you could have the same thing provoked by the British and by the Saudis for a permanent conflict zone in the entire Islamic world. I hope and pray that doesn't happen.
Press TV: Let's hope so too. That was Jeff Steinberg with the Executive Intelligence Review speaking to us from Washington.
NM/PKH
Saudi Arabia forces intervene in Yemen
Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:24PM
Interview with Editor Jeff Steinberg of the Executive Intelligence Review.
Saudi Security Forces Saudi Arabia has currently intervened in a violent crackdown in the US-backed Bahrain to crush protesters, killing several people attending a peaceful sit-in at Manama's Pearl Square.
Press TV interviewed Editor Jeff Steinberg of the Executive Intelligence Review from Washington regarding the uprisings in the Middle East and Western and Saudi interference.
Press TV: I would like to get your opinion on this state of emergency that's been imposed on Yemen. Do you think it's going to give the green light for further bloodshed in the country as the protests continue?
Steinberg: I'm afraid it's quite possible, and this is not simply an internal Yemeni situation any long. The Saudis have intervened in a very dramatic way as they have also in Bahrain. In both Bahrain and Yemen they are strongly pressing for the governments of those two countries to use brutal force to simply suppress the protesters who have been up until now demanding reforms. But with the level of brutality that has been used in both cases with strong Saudi backing; in addition, they have support from London.
What you've got now is a danger that the reform demands have not been sectarian in nature. In Bahrain, demonstrators were both Shia and Sunni joining together in the initial phases. Now there is an attempt to turn this into a sectarian issue. There are completely false allegations that Iran is secretly steering these Shia rebellions when in fact these are legitimate demands for economic and political reform in these countries that have been under jackboot rule for a long time. Now this resulting to violence is only going to make things worse. There is no way these regimes can succeed using the methods they are using.
Press TV: Can you elaborate a bit more on the Saudi intervention here in Yemen? We do realize there is a lot here at stake with these uprisings moving forward into the countries in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia is keeping a very close eye not only in Bahrain but also Yemen. We have discussed in length the repercussions [that] the intervention can have in Bahrain. What about in Yemen? Can you elaborate a bit more on that?
Steinberg: Well going back to two years ago when the Saudis carried out a very brutal cross-border military operation largely through helicopter bombardment of villages along the border area. These are predominantly members of a Houti sect that is not even really officially a Shia Muslim sect. Nevertheless, along that border area the Saudis directly intervened militarily. Then they greatly exacerbated the tensions inside of Yemen.
So what we are getting is intelligence here at Executive Intelligence Review and the Saudis are active all over the place throughout the [P]GCC region, and they are basically drawing a line in the sand. They are saying under no circumstances can there be reform, under no circumstances can the people be given a greater voice or a greater share of the economic benefits of these oil rich areas. In the case of Yemen, which is the poorest and least developed of these countries, they are engaging in direct support and demanding the kind of brutal actions we saw today just as we saw the same thing in Bahrain.
I would not be surprised at all to find out that Saudi forces are directly involved in backing up the Yemeni government in some of these actions. Again there is a propaganda-smear campaign claiming that the Houtis are agents that are armed and secretly controlled from Tehran. Anybody in their right mind knows that this is complete propaganda and there is not an ounce of truth in it.
Press TV: We do know a lot is at stake here in Yemen not just for Saudi Arabia, but also for the US. Let's not forget Ali Abdullah Saleh has been an ally of Washington with regards to its war on terror fighting the so-called al-Qaeda in Yemen in the South of the country. Now when you are judging by the US reaction, which is very numb on this, the US has decided to sit this one out. With the Saudi influence that you have just spoken about the US is directly or indirectly involved in this, isn't it?
Steinberg: Yes, but there is also a big conflict here that people are trying to keep below the surface. The fortune between the United States and Saudi Arabia on this is great. The core ally of the Saudis in pushing what could be a permanent sectarian war throughout the Islamic world is actually Great Britain. These are the old divide and conquer policies that the British have been perfecting since the time of when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Secretary Gates was in Bahrain. Gates and Hilary Clinton have been in touch with the government in Yemen.
The US preference in all of this is for there to be a certain reform opening process. We don't want instability. The US does not believe there is any better viable alternative to Saleh in Yemen at this point but the US has a big problem with the use of particularly foreign troops or mercenaries as we've seen in Bahrain and in Libya. We don't want that. We know there is no inherent stability in this kind of brutal sectarian crack down. The Saudis have gone against the United States. We have an added factor that the President of the United States has been disengaged and completely indecisive on these issues to the point that his two leading cabinet officials Hilary Clinton and Bob Gates are getting ready to leave.
They have reached the point of total frustration and cannot get a coherent policy out of the White House. So in that context the Saudis are acting with British backing to go with the same old kind of brutal and oppressive policies, and if they think they are going to get away with it they are going to wind up the big losers in this case. That's my firm belief.
Press TV: This lack of a coherent policy on the part of Washington that you just touched upon, why do you think that is in place right now? Is it because of the inefficiency of the Obama Administration or is it them not being able to realize that their interests in the region will change from country to country.
Steinberg: There is a case by case approach being adapted here which is in itself problematic. You have to have a coherent and consistent policy especially in a part of the world that is as important as the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. So that is one part of the problem, but the bigger factor is that the Obama Administration is deeply divided, and the President is incapable of making touch leadership decisions. He listens to Gates and Hilary and he goes in a certain direction, and later in the same day he is bombarded by Human Rights, the UN Ambassador and Dennis Ross and even his own wife.
So he's incapable of making the kind of firm decisions that is the first qualification for being president. He's a terribly failed president and it's becoming more and more of an open secret around Washington. I hear it every day from prominent democrats as well as republicans as well as people in the administration who are just totally frustrated, and fed up that you don't have a functioning presidency.
Press TV: So what kind of repercussions can this have as old leaders are seeking to crush all these uprisings they are witnessing in their countries?
Steinberg: Well two things can happen. Number one, because the entire international economy and especially the international financial system are completely fragile at this point. The US banks are still carrying more toxic non-performing debt. They are hiding it on their books. The Fed is printing money as fast as possible to bail out the banks. We are getting into a hyper inflationary problem that is hitting the entire world with increased food prices and increased oil prices.
So if that goes any further because of unending crisis and violence and brutality in the worlds' oil patch then the whole world economy is in jeopardy. Secondly, if the Saudis and the British get this traction on a sectarian conflict when in fact this has been an outpouring of the Arab streak both Sunni and Shia demanding more participation, better economic benefits and freer and more open government.
If this goes into a nasty sectarian direction, then the Middle East is in a hopeless quandary that is going to potentially last for generations. In Europe from 1492 to 1698 you had permanent religious warfare going on. That was within Christianity. The danger is you could have the same thing provoked by the British and by the Saudis for a permanent conflict zone in the entire Islamic world. I hope and pray that doesn't happen.
Press TV: Let's hope so too. That was Jeff Steinberg with the Executive Intelligence Review speaking to us from Washington.
NM/PKH
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