1/ Okay, in a few tweets I'm going to try to explain what's going on in Yemen today, so you have some knowledge to counter this claim that America needs to bomb Iran because the Houthis bombed Saudi Arabia. It's complicated, but now you need to know.
2/ The conflict btwn Saudi Arabia and Yemen roughly dates from the 1932 founding of Saudi Arabia, when the new kingdom took territory from Yemen in a war set off by a border dispute. The Saudis has attempted to influence Yemeni affairs every since.
3/ The Houthis are a group of Shia tribes in northern Yemen who practice a distinct form of Islam called Zaidism. In the 1980s, the Saudis began a campaign to push Sunni Wahabism into Houthi areas, creating massive friction with Houthi communities.
4/ Saudi Arabia sent Wahhabi settlers into Houthi areas to try to dilute Zaidism and increase Saudi influence in north Yemen. The Houthi resistance to the Saudis, and their patron governments in the Yemeni capital, grew and grew.
5/ In the 2000s, Saudi backed Yemeni governments carried out 6 separate wars against the now rebelling Houthis. Bush opposed most of these wars, believing the anti-Houthi campaigns to be doing more harm than good, especially as the Houthis began to reach out to Iran for help.
6/ Over the course of these wars, the Houthi military capabilities grew, and by 2010 they were the most battle tested army in Yemen. In 2015 they successfully marched on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and Saudi Arabia and UAE initiated a full fledged war against the Houthis.
7/ Since 2015, there have been atrocities committed by both sides. Casualties are hard to track, but it could be that 100,000 Yemenis have died in the war, and the resulting humanitarian disaster has resulted in another 100,000 children dying of starvation or disease.
8/ The cholera outbreak (the result of water treatment plants being destroyed) is the worst in recorded world history. Houthis refuse to let food & medicine reach contested areas. Saudis drop bombs on hospitals and school buses. Bottom line - it's the ugliest war on the planet.
9/ Over time, the Houthis have turned to Iran for more and more help. The Iranians don't have a command and control relationship with Houthis, but their influence grows every day the war continues. Houthi drones likely come from Iran.
10/ Over time, a dangerous game of escalating behavior has developed. Saudis kill a bunch of Houthi civilians, then the Houthis launch an attack in Saudi Arabia. The latest attack on the Saudi refinery follows a Saudi attack on Dhamar prison which killed 100 people.
11/ Bottom line: the Saudis sowed the seeds of this mess. They marginalized the Houthis in the 80s and thru the 2000s wars. They bungled the prosecution of the post 2015 conflict. Houthis/Iranians have blood on their hands too, but the U.S. should not be a part of this disaster.
