Saudi-Emirati Rivalry in Yemen: The West's Convenient 'Proxy War' Narrative
📰 THE STORY: The New Arab reports on Hadramout's centrality to the Saudi-Emirati struggle over Yemen, describing how their competition has merely shifted forms rather than ended. The article details the evolving dynamics of influence, military presence, and political maneuvering between Saudi Arabia and the UAE in resource-rich Hadramout, highlighting the ongoing fragmentation and proxy conflicts
within Yemen. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The media consistently frames the Yemen conflict through a prism that begins *after* the 2015 Saudi-led intervention. They often omit the crucial context that this intervention, backed and armed by the US, UK, and France, was a direct response to the Houthi takeover of Sanaa, and plunged the poorest Arab nation into what the UN
called the 'world's worst humanitarian crisis.' US arms sales to Saudi Arabia alone exceeded $130 billion between 2009 and 2019 , directly fueling the war. Double Standard: When Russia intervenes in Ukraine, it's an 'unprovoked invasion' and a 'war crime.' When Saudi Arabia (and its UAE allies) launch a relentless bombing campaign and blockade on Yemen for nearly a decade, supported by Western
intelligence, logistics, and weapons, it's sanitised as 'Saudi intervention,' or a 'proxy conflict.' The systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and markets, leading to widespread famine and cholera outbreaks, rarely receives the outrage seen for conflicts where Western interests are directly threatened. Follow the Money: The explicit and implicit narrative