Blizzard
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- Joined
- Dec 10, 2012
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- 4,010
I know our guys do some stupid shit on video, but look at these fucknuts (they're actually trying to be serious):Yemen right now consists mainly of 3 forces, the Houthis, the internationally recognized government, and the Southern Transitional Council. The "IRG" controls more territory (which is mostly desert), The STC has a portion of the southern coast, but the Houthis have what passes for the economic center of the country and enjoy a huge amount of support from Iran. The war is as much civil as it religious being split along Sunni-Shia lines.
The Saudis and the UAE have primarily used airstrikes to fight the Houthis. Both have committed ground troops, but the UAE's are largely conscripts. The forces involved in the IRG vs. Houthi side, near as I can research, are roughly the same in overall manpower.
The Houthis control enough dominant terrain to help defend their enclave. This also means the IRG controls terrain which favors its defense as well. Saudi led offensives regained a lot of territory for the IRG, but ran up against the terrain and what I suspect is a very questionable quality of their troops. The naval blockade has had obvious mixed success.
The Houthis/ Iranians are smart. Bend, but don't break, attrite the coalition, and just hang on. Eventually, the coalition will get tired of the cost in blood and treasure and give up. This plus COVID kind of broke the will of the Saudi's and UAE. History, no doubt reinforced by Iraq and Afghanistan, reminded the world you can win without winning.
The coalition did a lot of something, but the deck was kind of stacked against them. When the main offensive in 2015 failed the crush the Houthis, the war became a slow burn leading us to today. If Iran wasn't involved? The Houthis would have been exterminated years ago.