The swiftness of the strikes has taken everyone by surprise. Around midnight on Thursday, Saudi Arabia began air strikes against Houthi targets inside Yemen. That represents a significant, and in many ways unprecedented, escalation of the conflict in Yemen and of Saudi Arabia’s role in it.
Military action always brings casualties and consequences and therefore it should never be initiated without caution and planning. Military aid, we wrote earlier this week, would not be sufficient. The Houthis could not be turned back by mere threats.
The Saudis, supported by a broad coalition that includes the UAE, have understood that and responded with praiseworthy speed. The strikes were described by Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, as “necessary” to confront “an unacceptable growing threat”.
Without them, the Houthis might have taken and held Aden – threatening sea trade through the Red Sea – and most likely arrested the president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, as they have done before, and as they did yesterday to the defence minister.
Yesterday, Saudi sources said all Houthi air defences had been destroyed, as well as a number of warplanes. That is an important step forward: it was because of the Houthis’ access to the fighter jets of the Yemeni air force that they were able to take Taez and try to kill Yemen’s president in his residence in Aden. With the fighter jets grounded, pushing the Houthis out of Aden, Taez and even Sanaa will become easier.
With planning – and luck – the strikes could be short and any subsequent campaign swift. What comes after is almost as important. The precedent for concerted action has been set and the GCC must now see Yemen’s stability, security and prosperity as essential to their own.
As with Egypt, where the Gulf states have led efforts to rebuild that country, the stability of Yemen will require an enormous injection of resources. It will take military might to stabilise the country and keep Mr Hadi safe in Sanaa. And it will take financial resources to build the country back up.
But that is necessary – Yemen is not only in the GCC’s backyard, it is also on the front lines. The chaos in some parts of Yemen has offered a breeding ground for Al Qaeda; the danger of such a militant group on the Arabian Peninsula cannot be overstated.
By assembling such a formidable coalition against the Houthis, the GCC have shown they can act when the situation is sufficiently urgent. It will need to show that same unity after the bombing in Yemen has ended.
