“Blame Iran for Yemen”

Anglo-Wahhabi propaganda trumps facts of the ground in Yemen

John Andrew Morrow

Jumada' al-Ula' 26, 1440 2019-02-01

News & Analysis

by John Andrew Morrow (News & Analysis, Crescent International Vol. 47, No. 12, Jumada' al-Ula', 1440)

“Who you think to blame for Yemen war?” asked a Yemeni refugee who came to buy a kid from me, a goat kid that is, as I am the only purveyor of halal food in the region, and not a human trafficker. “Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States,” I asserted.

“You really think the US is involved?” he asked perplexed. “Yes, I said, the Congress just voted to end US support for the Saudi war in Yemen on December 13.”

“If you ask me, I say it’s Iran’s fault,” he stated. “Sunni and Shi‘i lived together in Yemen for 1,400 years,” he summarized, “then Iran sent weapons to the Houthis: now we are divided.”

“It is not Iran that is occupying your country,” I countered, “it is not Iran that is bombing your country: it is Saudi Arabia with the support of the UAE and the United States.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he retorted, “Yemenis don’t like Saudis bombing them but Iran wants to control the Arab world. They are in Syria. They are in Lebanon. They are in Palestine. They are in Iraq. And they are in Yemen.”

“The Iranians did not start the war in Yemen,” I explained, “the Iranians are not in Yemen. They do not have troops on the ground. The Saudis do.”

“It was the Saudis who invaded and attacked Yemen,” I clarified. “In response, the Houthis asked for Iran’s help.”

“The Iranians are the only ones trying to help your people maintain their sovereignty,” I explained.” “What is more, their military assistance is marginal.”

“If the Saudis don’t fight Iran in Yemen,” he explained, like a rock unable to absorb a single drop of water, “they will be fighting them in Saudi Arabia.”

“The Saudis are not fighting the Iranians in Yemen,” I clarified, “they are fighting the Yemeni people and causing a famine that has killed over 85,000 Yemeni children.”

“Well, that’s just my opinion,” he ended, dismissing facts in favor of fiction, fantasy, and sheer stupidity.

This is the sad state of the subjugated Muslim mind: victims rationalizing their victimization. Call it colonized consciousness. Call it battered Muslim syndrome.

I imagined a Yemeni man being violated by a bunch of Saudis and saying, “I don’t like being raped, however, if these Saudis do not rape me, they will be forced to rape some Iranians instead.”

Sadly, it seems that some Yemenis, both at home and abroad, are willing to offer themselves as the scapegoats or whipping boys of the Saudis and blame the Iranians for their suffering.

Facts, however, are facts. The United States of America has sold over $100 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia. In turn, the medieval kingdom has spent over $100 billion to butcher the helpless men, women, and children from one of the poorest countries in the world.

As for the United Arab Emirates, they have been spending $1.3 billion/mo. or $16 billion/yr. to support the slaughter of Yemeni civilians.

When people are politically illiterate, they can only continue to face catastrophe. Fortunately, some Yemenis are smart enough to see the truth for what it is and have identified their enemies and the cause of their suffering.