Hey guys, I'm giving a speech to the Libertarian Party in Rhode Island on October the 27th and then November the 3rd with Ron Paul and Lou Rockwell and a bunch of others down there in Lake Jackson.
Jeff Deist and all that Mises Institute are having me out to give a talk about media stuff.
And that's November the 3rd down there in Lake Jackson.
If you like Ron Paul events and you're nearby, I'll see you there.
For Pacifica Radio, November 4th, 2018.
I'm Scott Horton.
This is Anti-War Radio.
All right, y'all and I am Scott Horton here for Anti-War Radio every Sunday morning from 830 to nine on KPFK 90.7 FM in LA.
I'm the author of the book Fool's Errant, Time to End the War in Afghanistan, and the editorial director of Antiwar.com.
All right, y'all introducing Nasser Arbi from Yemen now that's YemenAlan.com, a reporter from Sana, Yemen.
Welcome back to the show, Nasser.
How you doing?
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for having me.
Very happy to have you on the air here.
So where do you want to start with the battle going on at the Hodeidah port?
Well, wherever you want to start, I'm ready.
But nothing new in Hodeidah.
It's the same thing as I told you, four months or five months ago, the same thing and exactly as I told you, what happened is exactly what what I told you for five months ago.
Then nothing.
Yeah.
So now I guess the recent report is that they're about to send they say they're sending 10,000 more troops, Saudi troops, but they say they're mostly going to be Sudanese to try to back up the UAE efforts there.
While of course, at the same time, I'm sure you've seen that Madison Pompeo both are calling for a ceasefire to begin 30 days from now, I guess after this latest battle is their plan.
The thing is new in Hodeidah and what they talk about the amassing the new soldiers from Sudan or from wherever, they just wanted to say that we are still controlling Hodeidah and we are holding strong cards on Yemenis, because they failed, they completely failed.
And they know that they they are already now in that bottomless quagmire and they can't get out easily.
So and because of the calls of the American calls from Mattis and Pompeo to end the war in in one or two for a ceasefire, actually, in one month is also something that is just a phony stuff.
I think nothing new in it.
So generally, I would tell you that they Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are just stuck in Yemen.
And they are now looking for a solution.
And they know very well that any negotiated solution will not be in their interest.
And they at the same time, they can't continue a military solution, they can't succeed, they can't win, because they know very well what they are facing, and what the steadfastness of Yemenis for four years now, what it means.
So they try to have an exit now.
But they don't know what is it and how to do to make it they are also very screwed up, very screwed up.
They don't know what to do, and what they what they want.
Yeah, I mean, that certainly seems to be the case.
Although at least, I mean, for Madison Pompeo to be calling for talks in a ceasefire means they're at least finally recognising they must have known all along, but now at least they're officially recognising that they can't win.
That the goal, if the goal ever was to reinstall Hadi that that is impossible, they're going to have to come up with something else.
Exactly.
This is what is what is happening.
And they when they said they they actually Mr. Bambayo and Mattis admitted one important thing that the Emirates never admitted that they said, I mean, Bambayo and Mattis said that Houthi must stop the missiles, the missile attacks and the drone attacks on Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
This is very new in what they said, because Abu Dhabi until now did not admit that the drone the drone attacks hit Abu Dhabi.
And this is good for the for the Houthis, of course, and because the Emirates did not admit until now.
And also at the same time, I want I want to tell you that they I mean, their state in their statements, the both secretaries, the Secretary of Defence and Secretary of State of the state, they wanted to help Saudis and Emiratis because they know that it there is no there is no solution.
But at the same time, Saudis still see that any negotiated solution is not in their interest at all, because it will be any negotiated, any negotiated solution will be like a victory for Houthis here in Yemen.
So Riyadh wants something else wants wants new terms or something like this.
They don't know what is it.
And I think what's going to happen is that if the Americans, if the American officials are serious, they would do something, they would do something, the first step that the Americans could do is to stop or to end the American participation in this war, and immediately, the Saudis would stop.
Otherwise, if they just keep stating and talking about talks of the talks, they would not nothing would do nothing would happen at all.
And they would do nothing.
I'm sure.
Right.
I mean, it really does seem to be important that for them to even admit these things is to go to show that they must have had a change in strategy now.
And I guess this is because of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and his overreach in the torture and murder of this Washington Post reporter, finally, you know, where you many lives have been statistics all this time, they finally, you know, they hit a made guy in the Washington Post mob.
And so that really, you know, pushed it too far.
And that costs the last of their support for this war in Washington, DC, it looks like.
Yes, it looks like this, because, you know, for the, the Americans, also the Americans, the senior officials wanted to help Saudis, because they know now, the pressure is very huge on Saudis after that, that heinous murder of the journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, because it's a big thing.
And the pressure is still rising and everywhere.
So there and Saudis, Saudi clown prince, if I can say, is very screwed up and he doesn't know what to do, because everyone is pointing at him, because something like this would not have happened, if he did not order, but everybody knows that he ordered, of course, because he's, he's holding everything and he's holding the all the levers of the power, and how those people can carry out such an important assassination without his orders.
So the American officials, unfortunately, seem to be helping him, or to be to be reducing the pressure from him.
But if they want to, really, if they want to, to help him, helping Mohammed bin Salman will start from ending the war of Yemen, because everything, everything that is happening to Mohammed bin Salman now is related to Yemen war, because the big thing, the big problem is, what is he doing in Yemen?
Because, you know, the pressure that happened after that murder, because the people, the people saw who Mohammed bin Salman is, because he, he did that heinous murder against a journalist.
But the world should know that Mohammed bin Salman has been doing even worse and worse in Yemen for four years now in Yemen.
So well, and it's at an incredible expense.
And of course, provoking missile attacks by the Houthi government against even Riyadh, which of course, had never happened before he brought the war to the capital city of Saudi Arabia.
That's not how it was supposed to happen.
So yeah, pretty clear.
There's there's a lot of dissent inside the royal family in Saudi right now over this.
So I think there's something I would add something.
There is a abrasion now inside the Congress about this because the Congress, the Congress people in particular now because you know, I've been observing what they have been doing from the very beginning.
But now the timbre and disposition of the Congress people is completely different.
Because now they are, they talk completely different than they than they were talking about the Yemen war.
I mean, about the Saudi aggression in Yemen.
So that they want to now they feel that it's a big shame.
It's a disgrace that they continue to, to help such a war criminal in Saudi Arabia, who's like a minister who's doing all these things to his people and to just journalists and so And I don't know if you saw this Nasser, but they even did a big thing in the New York Times two or three days ago, with a lot of pictures of starving children and this kind of thing.
And they, I think they don't mention the American role in there at all really, or in the most minimal sense, they blame it all on Saudi Arabia, which I thought is probably fine if that propaganda is a means of really backing out of support for them.
That you know, this really has gone too far now.
Yes, it's only for journalists, I, I help them.
It's only for journalists now who can who made it to Yemen, from the New York Times, from the New York Times magazine, and from the New York Times newspaper.
And it's what you saw now is only the newspaper.
Tomorrow, you will see the magazine.
It's also a big thing.
You will see and everyone will see.
Oh, and you you helped them when they came there.
I know you used to write for the New York Times.
I did everything and I would, I want to call now every journalist to tell them that it's completely different.
Anyone can go now, anyone can come over to Yemen to see what's happening.
Because, you know, we could convince our officials here that that allowing journalists to come to Yemen is a big thing.
And this is what happened with the New York Times, the newspaper and the magazine only tomorrow, or in the in the in the few hours in the few coming hours, the new big article will come out from the New York Times magazine with a lot of unique pictures also.
And they will know that the congresspeople and every know, everyone would know what's happening in Yemen.
And we want everyone also to come.
I think there are a lot of people that are coming to Yemen to know what's going on.
And they will know that in during the four years, every day there were or there have been Khashoggi or journalist Khashoggi being dismembered and being cut into pieces, even even more heinous than what happened to Khashoggi.
So this is what we want the world to know.
And the congresspeople started to know they of course, I know that they now talk more strongly because of what they saw in New York Times, a newspaper and because of what are going to what they are going to see in the New York Times magazine.
And because of what they saw, what happened to to the journalist Khashoggi.
This is a criminal.
It is a criminal.
It's not a crown prince or clown prince, actually.
So he's not he's a criminal.
He's very dangerous to anyone, as I've been telling you all the time.
Yeah.
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Well, and now I'm sure you're familiar too with this study by Ackled data, AC LED data, according to them, they're really confirming your work, sir, that 50,000 50,000 years, at least have been killed.
And that's in violent attacks that does not count babies starving to death.
That doesn't count the thousands killed from cholera.
That doesn't count the hunger.
I emailed them, I emailed them or I tweeted something to them and telling them that it's okay.
And they did a great job.
But it's also a 50,000 is much less than the reality.
Yeah, that must be obsolete now.
Because you told me 50,000 I think more than a year ago.
Yeah, yes, exactly.
Exactly.
Well, but then again, compared to what the typical narrative is that it's like 10,000 still somehow magically.
Yes, this is a big thing.
This is a big shame.
There's the UN keeps saying 10,000 for five, four, four years.
This is I mean, this is good evidence on what they are doing.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I mean, I think anybody who's just watched the news through the terror wars and the casualty counts over time can tell that that couldn't be right after three and a half, almost four years of air war here.
It's certainly and ground war as well.
It's certainly much higher than that it has to be.
And now, and so but here's the thing that people might remember this from the days of Iraq war one and a half under Bill Clinton, when it was the sanctions regime, the UN blockade against Iraq.
And so there were the no fly zone bombings during that time, but those casualties were in the hundreds and they were horrible, but they were still they were in the hundreds.
But it was the casualties from the economic blockade that could only be measured in what they call excess deaths, where they compare the death rate over time to how it was previously.
And of course, how it was previously in Iraq was already really bad in the Iran Iraq war and all of that.
And they came up with somewhere between three and 500,000 dead children from the sanctions regime at that time.
And so that's the kind of study that has never taken place in Yemen during this war that we won't know that if whatever the exactly the numbers of killed in the violent attacks, that when it comes down to it, we already can see from the hunger and the starvation and the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, food infrastructure, water, sewage, electricity, and hospitals, and all of these things by the US Saudi regime here, that the excess death rate, we're going to find that hundreds of thousands of people have died in this conflict in the last three and a half, four years here, no question about it.
It's everyone now knows everyone now knows it's the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
And I would add, I would add it's the most most expensive, the most expensive Saudi made for Maine.
I mean, I mean, Saudi Arabia is spending on this for Maine on this man made for me no Saudi made for they spend billions and billions of dollars to starve Yemenis.
This is this what is happening.
It's not easy.
It's not it's not just a block of locate them not blockade Yemenis.
No, but spend money spend billions and billions to starve to starve Yemenis.
And this is this is very, very string war and very string dirty war that Saudi Arabia is waging on Yemen.
Yeah.
All right now.
So can I ask you a little bit about the UAE Saudi split on the ground there?
I know that they're working closely together and they have some interests in line, but they also have competing interests there.
And I guess Am I right, Nasser to understand that even though the Saudis hate the Muslim Brotherhood in all circumstances, they favor the Muslim Brotherhood faction here the Islam faction, where the United Arab Emirates prefers Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, as their you know, one of their factions on the ground that they're using in the fight against the Houthi government there.
So could you delve into that a little bit for us and clarify please, sir.
Let me tell you a very important thing in your audience.
Scott, it's a time bomb.
It's a time bomb between UAE, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
It's just like, it's a matter of convenience, as I always told you.
So what we are seeing on the ground is completely different than what they say.
It's a big difference.
It's a big dispute.
I mean, there are a lot of differences, a lot of things that they disagree with.
For example, let me just tell you, it's not just the Brotherhood and the Qaeda ISIS.
Brotherhood is yes, it's a big thing, because it's like a common between them.
But Brotherhood are based in Riyadh.
But no one, no Brotherhood, no single Brotherhood in Abu Dhabi or in Emirates, no one.
So all of them are in Riyadh.
All of them are in Riyadh.
And the people who are helping Saudi Arabia on the ground from Yemenis are Brotherhood from here.
And no one, no single one on the ground helping United Arab Emirates.
Who is helping United Arab Emirates from the ground in Yemen?
It's only who Qaeda and ISIS or Salafis, Salafis only, Salafis only or separatists in the south.
So it's a big thing.
And not only this, but also what United Arab Emirates wants is completely different than what Saudi Arabia wants.
And they are, you know, they are, they are, they are, they are in, in, in, in, in opposite ways.
I mean, they are in conflict.
They, it's, it's, they, they don't meet in, in, in a lot of things.
So it's just now, because there is no, in this, in the, in the, in what is called the Arab coalition, it is not Arab coalition, it's Saudi Emirati.
But also Saudi Emirati are not, are not, they are, they are not in harmony.
They are not in, you know, they, they are, they have a lot of differences.
There are a lot of problems.
They, they, they have different agendas and all these things.
And what we see is, is the evidence, for example, now in Aden, they, they have the council, ruling council and for the separatists.
That is, that does not recognize even the legitimacy of Hadi, the legitimacy of, of the coalition.
They, they just, they, they, they, they, they want separation and they want autonomy.
They, they want independence.
And this is what they want in the, in the South.
And they, they, they, the, the, I mean, no one of them gives, gives a damn to, to what they call the coalition or the, or restoring the legitimacy or something like this.
So they are in a big problem, big, in a real problem here.
And now, so when you mentioned the Southern separatists, and there's a whole socialist faction there that's backed by the UAE that I gather is also fighting al Qaeda.
They couldn't really ally with al Qaeda at the same time.
So, but they're also fighting the Houthis, right?
Yes, they are fighting Houthis, but they are not, they are done with Houthis.
They were fighting with the, when Houthi was in Aden.
But now, they are in, the South separatists are in problem with Qaeda, of course, because Qaeda look at them as, look at them as kafir, you know, kafir, kafir is a disbeliever or someone who apostates, you know, so Qaeda is in, is, is the enemy also of the, of the, of the socialists, because they, they look at the socialists as kafir.
But then, so the socialists are relying on the United Arab Emirates, that's also backing al Qaeda though, right?
Yes, this is the, this is the, the contradictions that, that, that make one believe that the United Arab Emirates is doing very mess, and big mess, and something that it can't get, get away with it easily, because it's, it's a big problem.
I mean, it's a big problem.
It's only it's money that covers up.
Otherwise, it would be exposed to everyone.
Now, Nasser, it's also said that Trump has authorized a vast escalation of the war against al Qaeda, you know, in terms of the drone wars and presumably special operations forces on the ground that I know we've seen in at least two major occasions.
One where they killed Anwar al-Awlaki's daughter in a raid there.
And one, I believe Navy SEAL was killed.
And so but I wonder, how much evidence of that do you see that the US at the same time that they're backing Saudi and UAE's war that is in essence for al Qaeda against their primary competition, the Houthis, that at the same time, they are doing drone strikes and attempting to destroy the organization to?
Who would they who would they target?
Now, please, Scott, who would they target?
Now, the people who are called or are labeled Qaeda, ISIS, are within, within, in a way or another, are within the army or within the forces of United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
Who would they, who would Trump, who would Trump target?
Who would Trump attack?
Who would he attack?
I mean, who would he target?
No one is there.
Everyone is inside what they call the national army, or the security belts, or whatever.
They just, they just go there, and get enlisted and get their salaries.
And you call them whatever you want to call.
So, Trump is played, Trump is deceived.
Trump is, he doesn't know what's going to what's what's happening on the ground.
Because if he if he if he sees if he sees or if he thinks that he's still fighting Qaeda, this is he's, he's wrong, completely wrong, because Qaeda now is, is under the cover of, of the Emirates forces and Saudi forces.
Yes, there are many factions, factions with Saudi Arabia, and factions with the with United Arab Emirates, but all of them are under them.
And you can't just come from United States to or from wherever to to target their, their people.
And of course, this happened many times.
And when it happened, when when Trump took office in January 2017, and he did that, his, his operation here against Qaeda people, the, the, the Saudis and Emirates people, or the Saudis and Emirates backed people from Yemen, they, they denounced that and they said, you killed our people, you killed the best of the best fighters of ours.
And, and this is what's happening.
So you can't say that you are fighting Qaeda, when fight, when there is no Qaeda now, no, the elements of Qaeda are inside the, their, their, their armies and their camps.
And you can't come and bomb these, these, these, these, these camps at all.
And this is what this is why we are saying that Trump is, is misled and misinformed.
Yep.
Well, you know, there's a guy named Michael Horton, who's no relation to me.
He's an expert from the Jamestown Foundation, and occasional writer for the American Conservative magazine.
And back in 2015, when, you know, the major part of the war started that March, I think it was, you know, right then, Michael Horton, told the great journalist Mark Perry, that we are quite literally flying as al-Qaeda's air force in Yemen, which of course means that our Navy is floating, is at the service of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the butcher of New York City, again, just like America, the same role that America played in the Libya war of 2011.
And the Syria war of 2011, through say, 15 or so.
And back in these forces, there's 16.
You nailed it down.
You nailed it.
You nailed it now.
Very good.
Thank you very much.
You helped me.
Yes, this is what's happening.
I mean, this is because they hate Iran more and they blame the Houthis on Iran, Nasser.
Exactly.
This is the problem.
This is the problem.
Trump hates Iran blindly, blindly.
But unfortunately, even Iran is gaining.
Iran is benefiting.
Iran is benefiting from Trump and from Saudi and from Emirates.
And they are benefiting.
Iran is benefiting, not losing at all.
You see, this is the problem.
Always keeps backfiring on them.
Always.
Anything they do.
Why?
Because they believe someone like Mohammed bin Salman and Mohammed bin Zayed.
Someone who kills in front of you.
And then he says, No, it's not me.
I didn't do it.
And this is what he's doing in Yemen.
This is what he's doing in Yemen.
Exactly as what he did in Istanbul, by dismembering that journalist.
He's doing in Yemen the same thing.
But unfortunately, no enough attention is received here in Yemen, unfortunately, because of the Saudi money, unfortunately.
Yeah.
Let me let me tell you, now, I'm now more happier, more happy than than I was, because we are feeling the victory.
We are feeling the good fruits of our patience, and of our resilience, and because of our also faith in our issue.
And now we feel that Saudi Arabia is looking for an exit, but they don't know what is it because they, for us, as I told you, it's our country.
And we will be of course, we will, I mean, we should be tolerated with everyone, coexist with every Yemeni, but until Saudis and Emiratis are completely defeated.
And I think this defeat is very soon now, because, because as I this is what I understood from the statements of the Americans yesterday, because it means a lot, the American the statement of the of the Americans official, they mean a lot to us because we know what it means to to them, because so they they look for for an exit for their allies, for for Mohammed bin Mohammed bin Zayed, who are stuck.
All right, well, listen, man, thank you so much for coming back on the show, Nasser.
Thank you very much, Scott.
Thank you very much for your interest in Yemen.
And you help us a lot.
Thank you very much.
All right, you guys, that is Nasser Araby, again, from Sana Yemen.
All right, y'all.
And that's the anti war radio for this morning.
Thanks very much for listening.
I'm your host, Scott Horton, you can find my full interview archive more than 4800 interviews now going back to 2003 at scotthorton.org.
And I'm here every Sunday morning from 830 to nine on KPFK 90.7 FM in LA.
See you next week.
