Sorry, I'm late.
I had to stop by the Wax Museum again and give the finger to FDR.
We know Al-Qaeda, Zawahiri is supporting the opposition in Syria.
Are we supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria?
It's a proud day for America and by God we've kicked Vietnam syndrome once and for all.
Thank you very, very much.
I say it, I say it again, you've been hacked.
You've been took.
You've been hoodwinked.
These witnesses are trying to simply deny things that just about everybody else accepts as fact.
He came, he saw, he died.
We ain't killing they army, but we killing them.
We be on CNN like Say Our Name been saying, say it three times.
The meeting of the largest armies in the history of the world.
Then there's going to be an invasion.
All right, you guys introducing Nasser Arabi, reporter out of Sanaa, Yemen.
Welcome back to the show, Nasser.
How are you doing?
Thank you very much for having me, Scott.
Thank you very much for your interest in Yemen.
Yeah, so I'm very interested in all of the recent developments.
It's the whole top section of the page on antiwar.com today is about what's going on down in the south.
But also there's a story here about this airstrike in northern Yemen.
I know you had tweeted about, I guess, yesterday or the day before yesterday, nine civilians killed.
Can you tell us about that first here?
Well, this is the last U.S.-Saudi war crime against civilians.
And this is what the Saudis are good at from the very beginning of their aggression five years ago.
They killed, they keep killing civilians.
This is a family, a family, very, very poor family in Mashtaba district north of Yemen.
And they killed them.
When they killed them, they killed him on the first day of Eid.
So instead of celebrating the Eid, Eid al-Adha, this is the most important Muslim festival.
Instead of celebrating the Eid, they are mourning.
They are mourning now the death of their loved ones.
And this is just an example of the war crimes, of the continuous war crimes of Saudi aggression.
And if people want to look at the video and bear witness to this horror show, it is absolutely terrible.
Horrible, yes.
It's on Twitter, twitter.com slash N-R-A-B.
And it's A-R-R-A-B-Y-E-E.
So two R's and two E's at the end there.
N-A-R-R-A-B-Y-E-E.
Nasser Arabi on Twitter.
And you can find the video there.
More, as they would put it, the American government puts it, collateral damage in the war against the Houthi regime there.
And now, so speaking of that, let's talk about what's going on down in the south of the country.
You know, in all of our conversations that we've had over the years about this war, we have talked about this a little bit.
But the subject that's gotten our least attention, I guess, is the state of the so-called southern secessionists.
And the transitional council, whatever they call themselves down there in the south, allied with the UAE.
And now that the UAE is leaving, they're making their moves.
And the Saudis are actually bombing their UAE allies on the ground, according to the latest headlines here.
So I was wondering if you could please flesh that out for us and tell us what's going on.
Let me first tell you that what's happening now in the south is something in the same direction as I always talk to you in your show.
Yes, we didn't speak about the south a lot, but it is in the same direction.
It is as this.
What's happening now in the south is a game changer, a game changer with every sense of the word.
A game changer, I mean by a game changer, UAE has defeated Saudi Arabia, defeated it completely.
Now, UAE is completely controlling the south.
Not only this, they took control over the presidential office and all security and the military camps in the city of Aden, and the central bank and everything.
So this means that the next step is the separation.
United Arab Emirates wants this separation or is supporting this separation 100% because it wants to use it as a bargaining card, as a bargaining chip with Saudi Arabia.
And the best thing that could be done without the separation or apart from the separation is changing the sitting president, the Saudi-backed president and the Saudi-backed government who have never been to Aden before during the five years.
President Hadi has never, ever been in Aden, although he himself declared Aden as the temporary capital for his government.
But the United Arab Emirates never allowed him to stay in Aden.
They returned him from the airport three times, and we reported, we talked with you in your show about these things many times.
So now what's happening is that United Arab Emirates is, through its proxies, through its missionaries, they are now in Aden, and they declared this, of course.
They announced this.
It is not secret.
They continued, it took them only four days to control over the presidential palace and all security and military camps.
Some of them surrendered.
Some of the military camps and the security camps surrendered.
Not all of them resisted.
So now the South is under the control of UAA.
But of course, UAA and Saudi Arabia is calling for calm and restraint.
And this is something, it's sort of hypocrisy.
I mean, this is not right.
I mean, this is completely different from what's going on on the ground, because they supported them 100%.
And they are supporting them.
They don't want Hadi.
They don't want his government.
UAA does not want Hadi and does not want his government because Hadi and his government is being supported by the Brotherhood, the enemy of UAA.
This is why they don't want Hadi and his government.
Let me now tell you what Saudi Arabia is calling this.
Saudi Arabia is calling this a call.
A call on the so-called, on what it is calling.
It is calling it a call against the so-called legitimate government.
And this is very funny also.
Because Saudi Arabia was silent during the four days.
They didn't do anything.
They didn't help their people.
And this is not me now who is saying this.
That Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior said this clearly before he left to Saudi Arabia.
Or before he was being, before he was being deported by Saudi soldiers from Aden to Saudi Arabia.
He said this.
This is whom?
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of Hadi.
He was the commander of the battle with the separatists during the four days.
In which about 100 people were killed.
About 20 of them civilians.
And 300 injured.
So he said, Saudi Arabia ignored us.
Saudi Arabia kept silence while we were being slaughtered.
He was brave to say this.
Because he said this when he was on his way to Saudi Arabia.
But of course, agency as well.
This is my thinking.
That it's agency as well.
So he said, Saudi Arabia was seeing us being slaughtered for four days.
By United Arab Emirates backed militias.
He said also, he said that United Arab Emirates, I'm quoting, United Arab Emirates defeated us.
I acknowledge this defeat to UAE and its allies or its proxies.
But I want to tell them that this is not the last battle.
The battle is not over.
I will see you, I will see them on the ground again.
I'm saying these things because these things will tell you and tell your audience.
The contradictions of Hadi or of United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
How different they are in everything in the south.
And in Yemen.
They are different in tactics.
They are different in strategies.
They are different in goals.
They are different in their fighters on the ground.
They are different in everything.
Right?
But unfortunately, they talk, they still talk that they are agenist Houthi.
They are United agenist Houthi.
They are not even United agenist Houthi.
Because they are killing each other.
They are turning on each other now.
They are very weak.
Houthi is very, very happy.
Houthi is winning a lot now.
Gaining a lot.
He's very happy with these things.
So the things are here now.
Separatist movement is taking control over the south.
And I think that the next step is the separation.
Or at least changing Hadi and his government because they are brotherhood.
And United Arab Emirates doesn't want them to stay.
They don't want them to stay at all.
Hang on just one second.
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And now, so what about Al-Qaeda though?
Because we talked about the kind of irony here that the UAE forces, they're okay with Al-Qaeda.
They just don't like the Muslim brotherhood.
Thank you very much for this question.
This question is essential question.
And because it is essential thing.
I'm still calling it Qaeda-ISIS.
Because it's mixed over everything.
So Qaeda-ISIS is still emerging.
I'm sorry, is now re-emerging.
After the complete withdrawal of United Arab Emirates.
For many reasons, of course.
Not for many, many reasons.
But let me start with Aiden.
They started with a big attack on the main military, sorry, the main security camp on Aiden.
This is earlier this month.
When this, when what's happening in the south started, of course.
Because it started on that day.
Qaeda attacked a security camp with a car bomb, a bus bomb, and three motorcycles.
I mean bombed motorcycles also.
Explosive motorcycles.
So three things.
Three motorcycles, bus, and car.
So five things.
Five things exploded at the gate of that security forces.
Killing about 20 and injuring about 30.
Because they couldn't enter, of course.
Because they would have killed all if they were able to enter.
But they were not able to enter.
Exploded at the gate.
Right?
So that was the beginning.
The beginning of the problem in the south.
On the second day, exactly the second day, exactly the second day, they also captured the main military camp of the UAA missionaries in Aiden.
This is the second province after Aiden.
They attacked the camp.
They killed and injured and arrested many people.
And they took almost all the equipment.
Killed about 20 soldiers and arrested many of them.
And they took all the heavy weapons and medium weapons and all kinds of things.
And now they are free, of course, in the province.
On the same day when Al-Qaeda attacked Aiden, Houthi also launched a ballistic missile from Sana'a on the most important military camp of UAA in Aiden while they were preparing to launch offensive on Houthi in the north.
This means a lot.
Of course, the missile and drone hit the soldiers while they were parading.
Yeah, I saw that video on your Twitter feed there.
It's amazing footage.
Yes.
Killing the right-hand commander of UAA.
The most controversial commander for many reasons in the south.
I mean, because he did a lot of things.
He arrested a lot of people.
He monitored the torture of a lot of people, a lot of prisoners, a lot of detainees.
So he was very notorious.
He was very infamous for these things.
He was killed while he was the only senior commander.
He was the top.
He was killed alone.
Of course, there were about 100 soldiers killed and injured at the time.
But I mean, the others who were in the stage were not killed.
Why?
Because he, at the time of the missile, when the missile came, when the missile came from the north, from Houthi, this commander called Abu al-Yamama, his name is Abu al-Yamama, Munir al-Yafi, Abu al-Yamama, he went from the stage, he stepped from the stage to the gate because he wanted to create a high-profile gist.
At the time, the missile came to that place and killed him and 100 other soldiers.
And you see the horrible video and everyone saw the horrible video.
In other words, you're saying...
Because of these things, because of these things, why he was killed, why he stepped from the stage to the gate at the time of the missile, when the missile came, this made the people in the south and in the United Arab Emirates, let me say in the south, they said it is the Brotherhood who tipped the Houthi.
It is the Brotherhood who conspired against this commander.
It is the Brotherhood who this, who this.
So they accused the Brotherhood of everything.
They blamed the Brotherhood more than Houthi.
All the Houthi, of course, claimed responsibility for this.
He said those people were coming to attack me and I attacked them.
It was just a preemptive, preemptive strike for Houthi.
So the south was very, very angry.
The separatists were very angry after the death of their commander.
Two days later on his funeral, the clashes started over in the cemetery.
And during 48 hours, Aden was over.
All Aden was under the control of the separatist movement.
And the government, the few government officials who were in the presidential palace, they were devoted by the Saudi soldiers, not by the UAE or by the separatists.
Because Saudi soldiers were there and they devoted them to Riyadh.
And this is a fact, not analysis.
They were devoted by force to Riyadh.
Because there is still some kind of coordination between Mohammed bin Zayed and Mohammed bin Salman.
Although, of course, they are fighting, they are killing each other.
But at the top level, there is some kind of coordination because one can understand this coordination because of the movement of Saudi Arabia and because of these things.
Saudi Arabia called for an emergency meeting in Riyadh and all these sort of things.
But the most important thing that happened is that now the separatist movement is controlling Aden and all the south with full support from United Arab Emirates.
United Arab Emirates always have been or have wanted to do this because it feels that the south or the separation of the south will be a good at its hand to negotiate with Saudi Arabia when they negotiate over their shares, over their portions of Yemen or from Yemen.
Unfortunately, there is now a big anger and the people in Riyadh and the people in Istanbul, in Turkey, the people who were with Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates as an alliance, now they call them occupiers and invaders and even worse and worse because they know that they were not even respectful invaders and occupiers.
They were even worse and worse.
They were just using the banner of restoring the legitimacy and the president and all these things only to achieve their dirty goals and different goals at the same time that could end up soon in a war between United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
It started with this war, but it could be also a war, a direct war between Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, especially if Mohammed bin Salman is no longer or when Mohammed bin Salman no longer needs Mohammed bin Zayed to help him for some things because Mohammed bin Zayed is experienced and he's his mentor, the mentor of Mohammed bin Salman and all these things.
But unfortunately, now their alliance is completely fractured, no doubt.
They are completely fractured whatever they say.
There is no alliance.
They call it Saudi-Emirati alliance.
Now, even Saudi-Emirati alliance, it is not there.
It is completely fractured.
You can hear The Scott Horton Show and Anti-War Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM, KPFK in LA, kpfk.org, APS Radio at apsradio.com, The Libertarian Institute at libertarianinstitute.org.
And of course, check out the full archives, more than 5,000 interviews now going back to 2003 and sign up for the podcast feed at scotthorton.org.
And thanks.
Well, now, so what about the Houthis' position in terms of their relationship with the transitional separatist government in the south there, the UAE-backed government in the south?
I mean, if the Houthis come out of the far north and they're not even traditionally the natural power in the capital city, in Sana'a, in the middle, and they haven't been able to control the south for a few years now, right?
Ever since 2015, they took over Aden for a little while, but then they got pushed right back out again, and they've been pushed out all this time.
I just wonder if, from their position, maybe they could go ahead and recognize the separation or the autonomy of the south that apparently wants nothing to do with them, you know, UAE or otherwise.
You know what I mean?
No, Houthi now is, you know, seeing himself as the representative of Yemen, of unified Yemen.
And his position is this.
He said to the world at the time when Aden collapsed, when Aden collapsed under the separatists, he said what happened in Aden is an additional proof that I, the Houthi, that we were right from the very beginning that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were not helping Yemen to restore the legitimacy.
They were invading Yemen.
They were occupying Yemen.
Now they are conflicting and they are fighting over Yemen, over Yemen, over its wealth and over its boats and everything.
And he called, of course, Houthi called for dialogue with the south and also for dialogue with Islah and everyone who are now calling Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as invaders.
Houthi is now calling for dialogue.
They want to make dialogue because Houthi knows that he would not be able to roll alone and there should be a dialogue, a comprehensive dialogue that includes everyone, every group, or at least the main groups, that's the Salah, the BGC, that is the former president, and Salah Bati, the Brotherhood, and the Houthi group, and the separatists.
Four main groups should be involved in a comprehensive dialogue and then they could come out with a compromise and a political solution that would be good for everyone.
Of course, Houthi is doing this, Houthi is saying this all the time because he's now and people are now listening to Houthi more than anyone else because now people don't trust Hadi anymore.
They don't trust the separatists.
They don't trust Saudi Arabia.
They don't trust the UAE at all because they see them now.
They see what they are doing in Aden.
They are killing each other now, and not only this, and they are doing a co-op also.
Now, the exclusivity of Houthi to the co-op or to being the co-plotter or something, is now the separatists are also making co-op.
They made a co-op against the legitimate party, against the so-called legitimate government.
So Houthi is very happy with this because he is using these things to tell people what the United Arab Emirates and what Saudi Arabia really wants.
They don't want united Yemen.
They don't want stable Yemen.
They don't want strong Yemen at all.
Do you think that if, say, I don't know, the United States for some reason just demanded that UAE and Saudi back down and they were out of the picture, do you think that that's really what would happen, that the Houthis would be able to get, for example, the separatists?
I mean there may be factions in the south that would deal with the Houthis, but the separatists call themselves separatists for a reason, right?
Do you think that they would negotiate their way back into some kind of union with the central government under the Houthis?
Let me tell you this.
The separatist movement has been fighting for independence and separation for more than 12 years now.
They started their movement in 2007, and it was getting worse and worse since then for them.
Now, with Aden gone and with Aden collapsed under their control, they simply say, the moment has come.
The moment has come.
They simply say to their people, to their supporters and everyone, and they say to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, we are with you against the Iranian expansion or expansionism policy.
So they just say this simply.
We are with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Iran, but we should have our own independent state.
Houthi, of course, has a lot of people from the south, a lot of leaders, and governors, and so they say, the people who are in the north, they want to keep the unity, but they want to correct its path.
They want to correct the problems.
They want to fix and to heal the divisions and the problems made over the time since the 1994 war.
So this is something that can be done, but if Houthi is enabled more, if Houthi now or Sana'a government is supported, now they are left only with Houthi now as a strong group that can do something for United Yemen.
But others, no.
The exiled government can't do anything.
The separatists alone can't do anything.
They can't even separate without UAE support.
So Houthi now can do a lot, and they will need him.
And Houthi now, his spokesman yesterday was in Tehran with the foreign minister of Iran, and he welcomed him as a senior official.
It was like recognizing Houthi as a state yesterday in Iran because he was there, and it was the first time that a Houthi spokesman met the foreign minister.
Which just makes the Hawks.
He went there many times, but only the deputy minister who would always meet the Houthi officials or Houthi spokesmen or Houthi representatives.
But yesterday, Jawad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, welcomed highly the Houthi in a gesture or in a signal that Houthi now can do a lot, and you are fractured, but Houthi is good and unified and better than you and stronger and better than you and capable more than you.
And so again, this is another example of the Iranians at essentially no cost scoring a couple of points against the United States and the Saudis too, an opportunity that the Americans have given them, and by this whole time really giving them credit for all of the Houthis' gains and pretending that this is a defensive war against Iran and their position in Yemen, which barely exists, and yet from the Iranian point of view, this is all doing them a giant favor and making them seem more powerful than they are and giving them an opportunity to make things harder for their adversaries in Saudi and the U.S.
So that leads to the point about statehood and all this.
In the American narrative, the Houthis are still the Houthi rebels.
The fact that they have controlled the capital city for almost five years, four and a half years, means nothing.
Not only this, Scott, and administered the state with all its institutions 100 times more, 100 times better than the Saudis in the south and anywhere.
And this is the United Nations who said this.
And I even had an argument with the...
Not only rebels controlling the capital, they are administering, they are running the country.
I even had an argument with a friendly expert and journalist about this who said, well, but they were never elected.
And I said, yeah, but Saleh was never elected either.
You wouldn't deny that Saleh was the head of the Yemeni state for all those years.
The fact that he wasn't elected has essentially nothing to do with it at all.
Hadi wasn't elected either, unless you count a Soviet-style ballot with one man and one name and one picture on it for people to choose from.
But his government was a government?
And it just goes to show that they won't even dignify it by calling it a regime.
They won't even recognize that the Houthis won four years ago.
It's not about elections.
No, no, no.
Yemen hasn't been able to establish its state.
So this is the situation.
Now I think the next step now is either...
Because now Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are racing for ending the war, but also with different agendas and different goals.
They are now in a race for ending the war.
This is what I understand.
But they are completely different in how it should be ended, how this war could come to an end.
Because the United Arab Emirates now is officially saying that for the Emirates it's over, it's done.
For the Saudis, it's not done.
Because Saudi Arabia wants to be the big winner or something like this.
But I think the United Arab Emirates was more pragmatic and would be better if it withdrew completely and if it reads the message from the top leader of Houthis who said this, that they should protect themselves from more deterioration.
And I think this is what the United Arab Emirates is doing now.
All right.
Well, thank you very much for your time again on the show, Nasser.
I really appreciate it.
I hope it was okay for you and you're most welcome anytime.
All right.
Thanks again.
Talk soon.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
All right, you guys.
That's Nasser Arabi.
He runs yemen-now.com.
That's yemen-now.com.
And also follow him on Twitter at N-Arabi, A-R-R-A-B-Y-E-E.
All right, y'all.
Thanks.
Find me at libertarianinstitute.org, at scotthorton.org, antiwar.com, and reddit.com slash scotthortonshow.
Oh, yeah, and read my book, Fool's Errand, Timed and the War in Afghanistan at foolserrand.us.
