Houthis must be militarily crushed, says Yemeni expert

Humanitarian conditions are very difficult, especially in the areas controlled by the Houthi militia. Areas controlled by the legitimate government are far better. There is no famine in these areas. Reports by international humanitarian organizations turn a blind eye to this fact.

Donor countries can easily reach the needy in areas controlled by the legitimate Yemeni government. This is not the case in areas controlled by the Houthis. Agencies, such as the King Salman Center and the Emirati Red Crescent, can easily deliver the aid they send to Yemen to those who deserve them in areas under the control of the legitimate government. They cannot do this in other areas under the control of the Houthi militia. International organizations cannot reach the people who deserve aid in the same areas. The Houthi militia closed down the offices of all civil society organizations when they overran Yemeni capital sana'a. This is why it is not easy to find middle organizations that can distribute the aid on behalf of humanitarian organizations. The civil society organizations operating in Yemen now are nothing but sectarian. They work to promote the extremist ideology only. International aid organizations have to give humanitarian aid to these organizations to distribute to the Yemenis. They give, however, this aid to the Houthis or those who back them only. There is also massive administrative and financial corruption.

Some administrative workers had to escape the areas overrun by the Houthis. Nonetheless, the names of these workers are still in the lists of the people who deserve the aid in the areas they escaped. Most of the corruption inside the organizations that distribute humanitarian aid inside Yemen is related to the registration of those who deserve the aid. The Revolution Institution for Publishing and Printing, for example, took aid from the World Food Organization to distribute to its 1,000 employees for a whole year. Nonetheless, it was recently revealed that none of the employees received the aid for a whole year.

Yes, because the Houthis know that they will not score battlefield victory. They lose new ground every day. This is why they pin their hopes on international intervention to rescue them and their prospects. The international community will not intervene in Yemen, unless humanitarian conditions deteriorate. The Houthis want the humanitarian conditions to get worse by depriving people in the areas under their control of aid and money. They do this, even as they collect more than $6.5 billion every year in revenues from the different state facilities.

The battle today is not a sectarian one. The Houthis pretend that they are descendants of Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]. This was why a large number of Hashemite families joined them. This is an ethnic unity. Some Sunni and Sufi families back the Houthis because of family ties and kinship.  

Most of the Houthi leaders had studied in Iran, including Hussein al-Houthi, the founder of the militia. Nonetheless, the influence of the Houthis is more of a political nature. They target the schools by changing the school curricula. This means that there will be a different generation of Yemenis five years from now. This will be a generation that is filled with the Houthis ideology and thinking.

Of course yes. Saleh used to give a political cover to the Houthi militia. Before the former president joined it, the Houthi militia was nothing more than a rebel group. However, the backing Saleh gave them provided them with the political cover they needed. It is important to note that the Houthi militia also has its own civilian aspect. Members of the Houthi group had presence in all state institutions, even before the Houthi coup.

This is true. This civilian branch played a great role in undermining the Yemeni state. Members of this branch are present everywhere. They have not been dealt with as enemies so far. They believe that they deserve to rule the Yemeni state.

The party has been the target of a campaign of hostility that led to the emergence of cracks within it, especially after Saleh's killing. Most of the members of the party are with legitimacy. Nonetheless, some of the members had joined the Houthis. But these were originally the Hashemite members of the party.

The Houthis must be defeated militarily, or they will keep expanding. Military groups can only be dealt with militarily. They never honor agreements and know that the international community cannot bring them to account. Yemen's Houthis are even more dangerous than Hezbollah in Lebanon. They kill their opponents and give them the most brutal treatment.