Hadi's forces announce ‘major victories’ over Houthis in Yemen, over the last few days, some experts think these advances are related to "King Salman issued a royal decree removing, Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, had commanded joint forces in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen." last week, while other experts don't believe the 'major victories' announcement made by Yemeni forces neither the Houthis.
The internationally recognised Yemeni government has recently announced that its forces had pushed back fighters associated with the Houthi group in a number of governorates.
The human rights and national security attorney and analyst based in New York, Irina Tsukerman, told Yemen details that removing the Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, was exactly on point.
"I think the decision was exactly on point. It seems like the individual was linked to both financal mismanagement, poor decisionmaking, and illicit and inappropriate deals with Islamists damaging to the security of Coalition operations". she said.
"With the removal of these obstacles, while not all the problems are yet solved, the senior leaders who have been in a position to compromise security and leak intelligence are gone". she believed.
".. And furthemore, lower ranking personnel and officials will get the message". Tsukerman argued.
Tsukerman added that while this step was very wise and more than timely, it is important not to stop at this point, and to continue with the course of reforms that King Salman has appeared to embark on.
"That means continuing to examine causes of security breaches, and dismissing anyone who appears to be connected to the network of Houthis, Islamists, and corrupt opportunists". she said.
"That means also continue to move forward assertively and gradually bringing the legitimate government back to the ground in Yemen and to assert physical dominion and control over territory". Tsukerman added.
For his part, Michael Horton, Senior Analyst for Arabian Affairs in the Jamestown Foundation, said that the removal is a good thing but he does't think it is the cause of any victories.
"The removal is a good thing but I don't think it is the cause of any victories. From what I understand, it was due to corruption as well as concerns about which groups the Saudis were/ are funding". He told Yemen Details.
"To be honest, I am not sure I believe the 'major victories' announcement. They've made a lot of those announcements. I never really believe the Houthis either. The truth is somewhere in the middle" He said.
But the director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institution, Bruce Riedel, believed that Lt General Prince Fahd bin Turki was dismissed to make him a scapegoat for the war’s failures.
"If Biden wins in November the American policy on the war will shift completely. MBS will not be welcome. Arms to the Saudis will halt. MBS is in trouble". He told Yemen Details.
From other part, Samuel Ramani, a doctoral candidate the University of Oxford's Department of Politics and International Relations told Yemen Details that there was little expectation that even though Fahd bin Turki was replaced by a seasoned commander who was critical to the 2011 Saudi intervention in Bahrain, that there would be any change on the ground in Yemen.
From his point,he sees that these announcements could be one of the following: 1) New leadership over the war was energized Hadi's forces and given them renewed spirit and organization. Hard to see how that could happen in a matter of days, but thats what Saudi Arabia will likely argue.
2) This is just a way for Saudi-aligned figures from Hadi to show their loyalty to Mohammed bin Salman. Praising military successes as soon as Mohammed bin Salman's chosen successor takes the helm of the mission is an excellent way to do that.
"So we have to see more successes on the ground to understand what the rhetoric means, right now, I think its too early to be definitive". He added.
The internationally recognised Yemeni government has recently announced that its forces had pushed back fighters associated with the Houthi group in a number of governorates.
The human rights and national security attorney and analyst based in New York, Irina Tsukerman, told Yemen details that removing the Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, was exactly on point.
"I think the decision was exactly on point. It seems like the individual was linked to both financal mismanagement, poor decisionmaking, and illicit and inappropriate deals with Islamists damaging to the security of Coalition operations". she said.
"With the removal of these obstacles, while not all the problems are yet solved, the senior leaders who have been in a position to compromise security and leak intelligence are gone". she believed.
".. And furthemore, lower ranking personnel and officials will get the message". Tsukerman argued.
Tsukerman added that while this step was very wise and more than timely, it is important not to stop at this point, and to continue with the course of reforms that King Salman has appeared to embark on.
"That means continuing to examine causes of security breaches, and dismissing anyone who appears to be connected to the network of Houthis, Islamists, and corrupt opportunists". she said.
"That means also continue to move forward assertively and gradually bringing the legitimate government back to the ground in Yemen and to assert physical dominion and control over territory". Tsukerman added.
For his part, Michael Horton, Senior Analyst for Arabian Affairs in the Jamestown Foundation, said that the removal is a good thing but he does't think it is the cause of any victories.
"The removal is a good thing but I don't think it is the cause of any victories. From what I understand, it was due to corruption as well as concerns about which groups the Saudis were/ are funding". He told Yemen Details.
"To be honest, I am not sure I believe the 'major victories' announcement. They've made a lot of those announcements. I never really believe the Houthis either. The truth is somewhere in the middle" He said.
But the director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institution, Bruce Riedel, believed that Lt General Prince Fahd bin Turki was dismissed to make him a scapegoat for the war’s failures.
"If Biden wins in November the American policy on the war will shift completely. MBS will not be welcome. Arms to the Saudis will halt. MBS is in trouble". He told Yemen Details.
From other part, Samuel Ramani, a doctoral candidate the University of Oxford's Department of Politics and International Relations told Yemen Details that there was little expectation that even though Fahd bin Turki was replaced by a seasoned commander who was critical to the 2011 Saudi intervention in Bahrain, that there would be any change on the ground in Yemen.
From his point,he sees that these announcements could be one of the following: 1) New leadership over the war was energized Hadi's forces and given them renewed spirit and organization. Hard to see how that could happen in a matter of days, but thats what Saudi Arabia will likely argue.
2) This is just a way for Saudi-aligned figures from Hadi to show their loyalty to Mohammed bin Salman. Praising military successes as soon as Mohammed bin Salman's chosen successor takes the helm of the mission is an excellent way to do that.
"So we have to see more successes on the ground to understand what the rhetoric means, right now, I think its too early to be definitive". He added.
