Yemen situation is extremely dangerous

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Mar 31, 2015 at 18:39

Dear Dr Pipes,

In your interview on PRESSTV, you compared the situation in Yemen with the situation in Lebanon ten years back. A cursory look at the situation tells that in Yemen Iran-supported militias are fighting other --possibly sunni- groups. This is a very dangerous situation because Shia-vs-Sunni conflicts have acted as catalysts for a lot of destruction in ME. This situation is even more dangerous because this war is happening at the doorsteps of Saudi Arabia which is not only one of the biggest center of wealth in the world but also the seat of Islamic religion. The danger that this conflict potentially poses to the the entire world is enormous. The consequences can be indescribably bad if anything like what happened to Bashar al-Assad's Syria, happens to Saudi Arabia.

No one knows the future but the kinds of wars that brought Lebanon and Syria to destruction are entirely possible in Saudi Arabia. How can Saudi monarchy save itself? I hope I am not committing any blasphemy here but the best chance for the Saudi monarchy is to allow freedom and democracy in their country in a hurry. Saudi Arabia is, indeed, in a position to introduce democracy in the Islamic world. I know that Saudi Arabia is most conservative. I also know that Saudi Arabia is custodian religious Islam, and Sharia and all that. But I also know that Saudi Arabia is not only the richest of all Islamic countries but also it is the seat of Islamic religion and custodian of Islamic thought. Even if democracy is in contradiction to the original Islamic thought, Saudi Monarchy should create a version of democracy that is as close to true freedom as possible and is Islamic enough to keep the conservative mullahs quiet.

Militias of one kind cannot contain the militias of other kinds. The only viable way to limit the power of Iran is to fight it with democracy and freedom. The only way to protect Saudi Arabia along with its oil and its Islamic history from a Lebanon or Syria style war, is to bring democracy to it as soon as possible. Our planet cannot afford a violent war on Saudi soil. The monarchs of Saudi Arabia should read European history in a hurry. They should do exactly what the king of Britain did in 1707 and other European monarchs did during the centuries around.

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