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King Salman needs total victory in Yemen

The new Saudi king must reassure his domestic audience that his aggressive foreign policy will safeguard the kingdom.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C) walks surrounded by security officers to receive Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa (unseen) upon the latter's arrival in Riyadh to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit on May 5, 2015. AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE        (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)

The swift victory over the Houthi rebels that Saudi Arabia wished for is increasingly hard to come by. While airstrikes on Yemen continue, the various Saudi personalities in charge of managing information on this ongoing war reveal several contradictory messages. Despite the abundant news conferences and military briefings since the beginning of the airstrikes in March, all pointing to Saudi victory after victory, it seems that the kingdom is now truly entrenched in the turbulent Yemeni waters with an anticipated prolonged stalemate rather than swift victory. This is a function of the futile use of Saudi airstrikes against multiple Yemeni forces on the ground, each trying to maximize its territorial gains and achieve the most expansion possible ​to eventually negotiate a political settlement granting the most power to those who annex the largest territory. Saudi fighter jets have achieved little in a war that is mainly fought on the ground between warring factions.

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair announced that there will be a five-day cease-fire in Yemen at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry. This is a Saudi initiative to halt military strikes, perhaps after the realization that they have become repetitive and unsuccessful, except in killing around 1,400 Yemenis and demolishing neighborhoods in already crumbling and devastated cities with little left of their infrastructures and services. Images of ancient Sanaa attest to the devastation caused by bombing from the sky, in addition to ground battles fought between various Yemeni forces.

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