Look for the keys to the solution!

Many Yemenis were upset by the US Secretary of Defense's statement regarding the objectives of his country's attacks, and his assertion that they were not related to the internal Yemeni war. This statement should have represented a deconstruction of the Houthi narrative, which insists on characterizing any Yemeni field movement against it as part of US tactics against the Houthis because of their position on Gaza.

This is ridiculous propaganda, as the official and popular struggle against the group has a long history, at least since the start of their war on the state in September 2014. However, it should not be given the opportunity to exploit the current events in Gaza and exploit them to create heroic roles. This is from a propaganda perspective. However, there is another matter that must be pointed out in the context of reactions to the US Secretary of Defense’s statements, and that is the importance of correcting the view of external factors.

The US is waging a violent war against the Houthis for its own interests. The real problem is that many were expecting the US to announce that it would also wage war on behalf of the legitimate Yemeni government. Why would it do that?

On the one hand, we can say that supporting the Yemeni army and the legitimate government is an option available to Washington if it truly has the will to completely eliminate the Houthis, given that ground operations with a domestic ally are a guaranteed means of achieving results, unlike airstrikes, which do not resolve the battle. However, it remains an option that the US administration is free to pursue or not. More importantly, and what must be emphasized, is that the strategic thinking of states and governments that act in accordance with their own interests does not rely on waiting for international support, but rather on exploiting intersections of interests, and this is one of the intersections that the legitimate government must capitalize on.

The issue, then, is the need to act in light of these intersections, rather than waiting for the international player to resolve a national battle that does not concern them. Only here should attention be focused on how to capitalize on this delicate situation, namely, the search for the keys to a solution.

It is clear that the Presidential Leadership Council has several paths that must be met to launch a comprehensive battle against the Houthis, and that there is more than one veto before it for many considerations, namely the coalition veto, then the disagreements between the council’s blocs, and other matters. However, these disagreements are not a fate that must be accepted, but rather warnings that disappear simply by the existence of a mechanism for serious understandings that resolves the points of disagreement that can be resolved directly, and postpones what cannot be decided now, by building bridges of trust between the parties.

As we mentioned earlier, the coalition supporting legitimacy has also made great efforts in this battle, engaging directly in it through field combat, air cover, and bearing huge expenses. This effort stems from a genuine belief in the importance of restoring stability in Yemen and ridding it of the malicious Iranian arm. Whoever is providing this support will never place any obstacles in the way of the Presidential Leadership Council’s ability to resolve the conflict unless there are objective reasons. These reasons place the Yemeni government before a historic task of convincing its Arab partner of its ability to resolve the conflict and providing it with sufficient guarantees to dispel its fears.

Who can provide these guarantees? I believe that the one who holds the initiative on the ground, and possesses precise plans and visions for the battle, is the only one capable of pushing the members of the Presidential Leadership Council to adopt the option of confrontation and convince the Arab ally of the feasibility of military action, in parallel with the political efforts exerted to reassure all countries affected by this issue, regionally and internationally.

The Presidential Leadership Council and the legitimate government in Yemen must develop a unified narrative for the battle's objectives and plans for the day after. They must be prepared to answer all questions related to security and humanitarian aspects, and must constantly emphasize the need to achieve these objectives without stopping at negotiating points that have no connection to the primary goal of restoring the state. Fluidity in dealing with the battle's objectives only leads to fluidity in regional and international engagement with the priority issue.

Therefore, any effort or endeavor to resolve the battle must begin by searching for the keys to a solution, and dealing with these keys and preparing them in a way that ensures the needs of the stage and reduces their costs.