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Page 8 The Skanner November 15, 2017 News AP Analysis: No End to War in Sight as Life Worsens in Yemen By Brian Rohan Associated Press CAIRO — As Saudi Ara- bia tightens the screws on its weak southern neighbor, the war it launched in Yemen over two years ago appears more intractable than ever, with nothing but further suff ering in sight. Despite crushing air power by the Saudi-led coalition seeking to rein- stall the country’s exiled president, which has re- duced much of the north to rubble, Yemen’s Shiite rebels, with the political backing of Iran, still hold large swaths of territory, including the capital, Sa- naa. And while the U.S.-sup- ported coalition’s recent tightening of a blockade to include aid shipments might be intended to starve the rebels into submission, they remain dug in to diffi cult, moun- tainous and urban ter- rain. Unlike other regional confl icts in Syria or Lib- ya, no side is winning, and peace talks are non- existent. With both sides deeply committed to vic- tory, face-saving exits are elusive, especially with the Saudi-Iranian rival- ry heating up. The war, which has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed millions of Yeme- nis to the brink of fam- ine, appears unlikely to end any time soon. A look at the impasse: HOUTHIS WEAK- ENED BUT DUG IN On much of the ground and especially in the north, the battle-hard- ened Shiite rebels known as Houthis hold the up- per hand. They control most state institutions and fortifi cations, are well-armed, and are backed by the remnants of a powerful army built up by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. In- frastructure, such as health care, water and electricity however, are failing. Opposing them are a jumble of forces os- tensibly loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and a col- lection of tribes under nominal tutelage of Sau- di Arabia and its main co- alition partner, the Unit- ed Arab Emirates. These forces control most of the south, includ- ing the port city of Aden, Yemen’s second largest and the offi cial seat of Hadi’s government, but a place where weak securi- ty, local factional power struggles and repeated attacks have kept him away for most of the year. Neither the Saudis nor the UAE appear to have forces capable of taking over the whole country. An earlier drive north- ward ended up in trage- dy for the coalition, with over 100 Emirati soldiers killed in combat so far. NO LEADERS LEFT Aft er all the fi ghting, to say Yemen lacks leaders with broad consensus is an understatement. The Houthis, a long-ne- glected Shiite off shoot in the north, consider them- selves revolutionaries fi ghting corruption. But their enigmatic leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, appears only rarely, and his appeal has little reach beyond the bounds of sectarianism. Likewise, his erstwhile ally Saleh, who once mas- tered the country with a deft tribal balancing act until he was deposed in a 2011 Arab Spring uprising, now has little comprehensive appeal, although some yearn for the pre-war days when he ruled. The two have reportedly fallen out, with news occasionally surfacing that the Houth- is have put Saleh under house arrest. Hadi, meanwhile, has fared no better as a po- tential leader of a post- war Yemen. Now in ex- ile in Riyadh, the Saudis have prevented him from travelling to Aden since February, saying it’s not safe. As his infl uence waned, the UAE built up its own force in the area, training and fi nancing militias loyal to it. THE COALITION’S COMPETING AGENDAS The UAE’s rising clout in the south, where it has backed alternate local leaders, has led to friction with Hadi and AP PHOTO/HANI MOHAMMED, FILE No side is winning, and peace talks are nonexistent In this Jul. 26, 2017 fi le photo, a girl scavenges at a garbage dump in a street in Sanaa, Yemen. The United Nations and more than 20 aid groups said Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, that the Saudi-led coalition’s tightening of a blockade on war-torn Yemen could bring millions of people closer to “starvation and death.” About two-thirds of Yemen’s population relies on imported supplies, said the groups, which include CARE, Save the Children and Islamic Relief. further undermined his rule. And while not at odds with the Saudis, the UAE prefers supporting ul- traconservative Salafi groups as a bulwark against Islamist organi- zations it loathes, like the local branch of the Mus- lim Brotherhood, which the Saudis have given a pass in Yemen. Riyadh has also histor- ically been more tolerant of more hard-core Sun- ni-inspired fi ghters, blur- ring the lines regarding who the coalition should consider friend or foe in southern Yemen. Al-Qa- ida and Islamic State group affi liates operate there, sometimes strik- ing targets in Aden and other southern cities. The same goes for the lawless east, a vast desert with little state control and occasional U.S. drone strikes on militants. While minor, the diff er- ences highlight potential pitfalls in eff orts to unify the south, let alone the larger country with its diverse tribal mosaic. IRAN DISENFRANCHISED While the Saudi-led coalition’s air power and naval blockade cannot bring victory on its own, it has made a large-scale Iranian intervention nearly impossible. Tehran, while ideologi- cally close to the Houthis and happy to give them political and diplomatic backing, denies supply- ing them with weapons. Small arms shipments on fi shing boats are occa- sionally intercepted en route to Yemen, and both the U.S. Navy and coa- lition forces accuse the Iranians of gun-running. No one can say for sure which is ultimate- ly true, but the block- ade has largely held and prevented quantities of game-changing weapons Author A career you can be proud of. Being a carpenter isn’t just a job. It’s a way of life. We’re devoted to strengthening the lives of our members with steady work, wealth and personal growth. We take a stand for our members and all workers. We work together to lead the building industry in safety, training and compensation. We create rich lives for our members and partners. To learn more about becoming a union carpenter, go to NWCarpenters.org. PORTLAND: 1636 East Burnside, Portland, OR 97214 | 503.261.1862 HEADQUARTERS: 25120 Pacifi c Hwy S, #200, Kent, WA 98032 | 253.954.8800 More than 20,000 members in the Pacifi c Northwest. cont’d from pg 7 become a writer and get their work out there. Kiely’s response was simple— “do you write?” he asked. To the ones that said yes, he said, “then you are already a writer.” He encouraged students to listen and stay curi- ous. All three authors suggested students share their work widely via so- cial media and writing contests because getting feedback, even rejection, is important to becoming a better writer. One place new writers can submit their work right now is to the library with the Library Writers Project. The deadline is Decem- ber 15, 2017, and the best works will be added to the library’s collection. from entering the coun- try. Saleh built up an im- pressive weapons stock- pile over the years that included missiles, and those fi red into Saudi Arabia recently may in- deed have been locally manufactured, as the Houthis contend, despite U.S. and Saudi allega- tions to the contrary. On Friday, the top U.S. Air Force offi cial in the Mid- east said that Iran had manufactured a missile fi red toward the Saudi capital on Nov. 4, add- ing that remnants of it bore “Iranian markings.” There was no immediate response from Iran. While the Houthis and Iran briefl y operated di- rect fl ights between their capitals at the beginning of the war, no such route exists today, making any potential Iranian resup- ply eff orts extremely diffi cult. Tiny sailboats may be able to smuggle small parts like guidance systems via costal routes, however. Reynolds also talked about having never fi n- ished a book until he was almost 18 and about how he never saw himself in anything he read. Today, the books that Mr. Reyn- olds writes are “love let- ters” to teens like him. Watson shared with students how she read the Ramona Quimby series growing up, but despite calling the same city home, she was an- gered that she never saw anyone that looked like her. Now when she writes she makes sure she is bearing witness — making sure the Black Pacifi c Northwest is not erased. More writing and au- thor events are being planned for the new year, so be sure to check our website www.multcolib. org.