The recent military action against Yemen by Saudi Arabia, which is supported by the USA, highlights the double standards the West applies to the countries of the Middle East (and the world in general). Below are some recent examples, from the point of view of the West or their regional allies and using Yemen as a comparison.
- People rise up against their president in Syria – supported
- People rise up against their president in Bahrain or Yemen – condemned
- ‘Rebels’ (extremists including foreigners) attacking Syria and Iraq – supported
- Native Yemenis taking over their own country – attacked
- Saudi military intervention in a neighbouring country which shares a long border (Yemen) – justified
- Iran military intervention in a neighbouring country which shares a long border (Iraq) – criticised (even though the Iraqi government asked for their help)
- Iran allegedly backing Houthis in Yemen – “meddling”
- Saudi militarily invading Yemen – supported
- Iran supports Syrian ally – “prolonging conflict”
- Saudi supports Yemeni ally – “preventing chaos”
- GCC Arab monarchs inherit thrones – legitimate
- Yemeni President Hadi elected with 99% of votes in one-pony race and parliamentary mandate expired one year ago – legitimate
- Assad elected in UN monitored voting – illegitimate
- Israel bombs Palestinians – Arabs silent
- ISIS kills people throughout Middle East – Arabs silent
- Houthis stage rebellion – Arabs form military coalition
- Non-Arab Iran – “meddling” in Arab countries
- Non-Arab Pakistan – invited to join Arab military coalition
Amb: "KSA launches military operations in Yemen with coalition of over 10 countries in response to request from the legitimate Yemen gov."
— Saudi Embassy (@SaudiEmbassyUSA) March 25, 2015
- [tweet above] – justified
- Iraqi government requests help from international community to combat ISIS – twiddling thumbs
- Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States pledged to defend Hadi’s government from the Houthi rebels. “We hope that the wisdom will prevail among the Houthis and that they will become part of the political process rather than continue their radical approach to try to take over Yemen and destroy it,” Adel al-Jubeir told reporters.
- In Syria, ‘rebels’ are supported and are destroying everything.
The conclusion of the points are quite simple: whatever Iran/Syria does is bad, whatever Saudi and Western allies do is good. Might makes right. Remember that next time the US or its stooges speak of international law.