The Language of War 2006–11
This chapter reconstructs the fourth, fifth and sixth round of the Ṣaʿdah War whose principal feature was their enormous territorial expansion. The chapter discusses the conflict’s internal and external dynamics which began to obstruct any efforts at mediation and peace-making. Tribal feuding, the emergence of a war economy, domestic political intrigues, foreign meddling, elite conflict and the increasing sectarian character of the war contributed to the emergence of a hybrid, explosive conflict situation that hardly resembled the initial situation in 2004. As the Houthis continuously grew bolder, Saudi Arabia’s entry into the war in November 2009 provided significant relief for the Yemeni army. In February 2010, the sixth and final ‘official’ Houthi war ended in stalemate.