From Jamal Benomar, a Moroccan diplomat and UN envoy who tried to mediate a power-sharing arrangement among the warring parties in Yemen, but recently resigned:
When this campaign started, one thing that was significant but went unnoticed is that the Yemenis were close to a deal that would institute power=sharing with all sides, including the Houthis.
The Wall Street Journal, “U.N. Envoy Says Strikes Upended Yemen Deal,” 4/27/15
Unfortunately, once Saudi Arabia let slip the bombs of war, the negotiations were over as positions irreconcilably hardened. As SLL has noted, Saudi Arabia has the world’s fourth largest military budget, and what good is all that hardware if you don’t get to use it? Negotiations are for apostates, infidels, and wimps.
