Jesse Kline: Canada should have been selling more arms to the Saudis

Article content

The western activists appeared to have won and Saudi Arabia lost interest in what was seen as a key flank in its proxy war with Iran, especially after the two countries re-established diplomatic relations through a Chinese-brokered deal in March 2023. But the Islamist chickens came home to roost, so to speak, following Hamas’s brutal October 7 massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Article content

In November 2023, the Houthis started attacking ships transiting the Red Sea that had even a superficial connection to Israel and targeting the Jewish state with missiles. The group was temporarily subdued by an American and British air campaign but came to Iran’s defence when the United States and Israel began attacking in February.

Article content

Recent weeks have seen the collapse of the 2022 ceasefire, and on Sept. 10, the Houthis captured the port city of Mokha, followed by Perim Island, which sits in the middle of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, allowing the terrorist group to threaten ships entering and exiting the strategic choke-point that’s used as a gateway between the Arabian and Mediterranean seas.

Article content

Article content

The terrorists simultaneously began attacking Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, a critical piece of infrastructure used to route energy supplies around the Strait of Hormuz, causing the kingdom to shut it down and global oil prices to skyrocket.

Article content

This, of course, is the real reason that fighting has once again flared up in Yemen. The U.S. and Iran are locked in an economic war, with the Americans trying to strangle the Iranian economy through sanctions and a blockade, and the Islamic Republic attempting to cause maximum damage to the global economy by cutting off oil supplies. With the Strait of Hormuz on Saudi Arabia’s east coast effectively blocked, Tehran is using its terrorist proxies in Yemen to halt exports from the west coast and further choke global shipping.

Article content

Throughout last week, the Houthis have escalated attacks against the kingdom, launching drones and missiles at Saudi military bases, oil infrastructure, ports and border towns, while fortifying its control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait by capturing more strategic islands.

Article content

When a drone was intercepted on Wednesday south of Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, the Saudi-led coalition described it as a “red line,” which makes sense given that MBS has staked his legitimacy on being the “custodian of the two holy mosques.”

Article content

Article content

But whether this, along with reports that U.S. President Donald Trump refused MBS’s request to intervene militarily, finally spurs the Saudis to take matters into their own hands with more than token airstrikes remains to be seen.

Article content

The kingdom has a clear interest in asserting its military dominance in the region and not looking weak in the face of Iranian aggression, but so far, its response has been lacklustre, perhaps because Saudi leaders are worried about tarnishing the softer image they have worked so hard to portray in recent years with a mounting death toll in Yemen.

Article content

In this, Canada’s anti-development activist class, the same sort of people who have continually stood in the way of this country realizing its potential as an energy superpower, are at least partially to blame. Canadian LAVs likely would not have made much difference in Yemen, but it’s clear that the Saudis need all the help they can get.

Article content

Rather than hand-wringing over the potential uses of our military equipment — news flash: it’s all designed to kill; arms dealing is not for the faint of heart — Ottawa should be doing all it can to ensure Riyadh has the tools it needs to confront the terrorist threat in Yemen and the wider danger posed by Iran, because in this case, we are very much on the same side.

Article content

National Post

Article content

This column was originally published in the Channel Israel newsletter. Sign up now.

Article content