President Saleh was a professional juggler of causes and alliances in the circus of politics, keeping what suited his purposes within reach while manipulating in hand what served his immediate interests. The last of which was his alliance with the Houthis and the threat to publish a document that would condemn the Saudis for seeking to destroy Arabs and especially the Egyptians.
Within the same week, the document was released and Mr. Saleh met the same fate of Colonel Gaddafi.
Should the document prove to be original then there is a chance that an Egyptian public demand to exit the Saudi axes may materialize. In case it is original, huge credibility will be given to the claims of Iran and its political axis regarding Saudi Arabia's presence on the "wrong side". Furthermore, it will get families of Israeli soldiers who gave their lives during the wars of '67 and '73 a probable reason for dismay for being regarded as a tool of maintenance of an Arab regime.
The document is in Arabic and was sent by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia to President Lyndon Johnson on December 27th, 1966. I was unable to find a credible official English translation. Hopefully, the White House, that hasn't denied or confirmed the document yet, would publish the translation of the document as was served to President Johnson.
The seven-page letter begins by expressing joy to President Johnson for the latter's interest in the Saudi points of view during King Faisal's 1966 visit to the US. It, then, quickly goes to the main issue of Egypt and its policy's threats in the region, namely in Yemen.
The Saudi monarch goes on to explain an Egyptian overwhelming historical culture of wanting to eradicate Saudi Wahabi thought. And then, he gets to the most important part: A list of recommendations to the United States on how to best curve the Arab danger to Saudi Arabia and the general regional interests of the US. He called Egypt "the biggest enemy to all of us" and continued with his recommendations as follows:
1- "The US should support Israel in conducting a swift surprise attack on Egypt whereby it, Israel, would occupy Egypt's most vital areas resulting in not only forcing Egypt to withdraw its army from Yemen, but also occupy it with Israel for such a long period that there will remain no Egyptian who could lift up his head from the worries of war, rendering him unable to pursue the ambitions of Mohamed Ali and Abdul Nasser in an Arab union ….."
2- "Syria would be next. It must not be spared from this attack. Having land taken away from it will occupy it from trying to fill the space that Egypt would had left in Arab nationalism."
3- He recommends the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank so as to diminish any Palestinian aspirations in moving towards the liberation of Palestine. He continues by saying that this move would kill any hopes of a return for the Palestinians abroad and that it would facilitate nationalizing them where they live.
4- He recommends empowering Mostafa Barazani in establishing a Kurdish government in North Iraq whose purpose would be to keep any Arab regime too busy from declaring an Arab union at present or in the future. He declares that Saudi Arabia had already started furnishing Barazani with funds and arms.
This document was drafted in 1966. It is as if King Faisal had the magical ability to prophesize what was to come. The first three recommendations came true and the fourth nearly happened 51 years later.
As far as the Arabs are concerned, King Faisal had clearly schemed against them and their cause, yielding immense losses. Regarding the Israelis, King Faisal's planning results could make him a hero if it wasn't for the losses in life that so many families had suffered.
Still, Israel attacked first in the war of 1967. There's controversy on why it did so; it claimed that a preemptive strike was an unescapably vital action for its security and that the Arabs were amassing forces that were ready to invade. The Arabs, of course, had a different story.
Believe who you may, the truth that has evolved is that it was all orchestrated from Riyadh and, according to the Saleh document, primarily for the benefit of Riyadh. But, it's not as simple as that.
Israel benefitted from gaining land and the Arab leaders/regimes benefitted from further demonizing the Jewish State so as to keep the pretense that their dictatorship was necessary. What a messed-up world this is!
How many souls have perished to keep the Ibn Saud clan lords in their place? I understand Israel's interest in staying in line with the Saudi agendas, if not for having common enemies then simply because Zionism supposedly protects the interests of the Jewish state and the Ibn Saud tribe have excelled in being Zionists.
It is difficult to be optimistic regarding tying one's fate with the Ibn Saud family for the long term.
The Sunni population is beginning to realize the difference between being Sunni and being Wahabi. Many voices are sounding concern about the way Wahabism has hijacked Sunnism; the marginalizing of the Egyptians wasn't only directed against their military and economy. It was aimed at their religious leadership role allowing the Wahabi establishment to compete against Al Azhar.
The Sunnis of the world will not allow the sect that fueled Al Qaida and ISIS to represent them anymore.
As for the Shiites, they are already mobilized in every aspect to confront the Wahabis. The past decade has taught them that Israel is not where the danger comes from; the true north on their compass points to Riyadh.
There's a lot of thick fog that will eventually move on to allow good driving conditions for a bus manned by an Omani driver that will link Egyptian and Iranian stations. This bus's route will pass by Iraqi, Syrian, Yemeni, and maybe Qatari stations as well. They will have great music from every transit country playing loud on this bus and Ofra Haza's Godly voice will be on the playlist. Peace is coming between those who really matter.