ويكيليكس
[size=21]اداء الجيش السعودي في حربه مع الحوثيين كما في وثائق ويكيليكس






SUMMARY
--------

¶1. (C) Assistant Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Sultan
announced in a new conference yesterday (Dec. 22) that Saudi
Arabia's main military operations in the Yemeni border area
had ceased, that the Saudi military had full control of the
border area, and that military activity was now focused on
expelling remaining intruders. His statement is the first
official indication that the fighting might be winding down;
senior Embassy contacts in the Saudi Ministry of Defense as
recently as yesterday were stressing the ongoing urgency of
resupplying aircraft munitions. Prince Khalid also gave the
first official accounting of Saudi casualties since early
November: 73 dead, 470 wounded, and 26 missing. End Summary.

Saudi Arabia Declares Victory
--------------------------

¶2. (C) During a tour of the Saudi-Yemeni border area
yesterday Prince Khaled Bin Sultan, Assistant Minister of
Defense and Aviation, announced to local reporters that the
Saudi military was now in full control of the border area and
that its main operations had ended. "What we are doing now is
bringing things to normal," he said, and that Saudi forces
would remain in the area with a mission of removing any
remaining "infiltrators." Prince Khalid also provided the
first official accounting of Saudi casualties since early
November: 73 dead, 470 wounded, and 26 missing. The Embassy
has been hearing rumors circulating over the past two weeks
that King Abdullah was increasingly upset that the military
campaign had not been wrapped up. Thus political pressure
may have been a factor in the timing of Prince Khalid's
announcement, but given the gravity and urgency with which
the Saudis viewed the challenge from the Houthis, Prince
Khalid's announcement suggests that the Saudi leadership is
now convinced that sufficient punishment had been inflicted
upon the Houthis to have taught them a lesson and to put an
end to their border harrassments.

Is it Really Over?
--------------

¶3. (S/NF) The Embassy DAO was told by senior Saudi Air Force
officers on December 22 that Saudi fighter aircraft had
continued to launch attack against Houthi targets in recent
days, sustaining the high tempo that started in the second
week of November. Saudi television was airing footage as
recently as December 21 showing Saudi tanks and artillery
firing in the border area, and Saudi soldiers launching
mortars and firing machine guns. A digest of other key press
reports from recent days is below:

-- (U) Military Successes: Saudi media continue to report
victories, describing in general terms how Saudi forces were
&repelling attacks8 or &pursuing infiltrators and
inflicting heavy losses.8 The Dec. 21 Saudi Gazette
headline boasted of 30 infiltrators killed. Al-Sharq
al-Awsat quoted a military source on Dec. 21 saying that
Saudi forces successfully destroyed a series of caves that
the infiltrators were using to store weapons and ammunition,
but could comment no further than to say that combing
operations continue on the ground while F-15 and Apache
aircraft continue air raids.

-- (U) Religious Support for Saudi Forces: Saudi Press
Agency ) 12/18/09: The Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abulaziz
Al-Sheikh, addressed Saudi forces saying, &Mujahedeen
Brothers, I salute your courage ( and congratulate you on
your Jihad for the sake of Allah. You are facing a corrupt

RIYADH 00001667 002.2 OF 003


and astray enemy of deviant thoughts.8 The Mufti went on to
say that the actions of the armed forces are the highest
deeds of Islam. (Comment: This statement of support by the
KSA,s highest religious authority seeks to reinforce the
message that the truest form of jihad is fighting to defend
the nation, and to remind that those who seek to bring the
nation down are deviant in their thoughts. End Comment.)

-- (U) Border Security: Arab News Online ) 12/16/09:
Normalcy Restored at Border, The Saudi military announced
that 127,875 infiltrators and 2,206 smugglers have been
arrested over the past six months on the Saudi-Yemeni border.
&Saudi forces also seized a number of weapons and 14,000
rounds of ammunition. Forces foiled attempts to smuggle 30kg
of gunpowder and explosives, eight sticks of dynamite and
large quantities of narcotic substances in 2,140 cars.8
(COMMENT: The six month time period and large number of
&infiltrators8 arrested make these statistics appear more
closely related to routine border patrol operations than
directly with the fight against the Houthis. This
announcement seems intended to show strong Saudi control over
the border, rather than make a statement about fighting
infiltrators., End comment.)

-- (S/NF) Report from the Houthi Side: Al-Minbar
(pro-Houthi website) and other Houthi sources over the past
week continued to claim that U.S. and Saudi aircraft were
conducting airstrikes on innocent villages. Houthi sources
report 54 Yemeni deaths from a Dec. 20 Saudi air attack and
70 deaths from an attack on Dec. 13. These reports could not
be verified; Yemeni officials continue to deny that any Saudi
planes have strayed into Yemeni airspace. (Comment: a senior
Saudi Air Force officer confirmed to the Embassy DAO that
Saudi aircraft have been operating in northern Yemen with the
Yemeni government's approval and facilitation.)

(U) On Dec. 18, Al-Minbar claimed another successful Houthi
attack on a Saudi military post in Quwwa village &expelling
the Saudi Army and seizing its military equipment ,
communication and surveillance devices and military vehicles
that soldiers left behind.8 The statement on Al-Minbar went
on to justify the Houthi attack against the Saudi forces,
explaining &We do not aim to take control over any part of
the Saudi territories. However, we are forced to chase the
aggressor wherever it carries out attacks against us. This
comes in retaliation for its continuous aggression against
civilians in the northern governorates.8

Iran: Still the Bogeyman?
--------------------

¶4. (C) The tacit cease-fire in the Saudi-Iranian war of words
over the Yemen border war seems to be holding. The Embassy
saw unofficial reports on the internet earlier this week that
Iranian Parliament Speaker Larijani might visit Riyadh today
(The Embassy has not been able to confirm these reports.)
Nonetheless, senior Saudi military and civilian officials
seem to uniformly share the conviction that Iran's
machinations are the only plausible explanation for why the
Houthis would have engaged in a fight with the Saudis that
they were bound to lose. Saudi military officials also point
to the improved training and battle tactics of the Houthi,
their deep reserves of weaponry, and several large stores of
money discovered in Houthi areas as further compelling
evidence of Iran's active support.

What's Next
----------

¶5. (C) The days ahead should tell whether there is a
significant stand down in Saudi military operations. Our
assessment is that the Saudi Land Forces have largely
established secure positions along the troubled area of the
Saudi-Yemeni border and that their shooting engagements have
for the most part trailed off into patrolling and monitoring
operations. Saudi air operations to patrol the border and
strike Houthi targets near the border and into Yemen will
likely continue for days or perhaps weeks, until the Saudis
are comfortable that Yemeni government forces have the
capability to suppress any Houthi activity near the border.

RIYADH 00001667 003.2 OF 003



Lessons from the Battlefield
-----------------------

¶6. (C) The last 50 days of Saudi-Houthi fighting have
arguably been the most significant Saudi military engagements
since the tribal battles that Abdulaziz that fought to
establish the Saudi kingdom. The Houthi battles will be
intensively studied in the months ahead, including how they
revealed Saudi military shortcomings. The Saudi military,
particularly the Air Force, resorted to the use of enormous
firepower (despite low munitions inventories) that proved to
be inadequately precise and minimally effective against
fighters maneuvering and dug into rugged mountain terrain.
Among questions that merit attention will be to what extent
should the Saudi military restructure itself to respond to
such asymmetrical threats, why the Saudis responded to the
Houthi challenge as such an urgent existential threat, and
whether the perceived inability or unwillingness of the U.S.
to more rapidly provide emergency munitions resupply to the
Saudis in their perceived hour of need will ramifications for
our military to military partnership. These and related
issues will be the focus of forthcoming Embassy analyses.
SMITH
في ضوء التسريبات الاخيرة لويكيليكس ابرزت الوثائق التي نشرها الموقع
بتاريخ 7 ديسمبر 2010 عن التقارير" تحديدا اثنين" الصادرة من السفارة
الامريكية بالرياض عن تقييمها لأداء الجيش السعودي في قتاله ضد الحوثيين


و بالطبع سيتم الابتعاد عن الجوانب السياسية و التغطية الاعلامية السعودية للقتال التي اشارت اليها الرسائل ..

====

الوثيقة الاولي بتاريخ 24ديسمبر 2009 من الرياض الساعة السادسة و ست دقائق مساء.
درجة السرية للتقرير : سري.

في جولة للامير خالد بن سلطان بالامس علي الحدود
السعودية اليمنية صرح الامير لمراسلين محليين ان الجيش السعودي يملك الان
السيطرة الكاملة علي منطقة الحدود و ان عمليات القتال الرئيسية انتهت.

و اضاف " ان ما نفعله الان ارجاع الامور علي الحدود الي طبيعتها "

و اشار " الي ان القوات السعودية ستبقي بالمنطقة الحدودية كي تزيل و تمنع اي وجود للمتسللين"

و اعلن الامير في اول اعلان رسمي للخسائر السعودية منذ بدء العمليات العسكرية في بدايات نوفمبر و هي :
73 قتيل
و 470 جريح
و 26 مفقود .
ولقد تناهي الي السفارة بعض الشائعات و الاقاويل التي تتردد خلال الاسبوعين
الماضيين علي ان الملك عبد الله غاضب بشدة من عدم انتهاء العمليات
العسكرية بعد.
و ان هذا الضغط السياسي هو سبب اعلان الامير خالد بعد وجود قناعة لدي القيادات السياسية بأنه تم انزال العقوبة الكافية علي الحوثيين
=====

في تقييمنا ان القوات البرية السعودية نجحت بشكل كبير في تأمين مواقعها بجوار منطقة النزاع بجوار الحدود السعودية اليمنية
و ان تبادل اطلاق النار بين الطرفين توقف بشكل كبير و تحول الامر الي القيام بدوريات و مراقبة العمليات.
ضربات سلاح الجو السعودي و دوريات المراقبة التي يقوم بها علي الحدود و
داخل الاراضي اليمنية علي الارجح ستستمر لعدة ايام و ربما اسابيع حتي يطمئن
السعوديون الي قدرة قوات الحكومة اليمنية في كبح جماح الحوثيين.


الدروس المستفادة من المعركة
ان الايام ال50 الاخيرة من القتال السعودي الحوثي هي الاهم في تاريخ
الاشتباكات العسكرية السعودية منذ معارك القبائل التي خاضها الملك
عبدالعزيز لانشاء المملكة.
ان المعارك مع الحوثيين ستدرس بعناية خلال الاشهر المقبلة بما اظهرته من اوجه للقصور في الجيش السعودي.
الجيش السعودي خاصة سلاح الجو لجأ الي استخدام قوة نيرانية هائلة"علي الرغم من انخفاض مخزونات الذخائر"
هذه القوة و التي ثبت انها غير كافية و غير دقيقة و غير مؤثرة في مواجهة مقاتلين في خنادق و داخل تضاريس جبلية وعرة.
ومن ضمن الاسئلة التي تنبثق هنا و تستدعي الاهتمام هي الي اي مدي يجب علي
الجيش السعودي اعادة هيكلة نفسه لكي يكون قادرا علي مواجهة تهديدات غير
تقليدية
و ايضا لماذا تصرف السعودين مع الحوثيين بهذا الشكل الذي يظهرهم كتهديد وجودي عاجل للمملكة
و ايضا من ضمن الاسئلة الهامة كيف سيتصور السعوديين عدم قدرة الامريكيين او
عدم رغبتهم في مساعدة السعوديين في اعادة تمويلهم بالذخائر اللازمة في وقت
تصور السعوديين فيه انه حدث طارئ
و هل هذا التصور السعودي سيفضي الي ظلال و تشعبات حول الشراكة بين الجيش السعودي و الامريكي.
هذه الاسئلة و القضايا سيتم التركيز عليها في البرقية التالية
سميث
smith


http://213.251.145.96/cable/2009/12/09RIYADH1667.html

COMMENT - FINGER-POINTING TIME APPROACHES
-----------------------------------------

¶7. (C) For the last two months, the Saudi military has
employed massively disproportionate force in its effort to
repel and clear the lightly armed Houthi guerillas from the
border area. Day and night aerial bombardment and artillery
shelling have been the main instruments of what is
increasingly regarded within the Saudi military as an
embarrassingly long campaign that was poorly planned and
executed that brought unexpectedly high Saudi casualties
(exact number not known - officially 73 deaths), many
apparently from friendly fire. Nonetheless, the conflict has
been carefully spun as a heroic and successful struggle to
protect Saudi sovereignty.

¶8. (C) During the campaign, the Saudi military turned to the
U.S. for emergency provision of munitions, imagery and
intelligence to assist them to operate with greater
precision. The U.S. military responded with alacrity to the
extent possible, primarily by flying in stocks of ammunition
for small weapons and artillery. However, the great majority
of Saudi requests remain bogged down in the FMS contacting
process or in interagency reviews. Prince Khalid and several
senior Saudi Air Force officers have complained that the U.S.
has not rallied to support Saudi Arabia during its hour of
greatest need. As the Saudi military services seek to divert
blame for the poor management of the Houthi operations in the
weeks ahead, it can be expected that such criticism of U.S.
support will continue, if not sharpen.
SMITH

وقت توجيه اصابع الاتهام
خلال الشهران الماضيان الجيش السعودي وظف قوة هائلة لرد الحوثيين خارج
الحدود و هي قوة غير متناسبة مع الطرف المقابل " مقاتلو الحوثيين المسلحين
بالاسلحة الخفيفة"

ليلا و نهارا كان القصف المدفعي هو الاداة الرئيسية للجيش السعودي في حملته المطولة المحرجة
هذه الحملة التي تم التخطيط لها بضعف و تنفيذها جلب اعدادا كبيرة و غير متوقعة من الضحايا
" الرقم الحقيقي غير معلوم لكن رسميا 73"
في الغالب كانوا ضحايا للنيران الصديقة
و علي الرغم من ذلك تم نسج الامر ببراعة و تصويره علي انها حرب ناجحة ادت الي حماية السيادة السعودية .

خلال الحملة توجه السعوديون الي امريكا لامدادهم بشكل عاجل بالذخائر و
الصور الاستخبارية لمساعدتهم في ادارة العمليات العسكرية بدقة اكبر
.
الرد العسكري الامريكي كان سريعا الي اقصي درجة ممكنة
بداية بالامداد بذخائر الاسلحة الصعيرة و ذخائر المدفعية.
و مع ذلك كان فإن اغلب الطلبات السعودية تعثرت اما داخل fms
او خلال interagency reviews
" عذرا لا اعرف ترجمتهما"
الامير خالد و كبار ضباط سلاح الجو السعودي اعلنوا شكواهم من ان الولايات المتحدة لم تساند و المملكة خلال ساعات احتياجها لها.

كما ان اجهزة المخابرات السعودية تسعي لتحويل اللوم بعيدا عنها في سوء
ادارتها و تخطيطها للمعركة لذا يتوقع ان تستمر الانتقادات للولايات المتحدة

بل ربما تزداد
سميث
smith



http://213.251.145.96/cable/2009/12/09RIYADH1687.html

SUMMARY
--------

¶1. (S/NF) Ambassador met with Assistant Minister of Defense
and Aviation Prince Khaled bin Sultan to relay U.S. concerns
about sharing USG imagery with Saudi Arabia in light of
evidence that Saudi aircraft may have struck civilian targets
during its fighting with the Houthis in northern Yemen.
Prince Khaled described the targeting decision-making process
and while not denying that civilian targets might have been
hit, gave unequivocal assurances that Saudi Arabia considered
it a priority to avoid strikes against civilian targets.
Based on the assurances received from Prince Khaled, the
Ambassador has approved, as authorized in reftel, the
provision of USG imagery of the Yemeni border area to the
Saudi Government. End summary.

USG CONCERNS ABOUT POSSIBLE STRIKES ON CIVILIAN TARGETS
--------------------------------------------- ----------

¶2. (S/NF) Ambassador Smith delivered points in reftel to
Prince Khaled on February 6, 2010. The Ambassador
highlighted USG concerns about providing Saudi Arabia with
satellite imagery of the Yemen border area absent greater
certainty that Saudi Arabia was and would remain fully in
compliance with the laws of armed conflict during the conduct
of military operations, particularly regarding attacks on
civilian targets. The Ambassador noted the USG's specific
concern about an apparent Saudi air strike on a building that
the U.S. believed to be a Yemeni medical clinic. The
Ambassador showed Prince Khaled a satellite image of the
bomb-damaged building in question.

IF WE HAD THE PREDATOR, THIS MIGHT NOT HAVE HAPPENED
--------------------------------------------- -------

¶3. (S/NF) Upon seeing the photograph, Prince Khalid remarked,
"This looks familiar," and added, "if we had the Predator,
maybe we would not have this problem." He noted that Saudi
Air Force operations were necessarily being conducted without
the desired degree of precision, and recalled that a clinic
had been struck, based on information received from Yemen
that it was being used as an operational base by the Houthis.
Prince Khalid explained the Saudi approach to its fight with
the Houthis, emphasizing that the Saudis had to hit the
Houthis very hard in order to "bring them to their knees" and
compel them to come to terms with the Yemeni government.
"However," he said, "we tried very hard not to hit civilian
targets." The Saudis had 130 deaths and the Yemenis lost as
many as one thousand. "Obviously," Prince Khaled observed,
"some civilians died, though we wish that this did not
happen."

HOW THE TARGETS WERE SELECTED
-----------------------------

¶4. (S/NF) Prince Khaled gave the Ambassador further
background, explaining that the targets given to the Saudi
Air Force were studied and recommended by a Saudi-Yemeni
joint committee headed by Saudi and Yemeni general officers.
That joint committee reported to him, and no targets were
struck unless they had clearance from this joint committee.
"Did they make mistakes? Possibly." Prince Khaled also
reported that the Saudis had problems with some of the
targeting recommendations received from the Yemeni side. For
instance, there was one occasion when Saudi pilots aborted a
strike, when they sensed something was wrong about the
information they received from the Yemenis. It turned out
that the site recommended to be hit was the headquarters of
General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, the Yemeni northern area
military commander, who is regarded as a political opponent
to President Saleh. This incident prompted the Saudis to be
more cautious about targeting recommendations from the Yemeni
government.

CEASEFIRE COMING SOON
---------------------

¶5. (S/NF) The Ambassador told Prince Khaled that the USG is
looking to Saudi Arabia to help bring an end to the Houthi
fighting soon. Prince Khaled responded that Saudi Arabia is
"looking for ways to end this conflict in a way that fosters
good relations." He said that he met with President Saleh
last Wednesday to discuss Houthi ceasefire terms, and they
agreed that, so long as the Houthis deliver on the terms they
offered, there should be news about a ceasefire "within a

week." As part of the ceasefire arrangements the Yemeni
military will be deployed on the Yemeni side of the border to
prevent future Houthi incursions into Saudi Arabia. "Then,"
Prince Khaled noted, "we can concentrate on Al-Qaida."

COMMENT
------

¶6. (S/NF) Prince Khaled, in addressing the Ambassador's
concerns about possible targeting of civilian sites appeared
neither defensive nor evasive. He was unequivocal in his
assurance that Saudi military operations had been and would
continue to be conducted with priority to avoiding civilian
casualties. The Ambassador found this assurance credible,
all the more so in light of Prince Khaled's acknowledgment
that mistakes likely happened during the strikes against
Houthi targets, of the inability of the Saudi Air Force to
operate with adequate precision, and the unreliability of
Yemeni targeting recommendations. Based on these assurances,
the Ambassador has approved, as authorized in reftel, the
provision of USG imagery of the Yemeni border area to the
Saudi Government. While the fighting with the Houthis
appears to be drawing to a close, the imagery will be of
continuing value to the Saudi military to monitor and prevent
Houthi incursions across the border as well as enhancing
Saudi capabilities against Al-Qaeda activities in this area.
SMITHهناك ايضا وثيقة ثالثة مهمة

و هي لقاء السفير الأمريكي و الامير خالد

باختصار الامير خالد اشتكي من تأخر الصور الاقمار الصناعية
فرد عليه قاله ان السبب
خوف امريكا من غارات سعودية تصيب مدينين

علق اكثر من مرة علي هذه الجزئية
الامير رد بان السعودية تتفادي سقوط المدنين






و سأل السفير الأمريكي كيف يتم اختيار الاهداف
قال ان الاهداف يتم دراستها في القوات الجوية
و تكون توصيات من اللجنة المشتركة السعودية اليمنية

و لكن اشتكي من اليمنين
و قال علي سبيل المثال ان اليمينين ابلغهم بهدف للحوثين
اتضح قبل ضربه انه منزل لاحد منافسين الرئيس اليمني

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/02/10RIYADH159.html

حسمنا الحرب وانتهى الموضوع بنصر مؤزر لقواتنا الباسلة ولله الحمد والمنة
واما الرد على هذة الوثائق فيطول شرحة واكتفى بردود الاعضاء في !!!! (تم التعديل) ولقد رد الاعضاء بما لايدع مجالا للشك ولك ان تطلع عليها وللجميع ذلك فلقد اطلعت عليها وهى مشوقة
تحياتي

أبوربيعة الغامدي كتب:

حسمنا الحرب وانتهى الموضوع بنصر مؤزر لقواتنا الباسلة ولله الحمد والمنة
واما الرد على هذة الوثائق فيطول شرحة واكتفى بردود الاعضاء في !!!! (تم التعديل) ولقد رد الاعضاء بما لايدع مجالا للشك ولك ان تطلع عليها وللجميع ذلك فلقد اطلعت عليها وهى مشوقة
تحياتي

هل قلت ان الجيش السعودى هزم
لا
لكن هناك اخطاء حدثت يجب التعلم منها بدلا من دفن الرؤوس فى الرمال وهذا طبيعى
وماذا تقصد ب!!!! (تم التعديل)