The Southern Are Not War Makers ..!

Written by: Dr. Aidarous Al-Naqueeb
[su_dropcap]M[/su_dropcap]any loud voices warn against an upcoming war in Yemen, even if political settlement is reached between the two currently conflicting parties with agreement of both (the legitimacy authority and Al-Houthi coup forces). Many, including close friends of the legitimacy authority, warn against jumping over the southern cause and demands of the southern people for self-determination and an independent path away from subordination and guardianship. These warnings came at the same time with information leaks about preparations to mobilize tens of northern brigades, stationed at the desert and never engaged with Al-Houthis, towards southern flaming territories in Shabwa, Abian, Aden, Lahj and Al-Dalia. The last of these warnings came from the “Independent”, the British famous newspaper as part of the interview with general Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, president of the southern transitional council.
Accordingly, we should remind everyone that the southern people never called for war. When the southern people were forced into 1994 and 2015 wars, they fought against armed forces that overpowered their capabilities. They failed where they failed and achieved victory where everyone knows despite differences in military weapons, readiness and skills.
Warnings against an upcoming war in case of achieving political settlement between the legitimacy and Al-Houthis through jumping over the southern cause and ignoring the southern people’s expectations and demands didn’t come from nothing. Instead, these warnings came from what followers – and most warning voices are of followers – see of interactions on the ground that mean only one thing: the southern people will no longer accept with partial settlements, temporary narcotics or elusive promises that don’t have a decisive meaning. They also know the only option for which the southern people paid a heavy price of martyrs, injured and abducted, for more than quarter of a century will never be less than restoring their independent state and reconstructing a new south based on decentralization, pluralism, democracy and tolerance for all political, intellectual, social and territorial views.
The south is not calling for war. The south is looking for peaceful negotiations that shorten the road and save bloods, souls and costs. But if war is forced again, the south will never be less than 2015. We are sticking to our right. We defend our homeland, our families, our solus, our houses, our right to live and our future.