Kuwaiti Professor Nafisi: We Must Prepare for Ground Operation in Yemen

In an Al-Jazeera TV interview, Kuwaiti Professor Abdallah Nafisi said that the air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen were a "good and necessary beginning," but that "we must prepare for a ground operation." He further said that since Iran was debilitated, "this is the right time to deal Iran a painful and crushing blow."

Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on March 30, 2015.

Abdallah Nafisi: Personally, I was surprised [by Operation Decisive Storm], because I was one of the many who were filled with despair and despondency. This heartening news lifted me out of a state of despair, and gave me new hope.

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The air strikes are a good and necessary beginning, but they cannot go on for a long time. That is why, since the very first day of the campaign, I have been saying that we need to prepare for a ground operation, in which we will seek out supporters in Yemen, and provide them with cash and Kalashnikovs. That is what will solve the Yemen problem. We should provide cash and financing for all the parties in Yemen that are ready to defeat Iran and its [fifth] column in Yemen. We should also provide the Yemeni people with weapons, so that they can rise up against the Houthis and Ali Abdallah Saleh.

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I ask the GCC states to stop calling for dialogue [in Yemen], and instead, to continue with these military strikes, until they have dealt a mortal blow to the Houthis and to Iran in Yemen, and until the Houthis have no choice but to surrender.

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Brother Ali, Iran is totally debilitated in Syria, in Iraq, and in Yemen, and it is politically debilitated even in Lebanon. Iran is debilitated from within because of the economic crises, and the onset of rebellions that we have begun to hear about in Al-Ahwaz, in Balochistan, in the Kurdish regions, like Kermanshah, and elsewhere. Iran is debilitated, and therefore, this is the right time to deal Iran a painful and crushing blow, rather than being dragged into erratic talk about dialogue. This is the right time to deal a blow to Iranian transgressions against the Arabian Peninsula.

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