The recent Houthi escalation presents the Presidential Leadership Council and the legitimate government's forces with an urgent question: how can a fragmented military front decisively win a battle against an ideologically driven, extremist, and dynastic coup, when anti-Houthi forces are divided among multiple formations and leaderships, including those loyal to members of the Presidential Council, without a unified military command? The issue lies not in the bravery of the fighters or the justice of the battle to restore the state, but in the absence of a unified military institution capable of integrating these diverse forces under a single command, decision-making process, and military doctrine. Defeating the Houthis is not achieved through statements of solidarity or protocol-level communications following each escalation, but by a state possessing a single army and a unified military decision-making authority. Unifying armed formations under the command of an effective Ministry of Defense is not a political luxury, but a fundamental prerequisite for any decisive battle. Conversely, the continued fragmentation of arms and divided loyalties will remain the Houthis' greatest lifeline, rendering discussions of a decisive battle and the recapture of Sana'a more akin to aspirations than to a viable military plan. |
