>Ansar Allah (Houthis) is a terrible Islamist group IMO this is kind of bad fram...

andriy_koval · 2026-09-11T16:17:40

> when in reality they basically are the government of 70-80% population of Yemen and absorbed 60+ percent of the Yemeni regular army.

sure, they took this by force while killing those who disagree. Its part of Sunni vs Shia confrontation, and Yemen is majority Sunni.

tptacek · 2026-09-11T16:49:41

Ansar Allah isn't even close to a majority of the population of Yemen. Yemen is majority-Sunni. Ansar Allah is a militant Zaydi revivalist movement, and what they're attempting to revive is a Zaydi caste system.

mamonster · 2026-09-11T18:34:15

>Ansar Allah isn't even close to a majority of the population of Yemen.

I never said that. The areas they control have about 70-80% of Yemen's population though.

tptacek · 2026-09-11T18:41:08

Yes, that sounds about right. And it's very, very bad.

737min · 2026-09-11T15:43:55

Their size - gained by brutal conquest - does not increase their legitimacy, it’s an Islamist group.

ClarityJones · 2026-09-11T15:54:46

I decry the legitimacy of my coffee table, but my toe still hurts when I kick it.

ihumanable · 2026-09-11T16:00:06

Brutal conquest is a pretty well traveled path to legitimacy.

Power is taken, and regardless of the ideals of the takers, enough power grants legitimacy.

kakacik · 2026-09-11T16:03:28

So is taliban, yet they both rule a country.