As top allies scale back in Yemen, Saudi Arabia faces prospect of an unwinnable war

BEIRUT - Saudi Arabia called its military push against rebels in Yemen two names: "Operation Storm of Decisiveness" (it wasn't) and "Operation Restoring Hope" (it hasn't).

More than four years after the Saudis and other nations sought to help restore government control by defeating the Houthi rebels, the war in Yemen has left almost 100,000 people dead, brought near-famine to millions and made the country's name synonymous with misery. Aid workers use words such as "biblical" and "epidemic" to describe conditions.

The country seems so hopeless to many nations that even the United Arab Emirates, Saudi