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United States is complicit in Saudi Arabia's ethnic
cleansing in Yemen
By mickielynn on 2016-08-24 11:11:03
Just this past week most of us were shocked and saddened by the photo of Omran Daqneesh, a mute, stunned, bleeding 5
year old child being evacuated from recently bombed Aleppo, Syria. Most of us know about the hundreds of thousands of
deaths and millions of refugees created during that 5 year war with no end in sight. Just since July 31, 2016 the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights has documented 468 civilian deaths. 100 of them were children. Today I wanted to write
about another war that has been going on since March 26, 2015. One in which the United States is clearly complicit. It's a
vicious series of attacks that we don't hear much about in our mainstream media but the perpetrators are much clearer.
According to an excellent article in The Intercept,
By a conservative estimate, more than 6,500 Yemenis have been killed since the war began in March 2015. The
violence has pushed Yemen — which was already the poorest country in the Middle East, suffering from
widespread hunger and destitution — into what the U.N. has called for well over a year now a “humanitarian
catastrophe.”
[caption id="attachment_8727" align="aligncenter" width="480"]
How US and UK arms are being used in Yemen,
from Oxfam article August 2016[/caption] [caption id="attachment_8726" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
: Saudis stop bombing and
blockading Yemen with US and UK weapons|/caption] Saudi Arabia is the obvious country behind the vicious destruction of
infrastructure and civilian targets, including 5 hospitals and many civilian factories and other important providers of goods
and services. They are supposedly fighting on the side of the government in exile but they have no compunctions about
targeting, blockading and starving civilians. In fact they have stated that their goal is to wipe out the Houthis, which would
amount to ethnic cleansing.
[Deputy Secretary of State] Blinken turns up in Riyadh and asks, "By the way, what are you trying to
accomplish here?" And the Saudis effectively said, or at least the Americans understood them to say, "Well, we
basically want to wipe out the Houthis." Well, they termed it as "end all Iranian influence in Yemen."
[caption id="attachment_8734" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
er
Ps] ‘
a
|
Stop selling weapons and
sharing intelligence with Saudi Arabia, photo from Code Pink[/caption] At times the US has asked the Saudis to "tone it
down a bit' and stop the wanton killing and destruction but at the same time we have not only been selling them billions of
dollars worth of weapons, and providing refueling, targeting information, and diplomatic cover but there seems to be no end
in sight. Now (as you can see from the diagram below) the US is not the only country selling arms to Saudi Arabia but we
are the most consistent and the most collaborative. All in violation of our own laws and the laws of war.
Arms transfers to Saudi Arabia in 2015
BB Stato Party
lB Signatory
| Non State Party
Warships Bhssiles Parts and Ammunition Small anes “Rocintoré possibty WAKE
and missihe components and light “Comtrade data. category of anna.
wemapors transferred unica
loons comespending to cabegories linted in Articles Zul y and 4of the Arms Trade Treaty
Date for this map comes from SPSL and is avadlable for download af aaww.spriong. It covers the transhers of major conventional arms.
Licensing cate for obs Ip-net inclachd in this map, Additional data from LN Comtrade comtradeunong Monienegral,
Sa a Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department
notified Congress that it had approved a $1.15 billion sale of up to 153 tanks, hundreds of machine guns, and other new
weapons to the Saudis. Even in the light of the well documented human rights abuses being perpetrated with those weapons.
Here's the link to a very good report from Kristine Beckerle, a fellow at Human Rights Watch, who has just returned from
Yemen. Since taking office, the Obama administration has approved more than $110 billion in weapons sales to Saudi
Arabia. [caption id="attachment_8732" align="aligncenter" width="428"]
* Obama's Arms
Deal Diplomacy
U.S. weapons sales to the Persian Gulf topped
$22 billion in the last year
Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates
Kuwait Oman Bahrain
Helicopters, Hellfire missiles, rockets
1,600 precision-quided bombs
——— 4100 Patriot missiles
935 JENIII0 BIHNAS / ATIIN MATL
Missile waning systems
1,000,000+ rounds of advanced ammunition
F-18 fightet jet equipment
10/13/15 Black Hawk helicopters, missile waning systems, machine guns
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5
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6
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10/18/15 Four wars ber machine guns
141s §}+————————————- Bombs, precision-quided missiles
14 Shiper tangeting pods for military aircraft
SISATYNY ALWODA /
26,000 bombs and missiles
TOW anti-aircraft missiles
Close-in weapons system
Milit
Advanced aincraft technology, miss
$28 Sap $68
Obama's weapons diplomacy during 2015, from Voices
for Creative Nonviolence[/caption] There is no way that we can justify the sale of weapons and military, diplomatic and
intelligence support for this vicious Saudi war against the people of Yemen. And the Houthis and their political party have a
lot of support in that country so it isn't the "will of the people." [caption id="attachment_8725" align="aligncenter"
width="600" |i aoe : 2 ! ug. 40 There is great
support for the party of the Houthis i in "Yemen. On August 20th more than 100, 000 people gathered in Saba'een Square in
Sana to denounce Saudi aggression.[/caption] In the Intercept article there is a good description about how and why Rep.
Ted Lieu and others are trying to stop the continued sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia in the face of the cruel attacks on
civilians in Yemen. Representative Lieu is a reserve Colonel in the Air Force, which gives him an even better understanding
of the war crimes that we are helping to support. [caption id="attachment_8730" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
B.
B
*
L L i pen 4 Congressman Ted Lieu,
working to stop arms sales and other support to Saudi Arabia in Yemen, photo The Intercept[/caption] And there have been
editorials in several mainstream newspapers criticizing US and UK involvement and enabling of this vicious war. And some
very good reports by Oxfam (an international aid organization). [caption id="attachment_8728" align="aligncenter"
width="600"] US, Saudi
Arabia, and Yemen. Cartoon from the Middle East Monitor, 2015[/caption] What is our motivation for these continued arms
sales to countries and dictators who think nothing of killing civilians and causing untold suffering? Unfortunately there
seems to be a very crass connection between the arms sales and the greed and lobbying power of weapons corporations.
When it comes to the individual companies profiting off of the global arms bazaar, the following list drives
home the point that U.S. arms manufacturers shoulder a disproportionate share of the responsibility for so much
of the world’s death and suffering. In fact, six of the ten largest arms-producing companies are U.S.-based,
according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's report [from 2013.]
1 Lockheed Martin (US)
2 Boeing (US)
3 BAE Systems (UK)
4 Raytheon (US)
5 Northrop Grumman (US)
6 General Dynamics (US)
7 EADS (trans-Europe)
8 United Technologies (US)
9 Finmeccanica (Italy)
10 Thales (France)
What can we do when our hearts are breaking as the number of refugees in the world keeps increasing and more and more
are dying as they try to flee the horrific violence that is created by the weapons and profits and power struggles that are
fueling their deaths and suffering. To say nothing of the lack of help for them to find refuge? [caption
id="attachment_8731" align="aligncenter" width="424"]
The deadliest year for refugees fleeing through Libya to the Italian coast.[/caption] This is a long and complex struggle to
change our policies from those of military interventions and weapons sales to the humanitarian efforts to diplomatically end
wars and bring about ceasefires, and help for refugees to return home and live their lives. One baby step that we can take is
to stop the most recent approval of the new $1.15 billion in new arms sales and educate our legislators at the same time.
Congress has 30 days to act after the August 8th announcement (most if it taken up by recess and election madness). We can
support efforts to change this policy. There are some bills in the Foreign Relations Committees that propose to do just that:
H.J. Res. 90, a bipartisan bill that would bar the transfer of air-to-ground munitions from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, sponsored
by Representatives Ted Lieu and Ted Yoho. And the Senate companion to the legislation, S.J. Res. 32. also sponsored
bipartisanly by Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul. Neither of these bills, introduced in April of 2016 goes far enough
but debate would start to focus a spotlight on the arms sales and other support. [caption id="attachment_8759"
align="aligncenter" width="600"]
= 7
Yemen after Saudi bombings,
photo credit Ibrahem Qasim[/caption] If you agree that the US support of Saudi carnage in Yemen needs to be stopped
immediately you can write or call your Representative and Senators and ask them to support resolutions like those above.
Or you can join campaigns already in progress with petitions and instructions to call or write. Here are the links to a few of
those.
Sign the petition: Congress must stop the Saudi arms sale. Civilians are being bombed.
Tell Secretary Kerry to Push Saudis Toward Peace in Yemen!
