29 Mar 2024
Thursday 20 October 2016 - 15:26
Story Code : 235734

Yemen burns as the world yawns and a nightmare is born

There is horror in ambivalence. The situation in Yemen is as worrying as Syria yet our politicians and most of the media seem fairly ambivalent towards it.

The war in Yemen started out as a straightforward rejection of Saudi Arabia's placeman after Saleh was forced out. And it was a widespread rejection, the Houthis being just one of a number of groupings, including Saleh's supporters in the Yemeni army.

Where are the pictures of dead and dying children in Yemen? As bombs rain and women and children die this is more proof that the misery of Arab children are used by the US, UK and France to promote their nefarious end game in the Middle-East.

Let's put this horror into its proper context. The US, which has sold the Saudis $110bn worth of arms since President Obama assumed office, and recently approved the sale of $1.15bn more, has helped precipitate bloodshed since over 18 months ago, with the body count racking up to over 6,800 people. Both rebels and the regime have committed atrocities, though most of the dead are civilians and most have been killed by Saudi-led airstrikes. Almost 14.4 million people are now "food insecure", according to the UN's World Food Program, and 2.8 million people have been displaced.

So it is not purely about the bombs but about the starvation and humanitarian cost of this geo-strategic arcade game by the Saudis. The US warships off the coast are helping to enforce the food blockade and so many Yemenis are literally starving to death. Why does the bombing continue? Well the Saudis are not doing very well trying to reinstate their patsy dictator who was ousted at the beginning of last year. It looks like they need more help and the continued bombing and starvation warfare proves an ideal excuse.

To play devil's advocate for a moment one might posit that firing missiles into the strait is a red line and so the US will protect the trade route. It's pretty cut and dry. But there is a big but. A massive war against the civilian population of a country is the real red line that the world is missing.

Of course there is a horrible moral hypocrisy at the heart of giving the Saudis their toys of death and turning a blind eye as long as the bank transfers zip along.

Weapons manufacturing is the mainstay of the economy in North America. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest customers, so no one there will say a thing about human rights, funding of extremist groups, and this war in Yemen. Trump is not the answer and certainly not Hillary Clinton. Turning things around would require a radical re-think of the economic and political system, and that's a conversation the authorities are unwilling to tolerate, especially with a Clinton administration.

Obama's policy regarding Yemen has been disastrous and will no doubt be continued by Clinton if she takes office, which she most likely will. Whilst pretending to abhor human rights violations by Assad in Syria, Obama is busy arming the Saudi Arabian government which is committing huge war crimes. The Saudis have been accused of using banned chemical weapons such as white phosphorous and cluster bombs in the conflict which are absolutely devastating to the civilian population.

Furthermore, the Saudis have deliberately bombed civilian places killing thousands as I mentioned above and are slowly starving the country out. Who are the Saudis again? Yes, they are the wonderful folks who stone gays, cut off hands and sponsored 9/11 hijackers. Obama has armed the Saudis with $115 billion dollars in weaponry, more than ALL previous presidents combined.

So spare me the peaceful Democrats nonsense. Obama is almost no better than George W Bush.

We already know about his horrendous drone program and it is evident Obama is nothing more than an imperialist titan ready at first glance to shred the Constitution to support financial allies willing to commit monumental war atrocities in a war which if won by the Saudis may even place Al Qaeda in control of Yemen.

Now replace the word Obama with Clinton and you'll get an idea of why this nightmare isn't about to end, it is in fact just beginning.

This article was written by Saurav Dutt for American Herald Tribune on Oct. 20, 2016. Saurav Dutt is the Guardian Books and LA Times Book short-listed British author of fiction and nonfiction works. He wrote for The Guardian, The Independent; he is a novelist, independent film producer, playwright, screenwriter, graphic design illustrator and above all, an accomplished author and writer.
https://theiranproject.com/vdcdsk0xoyt0s56.em2y.html
Your Name
Your Email Address