IN THE ISLAMIC CONCEPT of qadar, your divine destiny is inescapable. If you try to cheat death it will find you. For two women on a dusty road in mid-June on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, their repeated attempts to dodge fate ended in tragic failure.
Leaving the war zone of Yemen’s southern port city of Aden on June 10, the women headed north in a Toyota Cressida driven by a male relative. The pair were escaping the violence that had already turned entire streets in Aden to rubble, left hundreds dead and thousands of civilians under siege, struggling to find food, water and medical care.
Driving ahead of them was a family of four in a Hilux pick-up truck, slowing at the numerous checkpoints along the road and weaving around potholes in the asphalt. Between 4:30 and 5 p.m., seemingly from nowhere, the first missile struck. The Hilux flipped into a cartwheeling fireball, killing the two children and their parents inside.
Before the women in the Toyota had a chance to compose themselves an ominous whistle preceded a second missile, which smashed into the ground beside them and sent their car careering off the road into the dusty scrubland. Twice in the space of just a few minutes the women had stared death in the face.
Dressed in black abiyas — the uniform dress code of women in Yemen — they clambered out of their sand-bound car. Seeing the two stranded women, Mohammed Ahmed Salem pulled over in his bus. Salem was taking his 25-year-old daughter to the province of Lahj and had filled his bus with passengers to help pay for the fuel. The passengers made room for the two women, who left their male relative to wait for a family member to help recover the crashed Toyota. But as they thanked God for their narrow escape, the third and final missile came out of the sky. The bus and some 10 passengers were obliterated.
The names of the dead did not even make news in the local press in Aden. This form of death is now commonplace amid a war so hidden that foreign journalists are forced to smuggle themselves by boat into the country to report on an ongoing conflict that the U.N. says has killed more than 4,500 people and left another 23,500 wounded.
On one side of the conflict is the U.S.-backed coalition of nations led by Saudi Arabia supporting Yemen’s president-in-exile, Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi. Their adversaries are the predominantly Shiite Houthi fighters who hail from the northern province of Saada that abuts the Saudi border, along with soldiers from renegade military units loyal to the country’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
A March 30 airstrike on a public bus in the Khormakser district of Aden, Yemen, left four dead, including one child.
Photo: Iona Craig
From visiting some 20 sites of airstrikes and interviews with more than a dozen witnesses, survivors and relatives of those killed in eight of these strikes in southern Yemen, this reporter discovered evidence of a pattern of Saudi-coalition airstrikes that show indiscriminate bombing of civilians and rescuers, adding further weight to claims made by human rights organizations that some Saudi-led strikes may amount to war crimes and raising vital questions over the U.S. and Britain’s role in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.
(The number of civilian casualties has not been officially collated or recorded by NGOs or aid agencies. Only a handful of humanitarian and independent human rights organizations have had a presence on the ground in Aden, while nationwide just a small fraction of the strikes have even been independently documented. The death tolls for the eight strikes, which include five on public buses, were given by witnesses, or those who collected the dead after the strikes, and are necessarily imperfect; the total ranges from 142 up to 175.)
Story map created by Malachy Browne at The Intercept’s sister publication, Reported.ly.
“The Obama administration needs urgently to explain what the U.S.’s exact role in Saudi Arabia’s indiscriminate bombing campaign is,” said Cori Crider, strategic director at the international legal group Reprieve. “It very much looks like there is a case to answer here — not just for the Saudis, but for any Western agencies who are standing behind them. International law shuns the intentional targeting of civilians in war — and in the United States it is a serious federal crime.”
These civilian deaths occurred in strikes that account for just a handful of the thousands of bombing raids carried out by the Saudi-led coalition since its aerial campaign began. Of particular concern are the U.S.-style “double tap” strikes — where follow-up strikes hit those coming to rescue victims of an initial missile attack — which became a notorious trademark of covert CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. On July 6, for instance, at least 35 rescuers and bystanders were killed trying to help scores of traders hit in a strike five minutes earlier on a farmers market in Fayoush, in Yemen’s Lahj province.
Abdul Hamid Mohammed Saleh, 30, was standing on the opposite side of the road when the first missile hit the gathering of more than 100 men who had been arriving since before 6 a.m. to trade goats and sheep at the daily market. The initial blast, he told me, killed around a dozen men and injured scores more. Body parts flew through the air, and an arm landed next to Saleh. He said he began to flee, but hearing the screams of the injured he turned back and crossed the road to try and help. The second strike landed less than 30 yards from him, sending shrapnel flying into his back.
Mohammed Awath Thabet looks over the crater left by the first bomb of a “double tap” strike that killed at least 50 civilians on July 6 in Fayoush, Yemen.
Photo: Iona Craig
On June 12, six days after an airstrike split a large public transport bus in two on the edge of Aden’s Dar Saad district, Lami Yousef Ali, 23, found the decomposing body of his 28-year-old brother, Abdu, still entangled in the wreckage. Lami and Abdu had been chatting via WhatsApp moments before the bus was bombed, and their father, Yusef Ali, also died in the strike, which killed at least 16 civilians. According to witnesses, this bombing also hit two cars carrying Houthi fighters. (This is the only case of the eight strikes investigated in which Houthi fighters appear to have been the target rather than civilians.) Although no remnants of the cars are visible at the strike site, the twisted metal of the bisected bus still lies in the sand, rusting in the scorching heat of Aden’s summer sun. In the background the familiar sound of distant bombings resonates from the shifting front lines as the battle moves on.
On April 25 a fighter jet bombed a public bus towing another bus carrying Somali refugees from the isolated Kharaz refugee camp, 93 miles northwest of Aden. Forced to take a winding back route to Aden because of fighting on the main road, the shambling convoy was hit around 11 a.m by at least two strikes in the remote desert scrublands of Lahj.
Mustafa al-Abd Awad said he lost his brother, Mohammed, a father of seven. When Awad went to the site to recover his brother’s body, he counted more than 30 others in the ashes of the two burnt-out buses. Other relatives who went to collect their dead said the total killed was as high as 52. “They take everything from us,” shouted Awad, gesturing toward a cloudless sky. “Why? Tell me why.”
Mohammed Hussein Othman, posing for a selfie (L), was later killed by an airstrike that hit the public bus he was traveling in on April 25 in Lahj, Yemen (R).
Photo: (selfie) Mohammed Hussein Othman (Othman deceased) Abdulkhader Hussain Othman
Muhammed Hussein Othman’s 4 year-old son, Rashid, with his grandmother.
Photo: Iona Craig
Along with the Saudi coalition’s bombing campaign, American warships have also helped to enforce a naval blockade that the Saudis say is necessary to prevent weapon shipments to the Houthis, whom they claim are supported by Iran. According to the U.N., this collective punishment has left the country “on the brink of famine,” with desperate shortages of food, medical supplies and fuel — vital not only for transportation but for pumping increasingly scarce water from the depths of the country’s depleted water tables. Four out of five Yemenis are now in need of humanitarian assistance.
To add to the worsening humanitarian crisis, on August 18 Saudi-led fighter jets bombed the port in the northern city of Hodeidah, a main supply route for aid agencies, while on the outskirts of Aden white sugar spills into shredded sacks of flour. Hundreds of pounds of vital food supplies lie ruined in bombed-out warehouses.
While protesters have taken to the streets of the capital, Sanaa, in the thousands to demonstrate against the bombings, in Aden green Saudi flags flutter in the sea breeze at checkpoints, and street vendors sell posters of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in acknowledgement of the Kingdom’s support in the battle to remove the Houthi Saleh forces from their city. Unlike northern Yemen, where sympathy for the Houthis is strongest, many southerners are reluctant to blame their Saudi neighbors for the civilian casualties.
Some observers, such as Human Rights Watch, say evidence shows many of the Saudi-led strikes appear to be “serious laws-of-war violations,” while others stress that the many civilian deaths are a result of error. In Aden, where scores of civilians have also been killed in a ground war that raged for over four months, Southern Resistance fighters place blame for the deaths on the poor coordination between the anti-Houthi militias and their coalition partners in Riyadh. “It was not organized,” said tax director and Southern Resistance supporter Mohammed Othman of the Saudis’ first attempt at managing a modern war. “Those calling in the strikes were old commanders who don’t know the recent layout of the city.” (A day after our meeting, Othman was shot dead by a Houthi sniper.)
Brig. Gen. Ahmed Assiri, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition forces, denied air strikes had targeted civilians and rescuers, or civilian infrastructure. When asked to comment, he said that “It is not a good story to talk about,” and also that he welcomed any United Nations investigation into the strikes.
Shukri Ali Saeed lies in the hospital two months after an airstrike hit the truck he was driving in Lahj, Yemen, on June 18, killing two passengers. Saeed suffered severe burns and both his legs were broken.
Photo: Iona Craig
Last week, 23 human rights organizations called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to create an international commission of inquiry to investigate alleged violations of international laws by all sides in the ongoing conflict. This includes the U.S. and Britain. Some 45 U.S. advisers are currently assisting the Saudi coalition from joint operations centers in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, while the American government has also supplied intelligence, in-flight refueling of fighter jets, and weapons, including, according to rights organizations, banned U.S. cluster munitions.
America’s continued support of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen comes as Saudi-U.S. relations have been strained by President Obama’s pursuit of a nuclear deal with the Kingdom’s regional nemesis, Iran. Adam Baron, a visiting fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, suggests that the U.S. has been more eager to conciliate Saudi Arabia than usual, “because they want them and the other Gulf States to at least not actively oppose the Iran deal.”
A U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson responded: “We take all accounts of civilian deaths due to the ongoing hostilities in Yemen seriously. We continue to provide logistical and intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition in response to ongoing aggressive Houthi military actions. We have asked the Saudi government to investigate all credible reports of civilian casualties and to undertake urgent steps in response if these reports are verified.”
Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed bombing campaign continues into its sixth month and Yemen’s largely hidden war endures; its civilians struggle to survive, with little influence over their fate. “We don’t know when or where death will come, where the next bullet or bomb will drop,” said Itisam, staring at a picture of her dead son’s gray, dismembered body wedged under the undercarriage of a bus. “Only God knows.”
Reporter Ryan Devereaux contributed to this report.
Photo: The aftermath of an April 27 Saudi-led bombing on the residential Crater district in the heart of Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, which killed at least 18 civilians, including seven members of one family.
the only this article fails to mention is that all this fights and blood and innocent killing is because and only because the American political class is totally under jews control
The article fails to mention that the Houthis are in fact civilians (armed civilians). The fastest way to end the war in Yemen is for the Saudis to completely defeat the Houthi forces, capture their leaders and their Iranian advisors. They should face enhanced interrogations, trials and execution. Once Iran is expelled from the Arabian Peninsula the killing will stop.
The fastest way to end the indiscriminate killing by SA is to have a coup where the SA dictators are killed.
The fastest way to end this by putting me as a president of the united state in the moment of witch will be the end of the jews control of this fools American people
Very impressive reporting and stunning (literally) photos, Iona, although a TI founder missing from this beat has me concerned for a while now. May you ALL stay safe in your endeavors to chronicle the region’s ravaging by empires of greed and war.
While the Middle East and some westerners blame the U.S. and Great Britain for the destabilization in Iraq and Syria, this particular war proves just how complex these issues really are. The Saudis try to take care of this problem through air strikes, but how do you know 100% that your target is actually your enemy when your enemy wears no uniforms and follows no international rules for military engagement? Blame is a funny thing. It tries to paint a problem as having a singular cause, but in reality, most of the current problems would still be happening no matter what preceded it. Yemen is a mirror of Iraq 30 years ago. Greed, intolerance, and a true narcissistic ideology fuel violent revolutions that end up being massacres. The Middle East will always be in turmoil as long as religion continues to drive policy. There will always be right wing anger over secular laws, which brings about more death and destruction than drug cartels.
I wonder what gives them that impression.
And who exactly said the Saudis have a right to take care of any problems outside the borders of Saudi Arabia?
You mean the destruction and destabilization of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya would’ve still occurred without US and NATO “humanitarian intervention”? How do you figure?
Yep, religion is to blame for imperialist destabilization. Brilliant.
“The Saudis try to take care of this problem through air strikes, but how do you know 100% that your target is actually your enemy when your enemy wears no uniforms and follows no international rules for military engagement?”
Who gave Saudi’s the right to start bombing in the first place? Abdu Rabu Mansoor Hadi? He was only a vice president to fill in the spot of the ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Who every Yemeni knows is the actual reason behind the sudden outburst of the Huthis. As for not knowing who your enemy is, why have the majority of the bombings occurred and focused on heavily populated areas like neighborhoods, markets and schools? There are plenty of Huthi camps on the outskirts of Sana’a. Their tribal village is in Sa’ada, just outside the Saudi border. Just a stone throw away from them, but no, the attacks have been everywhere but there.
“It tries to paint a problem as having a singular cause, but in reality, most of the current problems would still be happening no matter what preceded it.”
Seriously? Lets go back through history before Yemen was ruled by the ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh (Around 35-40 years ago) Yemen was finally starting to grow after it had been led by president Ibrahim Al-Hamdi for around a year. He had started to end tribal loyalty, proclaimed all Yemenis as equals and also improved relationships with Saudi Arabia (We all know they hated him but feared him). After being a president for a year he had accomplished much more than what Ali Abdullah had in over 30 years. The Saudi’s were starting to fear him because he had started to unlock Yemen’s potentials and that was a big risk for Saudi Arabia. That’s when they planned his assassination with the help of ex-president Ali Abdullah. It was Ali with the back up of Saudi who had killed Ibrahim Al-Hamdi, and what’s worse, he became president right after assassinating Ibrahim and destroyed the pillars that Ibrahim had set. Tribal loyalty was more than before, people were discriminated based on what tribe or village they came from, only his tribe and branches of his tribe were allowed to be government officials…etc. And since then Ali has been the puppet of Saudi Arabia and has been leading his country to the deepest depths of hell. And once the revolution happened around 4-5 years ago and he was taken off his throne, he got mad at Saudi for not helping him and has started this childish war.
“Greed, intolerance, and a true narcissistic ideology fuel violent revolutions that end up being massacres.”
If you don’t know that the initial revolution that started all the problems in Yemen was a peaceful revolution then you have no right whatsoever to say anything. The people of Yemen grew weary of Ali’s reign over them and had started a peaceful revolution where they went out to the streets unarmed (which is saying a lot since Yemen is ranked 3rd world-wide for having hte most number of guns per capita at around 1 gun per 2 people) and protested that they have had enough and would like to be a prosperous country. For over almost 2 years they stayed in the streets doing no harm to anyone, they were attacked by Ali’s group of mercenaries numerous times and none of the other Middle-Eastern countries batted an eye or offered to help. But once they had finally prevailed (somewhat) and Ali was dethroned, the Huthi rebels emerged and everyone now is fighting against “the Huthis”.
Your comment my friend has made me see that those who pretend to know about what’s going on in Yemen and other Middle-Eastern countries don’t know (and excuse my language) shit. You think you know what’s going on but you will never truly know unless you’ve experienced it. I was one of the lucky few who were able to flee from Yemen after the problems have arose. Imagine sleeping at night wondering if you would ever wake up from your sleep or fall into an eternal slumber only to be waken up at 2 a.m. by the sound of explosions and the cries of your family. Imagine pondering about whether you should risk going to the market to buy provisions or not. Imagine hearing the phone ring and constantly praying that it isn’t something unpleasant and asking yourself who of your family and friends died this time. People are in constant fear but what would you know.
Feb 19, 2015 ISIS was created by the CIA and Mossad In today’s video, Christopher Greene of AMTV reports on the terror group ISIS.
http://youtu.be/aQkYtmewSpQ
This second link proves the first news report link from across the pond accurate!
February 21, 2015 ISIS seizes U.S.-made weapons
http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/02/21/newday-wedeman-isis-seizes-u-s-weapons.cnn
February 20, 2015 America Has Been At War 93% of the Time – 222 Out of 239 Years – Since 1776
The U.S. Has Only Been At Peace For 21 Years Total Since Its Birth
In 2011, Danios wrote: Below, I have reproduced a year-by-year timeline of America’s wars, which reveals something quite interesting: since the United States was founded in 1776, she has been at war during 214 out of her 235 calendar years of existence. In other words, there were only 21 calendar years in which the U.S. did not wage any wars.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d7c_1424878482
Great to see an important article like this published here. In an otherwise commendable and well-reported piece, however, there is one important factual mistake, made in the (parenthetical) claim that there are no official estimates of civilian casualties.
“The number of civilian casualties has not been officially collated or recorded by NGOs or aid agencies. Only a handful of humanitarian and independent human rights organizations have had a presence on the ground in Aden, while nationwide just a small fraction of the strikes have even been independently documented.”
In fact, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has regularly provided estimates on civilian casualties since the beginning of the bombing campaign, which have generally been updated in press statements about every two weeks.
The most recent figures, published in a press statement on the same date as this article (Sept 1), state that from March 26 to August 27, at least 2,112 civilians have been killed and 4,519 wounded, and these numbers are regarded as underestimates of the actual total.
“Since the escalation of the armed conflict on 26 March and up to 27 August, we have documented some 6,631 civilian casualties, including 2,112 civilian deaths, and 4,519 wounded. These are conservative figures based on information gathered by our field monitors and the actual numbers are believed to be much higher.”
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16367&LangID=E
Although the precise proportion of the overall civilian casualties caused by Saudi coalition airstrikes (or by Houthi shelling or during ground battles) has not yet been reported, UNICEF has recently stated that Saudi airstrikes were responsible for 73% of all child casualties they have documented, out of the 400 verified child deaths and 600 injured (numbers which they also say are likely to be “much higher”).
From this, you can reasonably infer/extrapolate that the airstrikes are probably responsible for about 3/4 of all civilian casualties, or about 1,500 civilian deaths, which is also supported by the much higher frequency and regularity of large-scale civilian casualties from airstrikes reported in the media and by human rights groups.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/03/tony-abbott-says-decision-on-joining-air-strikes-in-syria-will-be-made-next-week
The prime minister says Isis is ‘worse than the Nazis’ as retired US general David Petraeus urges Australia to join the Middle East bombing campaign
A decision on whether Australian fighter jets will strike Islamic State targets in Syria will be made next week, Tony Abbott has said.
The federal government is considering a request from US president Barack Obama to join airstrikes in Syria.
snip
Considering the “timing” of this assassination:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud
Connecting ALL the “dots” in this Middle East QUAGMIRE of death, destruction, maiming and war crimes…..
I wonder…”who” killed Massoud?!
WHY are comments closed on Murtaza Hussein’s latest piece???
(And why are you still inflicting us with those annoying dropped capitals???)
dronesR4cowards
What I find amazing is that the U.S. press definition of ‘terrorism’ starts by excluding any attack with Houthis as victims. I’ve commented on this before at a different Yemen article, but here’s a new link for a new attack: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/bombs-at-mosque-in-yemens-capital-kill-at-least-20-people/2015/09/02/b1e7c180-51aa-11e5-8c19-0b6825aa4a3a_story.html Not one mention of the T-word, even though it was a suicide attacker with a car bomb blowing up a mosque for the Islamic State. So “-Houthi” trumps “+ISIS” when you go to define what terrorism is.
Perhaps they are getting worried about habituating the term/concept.
Perhaps they think being a little playful with the T word to be much better than starting to see things as “T us against T you”, which simplifies things like a computer game and reduce cognitive dissonance to people with some sense of morality.
They also constantly start their logical articulations in their own self-serving ways. “After 9-11 …” as if “before 9-11″ they had been the good Christians they fancy themselves as being.
We have put a commercial embargo on a little and poor country for more than half a century because they have a “communist” government … They still continue the embargo which has disallowed big farma and medical companies to sell medicaments to Cuba if they have business with the U.S. (kids have died because of that, but as Madeleine Albright would say: “the cost is worth it” (of course, the cost of someone else’s kids)). What they don’t tell you or choose not to think of is that Castro (who was not a commie at all, but some petit bourgeois (no one has ever seen him dancing)) came to power as a grassroots last hope of people fed up with the policies of the U.S. government among them the occupation of Gitmo. Even though I am against Castro/communism I feel kind of like in Salomon’s parable of the rightful mother (1 Kings 3:16-28) and I hate abuse. I find abuse crazy even on logical grounds and gringos are so, but so abusive!.
Something that you may also notice is how they constantly portray their own sh!t as a case of consummated justice: “A U.S. soldier ‘is under investigation’ for ‘allegedly’ firing at a crowd of children and killing a dozen of them” vs. “ISIS using a knife beheaded a non-combatant U.S. citizen on camera and posted the video on the Internet”.
Now, which one would you find (even if minimally) more kosher? Great Lord, how savage those ISIS guys! Can’t they use drones, instead? Are they crazy? How could they put up the video on the Internet for everyone to see? How could they be so plain and open about their terrorism?
Does that work? Could people’s boasting about their freedoms fall to such silly word play?
I grew up under a totally unpretentious dictatorial government, which would clearly and in bold capital letters say to people. We own the newspapers/media. I thought that was the only way you could control people. I was so, but so wrong!
RCL
The elite media’s use of the term “terrorism” — and lots of other terms like “torture”, “democracy”, “repression”, “the peace process” — depends on who‘s doing it, not what the actions are.
The neolibcon scam that continues these policies regardless of who wins the elections here is the story.
Look at Bernie Sanders talk about wanting Saudi Arabia to take a more active role, while saying nothing about drones or the NSA constitutional violations.
We need more brave journalists like Iona shedding light on all the wars we are involved in.
Particularly pleased that she states that it is only Saudi claims of Iranian support for the Houthis… because zero evidence of it has been exposed… yet the corporate media reports it as fact.
An exceptionally well-written and interesting piece! Thank you Iona for this article.
It is the kind of journalism that could put TI on the map. She’s done powerful work here.
PS. This article reminded me of something Martha Gellhorn reported from the bombing of Madrid, 1937. This kind of reporting is classic and very effective, whether then, or here, now.
http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/gellhorn/madrid.html
The writing here is exceptional. Really glad to see the Intercept hire somebody that can investigate AND write.
On a “War is a Racket” (thank you General Butler for protecting Standard Oil) theme:
“The Masila system moves crude oil across [Yemen and] crosses flash-flood regions to reach onshore storage and offshore loading facilities on the southeast coast of Yemen [ie Gulf of Aden and Red Sea].”
Now, when there is a conflict in oil producing countries, the price of oil goes up, generally speaking. The Masila pipeline produces 120,000 BOPD . War increases the value of those barrels.
It’s been reported that Canadian Occidental Petroleum, Ltd owned/owns and operated/operates the facilities.
Certainly there are other oil producers/exporters in Yemen.
Perhaps this is what it’s all about?
Nice article.
Who knows what it all about…
As for the economy of Yemen…. here is the Wiki intro:
“Economy of Yemen”
“At the time of unification, South Yemen and North Yemen had vastly different but equally struggling underdeveloped economic systems. Since unification, the economy has been forced to sustain the consequences of Yemen’s support for Iraq during the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War: Saudi Arabia expelled almost 1 million Yemeni workers, and both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait significantly reduced economic aid to Yemen. The 1994 civil war further drained Yemen’s economy. As a consequence, for the past 10 years Yemen has relied heavily on aid from multilateral agencies to sustain its economy. In return, it has pledged to implement significant economic reforms. In 1997 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved two programs to increase Yemen’s credit significantly: the enhanced structural adjustment facility (now known as the poverty reduction and growth facility, or PRGF) and the extended funding facility (EFF). In the ensuing years, Yemen’s government attempted to implement recommended reforms—reducing the civil service payroll, eliminating diesel and other subsidies, lowering defense spending, introducing a general sales tax, and privatizing state-run industries. However, limited progress led the IMF to suspend funding between 1999 and 2001.[5]
In late 2005, the World Bank, which had extended Yemen a four-year US$2.3 billion economic support package in October 2002 together with other bilateral and multilateral lenders, announced that as a consequence of Yemen’s failure to implement significant reforms it would reduce financial aid by one-third over the period July 2005 through July 2008. A key component of the US$2.3 billion package—US$300 million in concessional financing—has been withheld pending renewal of Yemen’s PRGF with the IMF, which is currently under negotiation. However, in May 2006 the World Bank adopted an assistance strategy for Yemen under which it will provide approximately US$400 million in International Development Association (IDA) credits over the period FY 2006 to FY 2009. In November 2006, at a meeting of Yemen’s development partners, a total of US$4.7 billion in grants and concessional loans was pledged for the period 2007–10. At present, despite possessing significant oil and gas resources and a considerable amount of agriculturally productive land, Yemen remains one of the poorest of the world’s low-income countries; more than 45 percent of the population lives in poverty. The influx of an average 1,000 Somali refugees per month into Yemen looking for work is an added drain on the economy, which already must cope with a 20 to 40 percent rate of unemployment. Yemen remains under significant pressure to implement economic reforms or face the loss of badly needed international financial support.[5]
At unification, both the Yemen Arab Republic and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen were struggling underdeveloped economies. In the north, disruptions of civil war (1962–1970) and frequent periods of drought had dealt severe blows to a previously prosperous agricultural sector. Coffee production, formerly the north’s main export and principal form of foreign exchange, declined as the cultivation of khat increased. Low domestic industrial output and a lack of raw materials made the YAR dependent on a wide variety of imports.”
The Greeks are so lucky.
One thing is clear.This is a well planned invasion that went terribly wrong .It was meant to knock out WMDs but instead killed so many innocent chidren,women and men.They completely underestimated Saleh.Yemen has been with Russia for over 35 years.They play their cards very well.
The CIA is the mastermind behind the whole war. Saudi is only a stooge for the CIA and is now stuck in its own quagmire. How else would Saudis and Israel work together? Think about it.
I just want to congratulate Mrs. Craig, because he is a great story (as we have not seen for years in my Italy) written, I think, also with the heart and not only with his pen. I wonder when in Italy, I can see a rebirth journalism like “The Intercept” or “Reported.ly”, but the answer is …. maybe ever.
Mr Craig will have something to say about this too, I think.
Tough to read. Has to be horrific to report. But to witness such flagrant, brutal, cold, calculated killing of innocent people would have me crawling on my knees. Authorities (what authorities) not able to count or report the exact number of dead. Saudi Arabia, U.S. support need to be held accountable. Oh yeah right the U.S. and the invasion of Iraq. No accountability
The answer to the US piece of the puzzle is more likely to be found in Langley than at the Pentagon. Brennan’s long been the Saudis’ hit-man in Yemen.
Which of today’s offensive warring nations actually cares about human life? None of them.
I just realised how stupid I look. Man I say nasty things.
I would just like to say one thing that may be contradictory to what I say while I am in my previous high state, that I am sorry for every bad comment I have made.
Thankyou :)
Actually you are the stupid one if you feel you need to hack an account at TI.
For a moment there I thought I now understood Lenk’s stupid misrepresentations and misquoting. He was simply drunk. But apparently that’s just who he is.
Drunk? It would be a good idea for you to blame alcohol for your ignorance and stupidity. Confusing a commentator with an expert in ME politics, being unable to prove his expertise on ME politics, packaging Turkey, UAE, Qatar as fundamentalists countries and then stating it “would not matter if they were”. Blame it on alcohol otherwise you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
See, that’s why it’s not a big leap to presume you’re drunk. I think you’re just a liar, though. You’re calling Chomsky — one of world’s leading and most recognized intellectuals — a “commentator”. Then you repeat the lie that I claimed all of a number of countries are fundamentalist. I’m calling it a lie because I doubt anyone is so incompetent at parsing sentences.
You can call me whatever you wish, but until you provide evidence of Chomsky’s expertise in Middle Eastern politics and conflicts, then I will continue calling him a commentator. His expertise in linguistics has nothing to do with the understanding of regional politics in that area. If you are so sure about his expertise in ME politics and conflicts, then share with us his investigative reports, his research, his history of meeting tribal leaders, religious, political leaders… in that area. Then you would easily prove that I am wrong. Everybody can write books, editorials, go on TV to state their opinion about different matters. That is not what makes an individual an expert.
English 101:
“the US would never intervene in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, or Turkey, regardless of how repressive, fundamentalist or backward they might be.”
Translation: Despite Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE or Turkey being possibly repressive, fundamentalist or backward the US would never intervene.
“Might Be” = possibility = it may be the case that these countries are repressive.
English 102: Context
You place five different countries in the same box of repression or fundamentalism. They have different laws, different views on basic freedom, but you did not separate them when stating they might be fundamentalists. You either do not know anything about these countries while you believe otherwise or your blood/alcohol level is so high that you cannot understand why Turkey and SA cannot be in the same box when it comes to fundamentalism.
Let me translate it properly, and hopefully you’ll get it now (and I can draw a picture too, if you want): It may be the case that one or more of these countries is or will be repressive, fundamentalist or backward, but that’s not what matters. (And incidentally, some if not all of them are clearly repressive.)
More importantly, your childish critiques are irrelevant to the point being made. There’s a model that explains how the world works. None of the stuff about Chomsky’s expertise, the tribal culture of some countries, or your attempt to tell me what I really meant in a sentence, are in any way evidence that the model doesn’t work.
“It may be the case that one or more of these countries is or will be repressive, fundamentalist or backward”
So what makes Turkey a candidate for your choice of a country that is possibly fundamentalist?
Do not worry about the answer. You do not know. Hence your point, “that’s not what matters”. You just pick a few predominantly Muslim countries and describe them as backward. That is called ignorance. I bet you have not spent a day in any of those countries.
“More importantly, your childish critiques are irrelevant to the point being made. There’s a model that explains how the world works.”
You are a very ignorant person. There are hundreds of models that explain how the world works. People with brains question those models,who design them, what makes them valid etc. What makes Ann Coulter an expert in immigration? The last book she wrote? Obviously, you lack brain power. Chomsky said it, then it must be right. Seeing your knowledge of what countries are possibly fundamentalists in that region, I can tell he thought you very well!
Are you intentionally trying to be an idiot?
I didn’t pick a bunch of “Muslim countries.” I picked countries that are within the US sphere of control in the Middle East — and that was very clear in my argument. If I were talking about Latin America, for example, I would’ve picked Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay. There, too, I could’ve said: Regardless of how repressive or backward, the US would never try to overthrow the governments of those countries. (That doesn’t necessarily mean they are currently repressive and backward — although Mexico and Colombia are probably among the most repressive countries in Latin America.)
Your insistence in trying to assign such an absurd meaning to a sentence of mine is just too ridiculous to be taken seriously.
Of course, what Obama is doing is a war crime under international law as with the head choppers of Saudi Arabia. But, this is what happens when you become a depraved superpower. You act above the law. Just the fact that Saudi Arabia took it upon themselves to bomb a country that had not attacked them only because that country overthrew a tyrant dictator of Saudi Arabia is a crime in of itself. Heck, Russia has more justification to bomb the snot out of Kiev for their overthrow of a democratically elected government.
No, of course this would not be the same thing. How could anyone even think like that?
In that case, as the CIA chief was saying right in Kiev during the maidan protests: “The Russians are interfering with the internal affairs of the Ukraine” and, or course, the British occupation of the Malvinas aren’t the same thing either
It is that “Pro-Russia” Putin invading sovereign countries. Great Lord, what is wrong with these people?!? Those “freedom-hating” people in Crimea invited Russians to invade them and they did without any direct or collateral damage whatsoever! Aren’t those Russians sickly crazy!
RCL
Yeah! Tell us about qadar!
alles klar!
Well, it is not about what is or isn’t. It is about our statistical signatures and killing people in the most technologically kosher and humane ways. Those people can’t complain about having been tortured or anything. We even arranged an instant death for them!
USG
I would prefer no killing at all.
Would you like to be killed ?
This is a vast understatement
No doubt about that. Sorry for the typing error.
Put both King Salman & Obama on trial at the Hague. The King on charges of war crimes for killing civilians with knowledge & Obama as an accomplice. I have had to leave my family behind in Sanaa because this war put me out of work, making me rely on others for income. King Salman is the reason I don’t have a job & I am separated from my family! Where is the financial assistance for me & my family? Why aren’t they helped? All they care about is paperwork! If you don’to have it, neither government will help you. Thanks for nothing! Both of you will get what you deserve on Judgment Day, NBA o doubt about that!
As I’m reading this article, I’m listening to my husband tickle my eight year son in the next room. My son’s laughter is so loud. I can’t imagine ever having to shield him from bombs or shrapnel…but we live in the US.
Well, obviously, we are human beings those people aren’t
RCL
I presume you live in Saudia Arabia
Powerful article, thanks. There is one mistake, I think: a car does not career off the road, it careens off the road.
My wife, the editor/wordsmith in our partnership, assures me that the phrase “careers off the road” is also correct. It sounds wrong to all four of our ears, but is correct. I certainly prefer careens, but not my article. Sorry about that!
With “double tap” missile strikes the US and Saudis are following the Mongol tradition of massacring those survivors who emerged to bury the dead from the initial massacre.
So how is our side better than Assad and ISIS?
Go to Raqqa and find out.
Might makes right.
And, that kind of moral eq. is an indication u may be an enemy of the state.
Obey.
I am a fierce critic of Saudi Arabia for meddling in the countries like Pakistan, Yemen, Syria etc.
After saying this I have come to learn from relatives in Saudi Arabia near Jizan (a Saudi Arabian city near Yemeni border) that the Saudis have taken in huge number of Yemeni-refugees fleeing the commotion in the Yemen (providing them temporary stay and official documents).
This is great work by The Intercept to highlight what Saudi Arabia is doing in Yemen, but please, also highlight the illegal overthrow of Yemeni President by the minority Houthi militia.
Houthis are Shiite-Muslims and intolerant of Sunni-Muslims (the same way as Sunni-Muslims in Bahrain are intolerant of Shiite-Muslims).
The reason why Saudi Arabia is fearful of Iran is because, in the mid 1980s, the Iranian-supported rebels held a siege inside holy place of ‘Ka’aba’ in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) – the Saudis sought the help of Pakistani and French commandos (French had to temporarily convert to Islam to enter Ka’aba) who stormed inside the Ka’aba and ended the siege.
I have defended Iran on various forums from pro-Israelis etc. But it is a fact that Iran is a majority intolerant Shiite-Muslim country. They have been traditionally anti Sunni-Muslims. A Shiite-Muslim can become President-cum-Commander-in-Chief (Asif Ali Zardari) or Prime Minister (Benazir Bhutto) of Sunni-majority nuclear-state Pakistan; but you will never see a Sunni-Muslim in Iran, even elected as ‘Vice-President of Iran’ or as a mayor of Tehran.
This is the reason why some Sunni-majority countries are worried about expansion of Iran.
Okay so go fight Iran then. Yemen doesn’t have a Shia-Sunni problem. It has mostly Zaydis and Shafis, which traditionally coexisted for thousands of years. The intermarry, pray in the same mosque and live side by side.
It is Saudi Arabia trying to export their extremist version of Wahhabi Islam to the entire middle east and we in Yemen don’t want to be a part of it. Nor do we want Iranian influence.
Many of the so-called Houthi Shia militiamen are Sunni, which pokes another hole in the whole Shia-Sunni argument. But people still don’t get it, so I will say it again, Yemen does not have a Shia-Sunni sectarian problem. A north-south problem it has, but a shia-sunni one, no.
But then, they would not be “responsible” (they say). This is why USG doesn’t fight China or Russia. They just “bravely” and “freedom-lovingly”, very exclusively indeed, abuse only those who can’t defend themselves on an equal basis. At times, USG officials speak of Russia and China as enemies and friends, within the same idea even the same sentence.
I hear King Trump saying “he will make ‘America’ ‘great’ ‘again'”, as part of which he will make the U.S. Arm forces the strongest ever, but what for, to invade and abuse pore and tormented people? I hope he will go for it! It seems he has what it takes!
People do, it is those in power who don’t seem to or care to anyway. As they say: “Might makes right”
RCL
Just because a corrupt Shia (mr. 10%) can become President of Pakistan, doesn’t really mean anything. Politicians in Pakistan are mainly puppets for Pakistan’s powerful army. Can an Ahmadi, or a Hindu or a Christian become the head of state in Pakistan? I don’t think so. Let’s not make stupid comparisons here. Zardari isn’t the representation of Pakistani Shias.
You haven’t explained why being anti-Sunni Muslim is a bad thing. Frankly, Iran needs to be more anti-Sunni Muslim towards the Palestinians which it traditionally supports, because the Sunni Palestinians want nothing more than to kill Shia men and rape Shia women and take them as sex-slaves.
Houthis are also hardly Shia Muslims and their beliefs are more in line with Sunni beliefs. Houthis who are Zaydi Shias, respect the first three caliphs which the regular Twelver Shias do not. Twelver Shias also go to Karbala, Najaf for pilgrimages while the Zaydi Houthis do not. Zaydi Houthis also do not follow the Twelver Shia clerics of Iraq and Iran. Zaydi Houthis also do not believe in temporary marriage law or the last 12th Imam like the Iranian, Iraqi and Pakistani Twelever Shias do. How come you are so ignorant about this?
Seems like you were educated in Saudi funded madressas, Iran like Yemen doesn’t have a Sunni Shia problem, sure Sunnis can’t be supreme leader but that doesn’t mean there is a shia Sunni problem. It’s funny that you use Pakistan as an example! The country who’s leaders sold out to Saudi funded wahabisim, a country where shia s are massacred on a weekly basis… Yemen doesn’t have a shia- Sunni problem Iran doesn’t have one either…. You know who does Saudis and Pakistan….
Another example of how well-informed the American public is on Middle Eastern matters.
http://www.juancole.com/2015/08/louisiana-haters-hebrew.html
This is what’s electing the next President, the one who will get to decide what happens next in Yemen and elsewhere.
While this is an excellent piece of journalism and sickeningly so, I feel the author could have at least contributed a little bit to the background of why there is a war being fought in Yemen and why the west is involved at all – assuming she has an inkling – so that the blood and gore is given context.
Why is the west involved? What is the context? And, are any other foreign powers involved beside (or in opposition to) the US?
Here’s one explanation.
http://www.thenation.com/article/obamas-quiet-war-doctrine/
It seems to be more subtle, more hands-off, more spidery, yet more pervasive and aggressive than Bush/Cheney’s crude methods — fewer boots, but far more proxies and drones. And Saudi seems to be a component. That’s the whole point, it seems.
If Saudi Arabia is doing the destruction, the usual western critics of western violence will be less vocal than they normally are, and I think we can see that already. Saudi Arabia is now bearing much of the cost while spending substantial amounts on US weapons. It makes sense, too, as Saudi Arabia now has the 3rd best funded military in the world. I’m sure US planners are very happy with the entire arrangement.
Notice that even those who usually tell us they are very concerned about violence carried out by religious fundamentalists pretty much couldn’t care less about what’s going in Yemen. The neocon agenda is, as usual, quite transparent.
Beyond the lip service paid to the notion of ‘diplomatic solutions” by those who identify with the political left in the U.S., there is practically no difference between the NeoCon and NeoLib modus operandi; a comparison of Obama and Bush bear this out. We have been spoon fed a false dichotomy from which we foolishly construct our world view. Securing unfettered access to natural resources and optimizing the flow of transnational capital is essential to the establishment of unified global economic system.
What is at stake in Yemen? I’ve had a growing sensation for over a year that I simply have no understanding of what is going on in these proliferating wars in the Middle East and the horrible toll they are taking on civilians there. There is horrifying specific story after horrifying specific story, but I’m missing an overall analysis. I feel like I’m reasonably well-informed but how it all fits together — ISIL, Yemen, refugees flowing into Europe — what is going on? It’s clear who is suffering, but who could possibly be benefiting?
I think it’s pretty simple. I should note that I’m applying a Chomskian model here.
After WWII the US sought to preserve its wealth disparity with the rest of the world, and access to raw materials. Part of that was preventing the proliferation of “independent nationalism”. During the cold war, it was labeled “communism” and intervention was justified on the basis that the Russians are coming. Of course, that continues to this day, and the particular ideologies at play don’t exactly matter. After 9/11, the US saw an opportunity to deal with all the countries in the Muslim world that could be said to have a form of “independent nationalism”, that is, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Lebanon — and it largely did (fairly successfully, despite the usual naive reading which holds that the US engages in successive “blunders”). Notice that, under existing circumstances, the US would never intervene in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, or Turkey, regardless of how repressive, fundamentalist or backward they might be. The reasons are obvious.
As to Yemen, until recently it was ruled by Ali Abdullah Saleh (Hadi was acting president), a very loyal servant of Washington. In short, the Houthi uprising has caused Yemen to be lost to “independent nationalism” if you will. The notion that Saudi Arabia is fighting Iran by proxy is identical to claims that the US was fighting the Soviet Union by proxy in Vietnam.
But if the world really were that U.S. centric, India would not exist as it does, nor China, nor would Russia be resurgent. And a simple story of U.S. as the hegemonic heir to Western imperialism wouldn’t explain the flow of refugees to Europe — presumably a story of Western imperialism ruling the world would mean all members of the club would be mutually protected and fortified against mess and bother. It seems to me to be not simple, though that’s not the same thing as being inexplicable or about “blunders”.
Of course, the US is not always as successful as the most optimistic dreams of its neocon planners, and it can’t foresee everything that might go wrong. For example, Cuba hasn’t fallen under US control, but it’s been contained enough through economic war that it’s not an ideal example for its neighbors to follow.
There’s a reason why China and Russia are treated as dangerous adversaries/competitors in US discourse, while a country like India isn’t. It has to do with the degree of independence of those particular countries.
There’s also the context of the Arab Spring revolutions starting in January 2011, which spread to Yemen. The factions were already there — the Saleh government, the Houthis, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the U.S. — but the subsequent instability seems to have added to the violence. Yemen has historically been a trouble spot (see, e.g., the Egyptian occupation, 1962-67) but this seems to be a new, or newly-intensified, war.
The U.S. doesn’t necessarily control the situation, any more than it controls the situation in Egypt or Libya or Iraq. It can exacerbate the situation, of course. It’s like bringing a gasoline truck to a forest fire.
Than why does the US have 700 “Lillypad” bases around the world and still expanding.
The Europeans had nothing to win by disturbing the Middle East, could have forseen the homegrown IS extremists and with some delay refugees as a result. I can’t understand but it is 28 little ego’s running that show maybe that is an explanation for stupidity.
“I think it’s pretty simple. I should note that I’m applying a Chomskian model here.”
What exactly makes Chomsky an expert in Middle Eastern conflicts?
Qatar, UAE. I am sure you are aware these are tribal societies. Any evidence that the main tribes in those two countries believe their governments are “repressive” and “fundamentalist”?
And what exactly makes Turkey a fundamentalist country?
Chomsky has been studying US foreign policy for 50 fucking years. Not only would I say he’s an expert, he’s come up with the only model that can neatly explain stuff that otherwise makes no sense at all.
During his “50 fucking years” of studying US foreign policy how many tribesmen from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Yemen …did he meet? How many leaders of those countries did he meet or just investigate? Can you share his investigative reports or research on these countries social, tribal, political environment?
A “commentator” is not an expert. Is it him who has told you that Turkey is a fundamentalist country and Qataris and Emiratis tribes believe they are under repressive regimes?
What are you blathering about? First off, there’s nothing wrong with the statement I made. You want to believe the US intervenes to “spread democracy” or something like that, but that’s a fantasy as ridiculous as believing in Santa Claus. The US is not going to “spread democracy” in Saudi Arabia any time soon, but it sure as hell likes to see democratic governments overthrown, like that of Guatemala in 1954, Chile in 1973, Nicaragua in 1990. It would sure as hell like to see the democratically elected and popular governments of Bolivia and Ecuador get overthrown today, not to mention Venezuela.
Now, if you want to get an idea of how repressive a country is, I’d refer you to Amnesty International reports. Saudi Arabia, for example, beheads about 100 people every year.
You write a lot without answering a single question. Are my questions too complicated?
If you want your questions answered, I would suggest you ask questions that mean something, are relevant and make sense.
That means you are just an ignorant fool who just writes what comes to your mind without the slightest understanding of the issues you comment about. You do not even notice how stupid you are. You state Turkey is a repressive and fundamentalist state yet according to you it does not make sense to ask you what makes Turkey a fundamentalist state.
Everyone here can tell who the stupid person is: The one who goes around misquoting people. I never said the above.
“the US would never intervene in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, or Turkey, regardless of how repressive, fundamentalist or backward they might be.”
And you see why that doesn’t mean what you think it means? Not all of those countries are fundamentalist monarchies, obviously. The point is that it wouldn’t matter if they are any of those things. What matters is their standing in relation to US hegemony.
If you wanna go into how repressive each of those countries is, I don’t think that’s a particularly interesting exercise, but let’s take the one that I think is least repressive: Turkey. That’s a country where journalists are routinely jailed, and one where freedom of assembly is not particularly respected. There have been casualties during protests in Turkey. You might say that sort of thing is common in a lot of countries, but I wouldn’t say Turkey is less repressive than many of the countries that are routinely labeled repressive in mainstream US discourse.
Qatar is an Air Force base in the desert. The country is populated 90%+ by slave wage foreigners and U.S. contractors / military interests. Their leaders live posh lives due to being propped up by the West, but they’re completely replaceable, should they start having ideas of their own. There aren’t many actual Qatari, so your tribal division idea of the country is nonsense.
“There aren’t many actual Qatari, so your tribal division idea of the country is nonsense.”
If you do not wish to visit Qatar and learn about the country yourself, you may perform your own research through prestigious institutions. That would be better than presenting your ignorance to the world.
http://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/faq/tribal-families-qatar
http://www.bqdoha.com/2013/12/population-Qatar
278,000 of the ~2 million or so people living in Qatar are nationals. Those aren’t big numbers. They’re a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the sectarian players in the region. Splitting those 11 tribes mentioned up evenly and its ~25000 people a tribe. Any of those tribes fighting non-state actor would be considered a small fry in the grand scheme of things.
You must be kidding!
You really do not understand how a tribal society works, do you? Those nationals are the only ones who can legally decide who stay in their country and what direction their country should follow. Everybody else is considered a guest and the nationals can send those guests home whenever they wish.
“There aren’t many actual Qatari, so your tribal division idea of the country is nonsense.”
That is a perfect example of an ignorant statement. You obviously have no idea how that society works,
Since 15 of the 19 hijackers had Saudi passports, why didn’t the United States declare war against Saudi Arabia after 9/11?
According to Sen. Bob Graham, the 28 redacted pages of the 9/11 Commission Report deal with the financing of 9/11 and Saudi Arabia figures prominently in those pages.
Factor in the financing of ISIS by Saudi Arabia and it makes zero sense why Saudi Arabia is considered an ally of the United States on any level, oil or no oil.
Does the avg. world citizen know for a fact that the 911 attackers were Saudi? No, they don’t. That’s what was reported though.
Deception in the Art of War is an ancient tool. It’s a bit of an odd dichotomy to say a nation or group have/has honorable soldiers while at the same time those soldiers use deception to “win”, whatever winning means.
Art of War is a guidebook for biz folks too. So, deception is all around.
Afterthought: even the Saudi royals are under attack by Saudis, reportedly. So, perhaps it’s plausible the US gov. determined that it was not an official attack by them – if there really were Saudi citizens on the planes that day.
Hopefully there are independent and free thinking minds who hold Saudi citizenship; hopefully, no group is a monolith.
For the same reasons: Saudi Arabia is a member in good standing of the US-led global-corporate clique. 9/11 was simply exploited as an opportunity to go after countries that aren’t.
Under the narrative that the US wants to “free people” and “spread democracy”, they could’ve easily made a case to overthrow the Saudi regime after 9/11. But that’s not how the world actually works.
As was the Arab Spring, I might add, after which it completely fizzled, unsurprisingly.
Your accounts of airstrike collateral damage is accurate however to call it indiscriminate killing of Yemenis is outrageous. Compare the innocent death toll figures to any other recent western air campaign. It is also intellectually dishonest to paint the conflict in Yemen as Saudi Arabia vs the Yemeni people.
I am wondering why you failed to mention all the katusha rockets the Huthis have been lodging indiscriminately into the heartlands of residential streets of Aden and Taiz or any other region they stormed into. Or how the Huthis marched down 100,000 strong strangling the capital, arrested an entire political party and assassinating professors, doctors, foreign citizens, and journalists and over threw the government than marched down all the way to heavily populated Aden, whom has nothing to do with their strife with the government, and slaughtered our people, YES we are YEMENIS too and we are thankful for the involvement of the gulf states who liberated us from the savages who destroyed everything we loved. I’m all but exhausted and tired of the portrayal that Saudi Arabia has lodged a war against the Yemeni people. Wait until Sanaa is liberated and you will see how all the accounts of the Northern Yemenis documenting what the Huthis did to them too. The Huthis and AQAP are a disease in Yemen and the gulf has had enough of it.
Are you saying it is a proxy war? A proxy of who? Russia versus US? Or perhaps it’s a new axis of evil: Iran, China, Russia?
I’m not sure if I trust Saudi Arabia to be as judicious about killing civilians as the United States. The US uses an elaborate drone signature strike protocol to select only targets who appear suspicious. This includes all military aged males, but also anyone dressed in a burka, since they could be males in disguise. Children, who have irresponsible fathers, may also be targeted. The double strike protocol is based on the carefully constructed logic that anyone who seeks to help someone targeted during a signature strike must themselves be a militant.
The United States is an expert at instituting such elaborate systems of checks and balances. Other countries may attempt it, but many of them fail to be exceptional, since they don’t have a population which has been rigorously schooled in the intricacies of such systems, and may even have leaders who are not constitutional law professors. I’m sure that Saudi Arabia is doing the best it can, but they should be willing to accept a little constructive criticism from media outlets such as The Intercept.
There is the question of who trained and equipped the RSAAF. Those F-15s didn’t come from Russia. And where are they getting all these munitions?
It seems, Duce, that a new book is out, and it seems to be the most exceptional piece of satire to come along in some time.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/01/dick-cheney-defends-america-torture-new-book
Duce, I think sarcasm is not always the best medicine and as doctors are always happy to say: “there are no diseases but sick individuals”
At times I notice people read your sarcastic lines literally. It would be very hurtful for anyone to do so in this case. At the very least, playing with impersonations and roles would make a difference
RCL
“More humane than the US and Israel” is not exactly a meaningful bar, in my opinion. Even if civilians are not being specifically targeted, but they get recklessly killed, the perpetrators of the atrocities are still responsible, especially when we’re talking about a war of aggression. Think about the perpetrators of the downing of MH17 to get a sense of what I’m talking about. Make no mistake — the only thing preventing the Saudis from being brought up on war crimes charges is western protection. They gotta be hoping that doesn’t change in the foreseeable future.
“”When asked to comment, he said that “It is not a good story to talk about,” and …””
A good story gets on CNN, NYT, etc. if there is a payoff at the end – political, financial, influence, access, etc. The General is right – It is not a good story to bring to the American people because the Saudis will stop “paying off” the storytellers!
“”“The Obama administration needs urgently to explain what the U.S.’s exact role in Saudi Arabia’s indiscriminate bombing campaign is,”””
For the administration to explain, the media, as a whole, needs to ask the question – vigorously. However, as the General said, “It is not a good story…”
Terribly tragic and sad turn of events in a country we expats love and gave our lives and professions for. It is very sad and disturbing to see so many of our Yemeni friends suffering from a terrible disaster like this. The only way forward is tribal mediation across the country because Yemenis just cannot trust anyone else now after suffering collective trauma and humiliation. This war is not going to end unless there is tribal mediation without any outside interference. Terrible atrocities have been committed against our Yemeni friends and left the nation completely devastated. No amount of foreign money will be able to heal the wounds and scars. There is no such thing as operation restoring hope after intentionally destroying lives. Hope comes only from the One who does not kill and destroy. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
With the continuing violence it will not be possible for any of us to help directly as we did before across the country. We hope common sense prevails and all parties negotiate a settlement soon for the country.
Heartbreaking.
Two things come to mind “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan and “War is a Racket” by Smedley Butler (USMC).
Thank you Iona Craig and The Intercept for reporting on the war in Yemen. It’s vital for the world to see the real impact of the war on civilians.