Fragments of what appear to be U.S.-made bombs have been found at the scene of one of the most horrific civilian massacres of Saudi Arabia’s 18-month air campaign in Yemen.
Aircraft from the Saudi-led coalition on Saturday bombed a community hall in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital city, where thousands of people had gathered for a funeral for Sheikh Ali al-Rawishan, the father of the rebel-appointed interior minister. The aircraft struck the hall four times, killing more than 140 people and wounding 525. One local health official described the aftermath as “a lake of blood.”
Multiple bomb fragments at the scene appear to confirm the use of American-produced MK-82 guided bombs. One fragment, posted in a picture on the Facebook page of a prominent Yemeni lawyer, says “FOR USE ON MK-82 FIN, GUIDED BOMB.”
New evidence from the crime scene (Funeral hall) that was bombed by #Saudi fighters. MK82 guided bomb.The serial number will lead us.#Yemen pic.twitter.com/5Ch4WtF9tz
— I4Yemen (@I4Yemen) October 10, 2016
EXCLUSIVE
Photo taken by a police officer friend of mine from Al-Kobra Grand Hall airstrike aftermath! #Yemen pic.twitter.com/sv8f5bgsna— Ammar Aulaqi (@ammar82) October 10, 2016
ITV News correspondent Neil Connery visited the site shortly after the attack, and found a similar bomb fragment. Connery said he was told by a Yemeni official that it appeared to be a MK-82 bomb.
#Video New evidence from the crime scene (Funeral hall) that was bombed by #Saudi fighters. MK82 guided bomb. #StopArmingSaudi #Yemen pic.twitter.com/iLw6PWO560
— I4Yemen (@I4Yemen) October 10, 2016
The MK-82 is a 500-pound explosive weapon manufactured in the United States. The code “96214” indicates that the bomb was produced by Raytheon, the third-largest defense contractor in the United States.
Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaign in Yemen began in March 2015 after Houthi rebels deposed the U.S.- and Saudi-backed dictator, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. Since the war began, Saudi Arabia has intentionally targeted numerous homes, factories, markets, schools, and hospitals.
The U.S. has supplied Saudi Arabia with more than $20 billion worth of weapons during its Yemen campaign, including thousands of MK-82 bombs. In November, the State Department approved the sale of 8,020 new MK-82 bombs as part of a $1.29 billion transfer of more air-to-ground weapons.
Throughout his presidency, President Obama has sold more than $115 billion worth of weapons to the Saudis – more than any other President. But after Saturday’s massacre, the Obama White House issued its first public threat to cut its support.
“U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check,” Ned Price, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement. Price added that the administration is “prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with U.S. principles, values and interests.”
On Monday, Reuters reported that Obama administration lawyers have not reached a conclusion on whether the U.S. is a “co-belligerent” in the conflict according to international law, a distinction that might raise legal risks and obligations. But since the U.S. has flown refueling missions for Saudi aircraft and supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons and targeting intelligence, it is complicit in Saudi Arabia’s atrocities by any normal definition.
As Bruce Riedel, a 30-year CIA officer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, said in April, “If the United States and the United Kingdom, tonight, told King Salman [of Saudi Arabia] ‘this war has to end,’ it would end tomorrow. The Royal Saudi Air Force cannot operate without American and British support.”
Top photo: The site of the funeral airstrike in Sana’a on October 8, 2016.
Let’s keep in mind that SA would not intervene in Yemen if Houthis did not try to topple Yemen democratically elected government. One more thing, that SA targets places where Houthis stay. As far as I know rebels chose to be in densely populate areas. It means civilians would sadly pay the price by staying with them in the same place. At the end of the day the core of the issue is Iran. Iran is trying to spread and export terrorism as far as it gets. SA role in the region is an ally trying to restore peace and stability in the region.
The UK and US Governments should be held fully accountable for this war crime, and for all other war crimes which the Saudis commit in Yemen. They have continued to sell arms, ignoring the mounting evidence that the arms are being used to commit these war crimes. It has also been revealed by the Guardian that the British and US military are in the Saudi command room used for Saudi attacks on Yemen :
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/15/british-us-military-in-command-room-saudi-strikes-yemen
According to the Guardians report – The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed that British forces were in the operation room to provide training and advice “on best practice targeting techniques to help ensure continued compliance with international humanitarian law”
If this really is the case then it is evident that they are clearly not doing a good job of that, unless one considers bombing hospitals, markets, and funerals as complying with humanitarian law.
A Saudi led investigation on this Saudi war crime is just as worthless, as the US military investigating the US militaries bombing of the MSF hospital in Kunduz. These atrocities need independent investigation so that those responsible can be brought to trial for their crimes.
Yemen conflict: Saudis blame funeral hall bombing on mistake BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37666698
The information provided above about who was at this funeral, a high ranking appointed member of the illegal Iran backed Ansar Allah government and probably many others with similar connections explains why this meeting was targeted. It’s hard to imagine the Saudis ignoring this target rich environment when they were informed it was happening. Those civilians there who weren’t directly connected to this illegal government were not very wise to position themselves so close to those who were targeted. I don’t know if during war civilian members of an illegal government enjoy any protection that uninvolved civilians should depend on.
The claim that the UN recognized leader of Yemen Mansur Hadi is a dictator is a new twist but it does try to help portray Ansar Allah as somehow legitimate in their attempt to conquer all of Yemen.
“U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check,” Ned Price, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement. Price added that the administration is “prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with U.S. principles, values and interests.”
What a crock! Just because the atrocities have finally seen a glimmer of light in the MSM.
This was revenge for passing JASTA.
Fret not my good Germans, ups good Americans. You’re exceptional and as manifested in your destiny you cannot be terrorists. This is why all nations of this planet adore you and want more of this democracy you promote so vigorously with you bombs and depleted uranium. I say – bomb us more.
Let us not forget that we must blame everything on Putin.
Many in the US agree with you.
There’s to tap or valve to shutoff these rivers of blood.
We can barely keep the taps closed on pumping oil over our freshwater and native ancestors.
Didn’t we know that the Saudis are using US weapons before this?
Someone please tell me.. how the U.S. supposes it can get any respect in the world, or at the least have any credibility when it sold and continues to sell weapons to the Saudis, which are OBVIOUSLY being used on civilians. These were guided bombs, and they were “guided” onto a funeral. The U.S. therefore, has no room to talk about “support for terrorism” because that is precisely what this is when a civilian population is being bombed. It is the definition or does that matter? When billions in arms sales are in the balance?
Where is the outrage now? From the administration of a once respected nation?
I’m afraid the days of the U.S. “Being Great” in the words of the buffoon running for president are long past because it has reduced itself to a war-mongering, duplicitous, joke.
If an insurgent kills several innocents surrounding a target during an attack, he is automatically labeled a “terrorist”. That being said, it follows that the Saudis are now terrorists and the U.S. Govt (Obama included) is a co-conspirator.
It is horrific that the U.S. & Saudi Arabia are plainly guilty not of state sponsored terrorism, but are in fact state terrorists.
Who were they trying to kill with their American made MK-82s?
Has the Nobel committee ever revoked the “peace” prize they have awarded?
Just sent this to my rep in Congress:
The ongoing attack on Yemen is horrifying and must come to an end.
I spent two and a half months studying Arabic in Sana’a, Yemen a bit over a decade ago while I was in grad school. I became good friends with Kamal, my teacher there, and have stayed in touch with him ever since. He is one of the warmest, most caring people I know. My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting with him in Chicago when he visited the US on business.
This war has devastated Kamal’s life and that of his family. He took a bullet in the leg and his son was killed. Bombs regularly fall onto his neighborhood and he has had to flee his home several times. He is just one of the many, many victims in this war.
I fail to see how our support of this destruction is keeping any of us safer. In fact, I can only imagine that it will have the exact opposite result.
Please do whatever you can to stop our country’s support of this violence.
But Sunday night, the only question about human rights was “What would you do about Aleppo?”
Not a peep about the catastrophe that is Yemen.
Where are all the pro-interventionists on Syria vis-a-vis the carnage in Yemen?*
No, I’m not serious in that question; whataboutery and disingenuous accusations of hypocrisy are not rhetorical ploys I use or respect.
But The Syria Campaign’s PR firm has sent out instructions that those who oppose a No Fly Zone (it could start WWIII) but also support Palestinians, are hypocrites, who don’t care about dead Syrian babies, & etc ad vomitum. (I’ve tweeted about the carnage in both Yemen and Syria).
Goose/gander means anyone ranting about the “need” to militarily intervene in Syria who deploys the hypocrisy and/or whataboutery charge, should be confronted with Yemen.
*(I posted this in comments to a Greenwald column also on the Saudis and Yemen and was met with the sound of crickets chirping.)
I’m of the side we should intervene in Syria on the side of Syria (against IS, AN and their FSA allies- with the exeception of Kurds), and in Yemen on the side of the Houthis and Yemenis (against the Saudis). (I did post that in the other thread, did I not?)
And if France is trying to bring Russia before the ICC for their targeting terror groups in Syria, someone should do the same to the USA for this.
The US backed dictator was to allow USBases to be built in Yemen. But it smacked of why the muslims donot infidel bases on their lands!
So the saudis are softening up the Yemens, so the americans– think CrookdClunton Foundation– can come in and help rebuild, because they are so nice and caring and put up some TEMPORARY BASES. LATER TO BECOME PERMANENT, BC EHO IS IN YEMEN STRATEGICALLY CONTROLS THE WHOLE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.
Good history and background, but youall should know these things are planned and happen for reason.
Duhhhh?
I am quite sure that the Administration is ready with the standard 2nd Amendment argument about US weapons being used to indiscriminately kill people in Yemen, just as they do or have done in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, and in various African countries: weapons don’t kill people. People do. It would be wrong to hold the manufacturer responsible for the actions of those who purchase their weapons; manufacturers assume that weapons will be used only for sporting purposes or, if absolutely necessary for the protection of the lives of their owners, for self defense.
But wait! Isn’t that the argument of the NRA, and don’t all those fine neo-liberals out there want to curb the distribution of firearms in the US, citing the foregoing argument as specious? I guess it just goes to show that there is plenty of hypocrisy to go around here in the US, and also in the land of our cousins, the UK.
When we blow up already dead people does it count as half a kill?
As if people around the world are waiting for a proof ..
“According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, in 2010–14 Saudi Arabia became the world’s second largest arms importer, receiving four times more major arms than in 2005–2009. Major imports in 2010–14 included 45 combat aircraft from the UK, 38 combat helicopters from the USA, 4 tanker aircraft from Spain and over 600 armoured vehicles from Canada. Saudi Arabia has a long list of outstanding orders for arms, including 27 more combat aircraft from the UK, 154 combat aircraft from the USA and a large number of armoured vehicles from Canada.
“Saudi Arabia received 41 per cent of UK arms exports in 2010–14. France authorized $18 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in 2015 alone. The $15 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia is believed to be the largest arms sale in Canadian history”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia
Fragments or no fragments .. does anyone really needs more convincing that UK and US arms are fuelling the Saudi madness?
dumber than a horse’s end, Halfwit Hellary’s formula for her version of US success is..
1. bomb countries to wreak havoc to steal land
2. deny you are bombing the countries nor have any role in it
3. profit from the persistent bombing by collecting donations for arms deals and having investments in war corps
4. get the US ho-media to lie and deny on your behalf
5. feel all nice and good by inviting the refugees of the hell you perpetrate into the US
6. make sure the ho-media stays on message when you keep bombing and killing the relatives and friends of the refugees you just let into the country and continue to let in.
7. get the refugees to sign away their rights, and swear on a stack of Korans that the US is their friend and all the devastation is Russia’s doing
8. keep the NSA CIA F…B…I… on the ready when the refugees find out you are the one who financed and started the whole “KILL ALL MUSLIMS & STEAL THEIR LAND” campaign and continue to do so and by the way, get them to pay taxes to foot the bill for the intermittent genocide
9. When the shit hits the fan, be sure the ho-media are pre-prepared with statements like “the russians had a hand in it somehow but evidence cannot be revealed because of national security issues”.
10. pass the shit onto the next generation.
“The MK-82 is a 500-pound explosive weapon manufactured in the United States. The code “96214” indicates that the bomb was produced by Raytheon, the third-largest defense contractor in the United States.”
DEFENSE contractor? Arms manufacturer, yes. But if anyone can explain how using US made bombs to murder attendees at a funeral does anything to defend the USA, I’ll eat my hat. All they achieve is to recruit more terrorists/freedom fighters to hurt the USA. Oh, sorry, I forgot, dropping American bombs also creates new weapons orders and enhances arms manufacturers’ profits.
Clearly you have never read 1984, which became the official handbook of the US government during the administration of G.W. Bush, although it was first used under the administration of Harry Truman. During that time the War Department’s name was changed to the Department of Defense, in recognition of the eventual perpetuation of our state of war. But many other examples now exist. For example, there is the Justice Department, which is responsible for the protection of bankster criminals and the Environmental Protection Agency, whose powers have been gutted by successive corporation-friendly Congresses. It is also applied to legislation, such as for examples the Patriot Act and the Affordable Care Act.
Congratulations also on independently discovering why war is so favored by capitalists: because it offers the possibility of endless consumption. Unlike cars or TV sets – or even cell phones – which some uncooperative consumers insist on keeping for years – weapons can be used up insatiably. It’s like a 500 pound man going to McDonalds: cannot stop consuming.
“All they achieve is to recruit more terrorists/freedom fighters…”
And jerks like Dick (so fitting of a first name) Cheney are afraid that released (& unconvicted) detainees from Guantanamo will enter the war zone to fight against the US & (our partner in crime) Saudi Arabia. Big surprise!
What a tragedy – yet I am struck by the profound contrast between the official US response (and concern?) in the instance of Yemen vs. the perennial Israeli rampages and slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. In the instance of Apartheid Israel, completely and totally America’s creature, Washington’s response is at best a ‘Ho-Hum’ and at worst, a tirade against the hapless Palestinian victims.
A citizen naturally wants to talk to his or her representative when these crazy things start coming down from on high, but none of them will answer because they are up there dropping the stones on the citizens also! What do you do when the government becomes lawless? The only thing really going on on the street anymore are the police. You break the laws that the rich men and women get passed and you go to jail or get killed if you are Black, Latino, or poor White. Just Us is wealth, and Just ICE is Immigration’s and Customs Enforcement, and the bullet from a police gun is what has taken the place of JUSTICE! It is now all about being told what you can do and doing what you have been told you can do! You cannot even go into the woods and move a stone without being arrested for a felony, but they can dump millions of gallons of waste into our rivers and lakes and it is just wonderful! Wake up people. You are living in HELL!
The top priority of law enforcement is to protect the haves from the have nots. The U S military is the same thing on a global scale
The evidence that US and UK supplied weapons have been used in war crimes committed by the Saudis in Yemen :
https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/10/bombing-businesses/saudi-coalition-airstrikes-yemens-civilian-economic-structures
Leaked email shows Hillary Clinton admitting that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding ISIS:
http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/10/hillary-in-leaked-email-saudi-arabia-and-qatar-are-funding-isis/
“As Bruce Riedel, a 30-year CIA officer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, said in April, “If the United States and the United Kingdom, tonight, told King Salman [of Saudi Arabia] ‘this war has to end,’ it would end tomorrow. The Royal Saudi Air Force cannot operate without American and British support.””
I went to the linked article hoping to see a further basis for this statement, which I find very doubtful. He’s actually saying the Saudi Air Force is incapable of operations [p.s. in full or just in Yemen?] without American and British support? So hypothetically, if the UK and US were to declare war on Saudia Arabia tomorrow, they would have immediate air superiority since all Saudi planes would be unable to get off the ground and/or unable to target US & UK planes or ground positions, and/or their weapons systems would suddenly not function or their bombs suddenly lose their explosives?
Just seems like bullshit to me. Maybe he means politically? If so why the bit about “cannot operate”? Just weird.
The KSA Royal Air Force would collapse quickly, although not instantaneously, without UKUSA support. And not only the air force.
The Saudis know this and, therefore, if the UKUSA ambassadors or heads of government told them to shut it down, that’s what would happen.
Yes, but not for the reasons you posit. Rather UKUSA would have immediate air superiority because they have overwhelming superiority in numbers, technology, performance, experience, etc. Also, they know everything there is to know about the KSA air force, having effectively designed and supplied it and trained its personnel.
There are lots of things the US military isn’t very good at. After all, it hasn’t “won” any of its many wars since 1945 (well, maybe Grenada ;^). But it’s really, really good at shutting down opponents’ air power and bombing the shit out of them.
I’d be surprised if the Saudis were flying anything after the first week, if UKUSA were serious.
There are two big problems. One is that the Saudis have a big IRBM capacity. They have two types of PRC-made IRBMs, both of which can reach large portions of Europe (Most of which are out of range of the US Missile Defense bases- but that’s another story). Second, they PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED in 2009 that they were seeking nukes. The BBC reported that the Saudis may already have nuclear weapons from Pakistan or have a “cash and carry” agreement to get them.
And people are afraid of the more tolerant Iranians getting nukes…
The Saudis with nukes, great. That’s EXACTLY what the world needs.
eh eh. Those plains require highly technical specialised and regular maintenance – including parts. The US companies have maintenance contracts. The US staffs the maintenance in places like Riyad. Without US & Brit, those jets would cease to fly soon.
plains? teh
These war criminals that make it to the Whitehouse keep getting worse and worse.
This is what Obama does, America. And he has tried (weakly) to resist the worst, mostly because his self-flattering image of himself as a diplomat and charismatic leader compels him to affirm his vanity.
Nonetheless, this does make him an evil and morally-impotent bastard; he’s certainly a murderer in his own right as well as being diabolically complicit in atrocities like this.
Trump and Clinton are (at least) twice as reprehensible as he is, and their egotism isn’t concerned with looking thoughtful but with appearing powerful – which makes them both far more threatening and callous.
Weep for America.
The New York Times reported today “The United States does not provide the Saudi-led coalition with targeting information for strikes within Yemen, but it does help Saudi Arabia guard its borders and provides training and refueling for the Saudi Air Force.”
The first bit of the Times’s quote seems highly unlikely, and the NYT is not above flat-out lying or regurgitating establishment lies on the elite’s behalf. The US has been working with Saudi Intelligence for ages, and the idea that there is no relaying of target information is ludicrous on its face.
And that refueling business is no small matter:
Obama Could End The Slaughter In Yemen Within Hours
“..guard the borders” inherently means looking past those borders, so the very notion that the US and UK are not helping target in Yemen is complete, utter BULLSHIT that any newspaper with the military knowledge of a PFC would recognize and refuse to publish. But let’s face it, the NY Times stopped being a great newspaper twenty years ago.
“The code “96214” indicates that the bomb was produced by …”
The link at “indicates” returns 404.
Here is a working link to a 45 page pdf entitled “Fuelling conflict: foreign
arms supplies to israel/gaza” by Amnesty International
““U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check,”
Yes. I believe the amount of the check is $115 billion.
I’m glad a third of that blood-money has been given to Israel. I’ll feel better when the rest is gone.
Folks always wondered how the good German people could have allowed the Nazi’s to take control and do their deeds. We see how it was done very clearly now. The USA has become entranced with the CIA controlled MSM, and believes every lie that they spew.
The Alt media provides some truth, but they also have their handlers.
Believe only what your own eyes tell you!
My own eyes tell me, that the USA is mafia controlled! We would be better off with no government and starting over.
You’d think some folks in Washington would prefer that Raytheon not festoon their bombs with serial numbers and hidden codes. But I guess they can’t pass up a good product placement …
“You’d think some folks in Washington would prefer that Raytheon not festoon their bombs with serial numbers ”
It’s a trick by Putin; “those bombs have a Moscow return address.” (h/t Donna Brazile …)
It is part of the same penchant for bureaucratic order that allowed the then civilized world to use the Nazis’ own records against them in war crime trials. I, for one, am glad they’re doing it.