Yemen

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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:50 pm

AP investigation: US allies cut deals with al-Qaida in Yemen

ATAQ, Yemen (AP) — Again and again over the past two years, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States has claimed it won decisive victories that drove al-Qaida militants from their strongholds across Yemen and shattered their ability to attack the West.

Here’s what the victors did not disclose: many of their conquests came without firing a shot.

That’s because the coalition cut secret deals with al-Qaida fighters, paying some to leave key cities and towns and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment and wads of looted cash, an investigation by The Associated Press has found. Hundreds more were recruited to join the coalition itself.

These compromises and alliances have allowed al-Qaida militants to survive to fight another day — and risk strengthening the most dangerous branch of the terror network that carried out the 9/11 attacks. Key participants in the pacts said the U.S. was aware of the arrangements and held off on any drone strikes.

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The black al-Qaida flag is sprayed on the wall of a damaged school in Taiz.(AP Photo)

The deals uncovered by the AP reflect the contradictory interests of the two wars being waged simultaneously in this southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

In one conflict, the U.S. is working with its Arab allies — particularly the United Arab Emirates — with the aim of eliminating the branch of extremists known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. But the larger mission is to win the civil war against the Houthis, Iranian-backed Shiite rebels. And in that fight, al-Qaida militants are effectively on the same side as the Saudi-led coalition — and, by extension, the United States.

“Elements of the U.S. military are clearly aware that much of what the U.S. is doing in Yemen is aiding AQAP and there is much angst about that,” said Michael Horton, a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a U.S. analysis group that tracks terrorism.

“However, supporting the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against what the U.S. views as Iranian expansionism takes priority over battling AQAP and even stabilizing Yemen,” Horton said. The AP’s findings are based on reporting in Yemen and interviews with two dozen officials, including Yemeni security officers, militia commanders, tribal mediators and four members of al-Qaida’s branch. All but a few of those sources spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals. Emirati-backed factions, like most armed groups in Yemen, have been accused of abducting or killing their critics.

Coalition-backed militias actively recruit al-Qaida militants, or those who were recently members, because they’re considered exceptional fighters, the AP found.

The coalition forces are comprised of a dizzying mix of militias, factions, tribal warlords and tribes with very local interests. And AQAP militants are intertwined with many of them.

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Adnan Rouzek, center, stands with fighters in Taiz. (AP Photo)

One Yemeni commander who was put on the U.S. terrorism list for al-Qaida ties last year continues to receive money from the UAE to run his militia, his own aide told the AP. Another commander, recently granted $12 million for his fighting force by Yemen’s president, has a known al-Qaida figure as his closest aide.

In one case, a tribal mediator who brokered a deal between the Emiratis and al-Qaida even gave the extremists a farewell dinner.

Horton said much of the war on al-Qaida by the UAE and its allied militias is “a farce.”

“It is now almost impossible to untangle who is AQAP and who is not since so many deals and alliances have been made,” he said.

The U.S. has sent billions of dollars in weapons to the coalition to fight the Iran-backed Houthis. U.S. advisers also give the coalition intelligence used in targeting on-the-ground adversaries in Yemen, and American jets provide air-to-air refueling for coalition war planes. The U.S. does not fund the coalition, however, and there is no evidence that American money went to AQAP militants.


A look at al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, its roots, motivations, and role in Yemen’s civil war. (AP Video/Peter Hamlin)

The U.S. is aware of an al-Qaida presence among the anti-Houthi ranks, a senior American official told reporters in Cairo earlier this year. Because coalition members back militias with hard-line Islamic commanders, “it’s very, very easy for al-Qaida to insinuate itself into the mix,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under the terms of the briefing.

More recently, the Pentagon vigorously denied any complicity with al-Qaida militants.

“Since the beginning of 2017, we have conducted more than 140 strikes to remove key AQAP leaders and disrupt its ability to use ungoverned spaces to recruit, train and plan operations against the U.S. and our partners across the region,” Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, wrote in an email to the AP.

A senior Saudi official commented by saying that the Saudi-led coalition “continues its commitment to combat extremism and terrorism.”

An Emirati government spokesman did not reply to questions from the AP.

The coalition began fighting in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis overran the north, including the capital, Sanaa. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are determined to stop what they consider a move by their nemesis, Iran, to take over Yemen, and their professed aim is to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Al-Qaida is leveraging the chaos to its advantage.

“The United States is certainly in a bind in Yemen,” said Katherine Zimmerman, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “It doesn’t make sense that the United States has identified al-Qaida as a threat, but that we have common interests inside of Yemen and that, in some places, it looks like we’re looking the other way.”

Within this complicated conflict, al-Qaida says its numbers — which U.S. officials have estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 members — are rising.

An al-Qaida commander who helps organize deployments told the AP that the front lines against the Houthis provide fertile ground to recruit new members.

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The black al-Qaida flag and the slogan in Arabic “al-Qaida passed here,” on the right wall, are sprayed on a damaged school that was turned into a religious court in the southern city of Taiz.

“Meaning, if we send 20, we come back with 100,” he said.

The well-known commander communicated with AP via a secure messaging app on condition of anonymity because he had no authorization from the group to talk to the news media.

___

The Associated Press reported this story with help from a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

___

A FAREWELL DINNER FOR AL-QAIDA

In February, Emirati troops and their Yemeni militia allies flashed victory signs to TV cameras as they declared the recapture of al-Said, a district of villages running through the mountainous province of Shabwa — an area al-Qaida had largely dominated for nearly three years.

It was painted as a crowning victory in a months-long offensive, Operation Swift Sword, that the Emirati ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, had proclaimed would “disrupt the terrorist organization’s network and degrade its ability to conduct future attacks.”

The Pentagon, which assisted with a small number of troops, echoed that promise, saying the mission would weaken the group’s ability to use Yemen as a base.

But weeks before those forces’ entry, a string of pickup trucks mounted with machine guns and loaded with masked al-Qaida militants drove out of al-Said unmolested, according to a tribal mediator involved in the deal for their withdrawal.

The U.S. has killed al-Qaida’s top leaders in a drone strike campaign that accelerated in recent years. But in this victory — as in the others touted by the coalition — the mediator said armed U.S. drones were absent, despite the large, obvious convoy.

Under the terms of the deal, the coalition promised al-Qaida members it would pay them to leave, according to Awad al-Dahboul, the province’s security chief. His account was confirmed by the mediator and two Yemeni government officials.

Al-Dahboul said about 200 al-Qaida members received payments. He did not learn the exact amounts, but said he knew that 100,000 Saudi rials ($26,000) were paid to one al-Qaida commander — in the presence of Emiratis.

Under the accord, thousands of local tribal fighters were to be enlisted in the UAE-funded Shabwa Elite Force militia. For every 1,000 fighters, 50 to 70 would be al-Qaida members, the mediator and two officials said.

Saleh bin Farid al-Awlaqi, a pro-Emirati tribal leader who was the founder of one Elite Force branch, denied any agreements were made. He said he and others enticed young al-Qaida members in Shabwa to defect, which weakened the group, forcing it to withdraw on its own. He said about 150 fighters who defected were allowed into the Elite Force, but only after they underwent a “repentance” program.

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A former al-Qaida commander, Harith al-Ezzi, walks through streets destroyed in fighting in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz. (AP Photo)

The clearing of al-Qaida from Shabwa and other provinces did not completely take place without fighting. Clashes erupted in some villages, usually with al-Qaida remnants that refused to play ball.

One former al-Qaida member told the AP that he and his comrades turned down an offer of money from the Emiratis. In response, he said, an Elite Force squad besieged them in the town of Hawta until they withdrew.

Overall, deals that took place during both the Obama and Trump administrations have secured al-Qaida militants’ withdrawal from multiple major towns and cities that the group seized in 2015, the AP found. The earliest pact, in the spring of 2016, allowed thousands of al-Qaida fighters to pull out of Mukalla, Yemen’s fifth-largest city and a major port on the Arabian Sea.

The militants were guaranteed a safe route out and allowed to keep weapons and cash looted from the city — up to $100 million by some estimates — according to five sources, including military, security and government officials.

“Coalition fighter jets and U.S. drones were idle,” said a senior tribal leader who saw the convoy leaving. “I was wondering why they didn’t strike them.”

A tribal sheikh shuttled between AQAP leaders in Mukalla and Emirati officials in Aden to seal the deal, according to a former senior Yemeni commander.

Coalition-backed forces moved in two days later, announcing that hundreds of militants were killed and hailing the capture as “part of joint international efforts to defeat the terrorist organizations in Yemen.”

No witnesses reported militants killed, however. “We woke up one day and al-Qaida had vanished without a fight,” a local journalist said, speaking to AP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Soon after, another accord was struck for AQAP to pull out of six towns in the province of Abyan, including its capital of Zinjibar, according to five tribal mediators involved in the negotiations.

Again, the central provision was that the coalition and U.S. drones cease all bombings as AQAP pulled out with its weapons, the mediators said.

The agreement also included a provision that 10,000 local tribesmen — including 250 al-Qaida militants — be incorporated into the Security Belt, the UAE-backed Yemeni force in the area, four Yemeni officials said.

For nearly a week in May 2016, the militants departed in trucks. One of the mediators told the AP that he threw the last of the departing fighters a farewell dinner among his olive and lemon orchards when they stopped at his farm to pay their respects.

Another mediator, Tarek al-Fadhli, a former jihadi once trained by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, said he was in touch with officials at the U.S. Embassy and in the Saudi-led coalition, keeping them updated on the withdrawal.

“When the last one left, we called the coalition to say they are gone,” he said.

___

‘WE WILL UNITE WITH THE DEVIL’

To think of al-Qaida as an international terror group is to miss its other reality. For many Yemenis, it is simply another faction on the ground — a very effective one, well-armed and battle-hardened.

Its members are not shadowy strangers. Over the years, AQAP has woven itself into society by building ties with tribes, buying loyalties and marrying into major families.

Power players often see it as a useful tool.

Hadi’s predecessor as Yemen’s president, long-ruling strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, set the model. He took billions in U.S. aid to combat al-Qaida after the 9/11 attacks, even as he recruited its militants to fight his rivals. Hadi’s current vice president, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a military chief for decades, also has been accused of enlisting jihadis.

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An explosion raises a cloud as coalition-backed fighters advance on the Red Sea port town of Mocha. (AP Photo)

In that light, it would almost be more startling if the militants were not involved against the Houthis, especially since al-Qaida militants are extremist Sunnis seeking the defeat of the Shiite rebels.

Al-Qaida militants are present on all major front lines fighting the rebels, Khaled Baterfi, a senior leader in the group, said in a previously unpublished 2015 interview with a local journalist obtained by the AP.

Last month, Baterfi said in a Q&A session distributed by al-Qaida that “those at the front lines for sure know of our participation, which is either actual fighting with our brothers in Yemen or supporting them with weapons.”

Al-Qaida has reduced attacks against Hadi’s and Emirati-linked forces because assailing them would benefit the Houthis, Baterfi said.

The branch is following guidance from al-Qaida’s worldwide leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, to focus on fighting the rebels, another top AQAP member said in written answers to the AP.

In some places, militants join battles independently. But in many cases, militia commanders from the ultraconservative Salafi sect and the Muslim Brotherhood bring them directly into their ranks, where they benefit from coalition funding, the AP found. The Brotherhood’s Yemen branch is a powerful hard-line Islamic political organization allied to Hadi.

Two of the four main coalition-backed commanders along the Red Sea coast are allies of al-Qaida, the al-Qaida member said. The coalition has made major advances on the coast, currently battling for the port of Hodeida.

Video footage shot by the AP in January 2017 showed a coalition-backed unit advancing on Mocha, part of an eventually successful campaign to recapture the Red Sea town.

Some of the unit’s fighters were openly al-Qaida, wearing Afghan-style garb and carrying weapons with the group’s logo. As they climbed behind machine guns in pick-up trucks, explosions from coalition airstrikes could be seen on the horizon.

An AQAP member interviewed in person by the AP in May viewed the video and confirmed the fighters belonged to his group. His affiliation is known from his past involvement in AQAP’s rule over a southern city.

The impact of the intertwining of al-Qaida fighters with the coalition campaign is clearest in Taiz, Yemen’s largest city and center of one of the war’s longest running battles.

In the central highlands, Taiz is Yemen’s cultural capital, a historic source of poets and writers and educated technocrats. In 2015, Houthis laid siege to the city, occupying surrounding mountain ranges, sealing the entrances and shelling it mercilessly.

Taiz residents rose up to fight back, and coalition cash and weapons poured in — as did al-Qaida and Islamic State group militants, all aimed at the same enemy.

One liberal activist took up arms alongside other men from his neighborhood to defend the city, and they found themselves fighting side by side with al-Qaida members.

“There is no filtering in the war. We are all together,” said the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said commanders received weapons and other aid from the coalition and distributed it to all the fighters, including al-Qaida militants.

Abdel-Sattar al-Shamiri, a former adviser to Taiz’s governor, said he recognized al-Qaida’s presence from the start and told commanders not to recruit members.

“Their response was, ‘We will unite with the devil in the face of Houthis,’” al-Shamiri said.

He said he warned coalition officials, who were “upset” but took no action.

“Taiz is in danger,” al-Shamiri said. “We will get rid of the Houthis and we will be stuck with terrorist groups.”

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Coalition-backed fighters help a wounded man during an advance on Yemen’s Red Sea port town of Mocha. (AP Photo)

The activist and officials in the city said one of the main recruiters of al-Qaida fighters is Adnan Rouzek, a Salafi member tapped by Hadi to be a top military commander.

Rouzek’s militia became notorious for kidnappings and street killings, with one online video showing its masked members shooting a kneeling, blindfolded man. Its videos feature al-Qaida-style anthems and banners.

Rouzek’s top aide was a senior al-Qaida figure who escaped from a prison in Aden in 2008 along with other AQAP detainees, according to a Yemeni security official. Multiple photos seen by the AP show Rouzek with known al-Qaida commanders in recent years.

In November, Hadi named Rouzek head of the Taiz Operations Rooms, coordinating the military campaign, and top commander of a new fighting force, the 5th Presidential Protection Battalion. Hadi’s Defense Ministry also gave Rouzek $12 million for a new offensive against the Houthis. The AP obtained copy of a receipt for the $12 million and a Rouzek aide confirmed the figure.

Rouzek denied any connection to militants, telling the AP that “there is no presence of al-Qaida” in Taiz.

Another coalition-backed warlord is on the U.S. list of designated terrorists due to his ties to al-Qaida.

The warlord, a Salafi known as Sheikh Aboul Abbas, has received millions of dollars from the coalition to distribute among anti-Houthi factions, according to his aide, Adel al-Ezzi. Despite being put on the U.S. list in October, the UAE continues to fund him, al-Ezzi told the AP.

The aide denied any links to militants and dismissed his boss’s designation on the U.S. terror list. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that “al-Qaida has fought on all the front lines alongside all factions.”

Right after the AP team spoke to him in Taiz, the team saw al-Ezzi meeting with a known senior al-Qaida figure, warmly hugging him outside the home of another former AQAP commander.

Aboul Abbas runs a coalition-funded militia controlling several districts in Taiz. A 2016 video produced by al-Qaida shows militants in black uniforms with al-Qaida’s logo fighting alongside other militias in districts known to be under his control.

A former security official in Taiz said militants and Aboul Abbas’ forces attacked security headquarters in 2017 and freed a number of al-Qaida suspects. The officer said he reported the attack to the coalition, only to learn soon after that it gave Aboul Abbas 40 more pick-up trucks.

“The more we warn, the more they are rewarded,” the officer said. “Al-Qaida leaders have armored vehicles given to them by the coalition while security commanders don’t have such vehicles.”

https://apnews.com/f38788a561d74ca78c77cb43612d50da

This is really unbelievable. Not that the US colludes with the gang that snuffed 3K USAers but rather that with the mass of evidence provided these ace journalists couldn't pour piss out of a boot. Cognitive dissonance with bells on.

Geez, wonder if this makes the six oclock news....
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:46 pm

Dozens dead after school bus carrying children hit by airstrike
By Hakim Almasmari, Sarah El Sirgany and Tamara Qiblawi, CNN

Updated 1216 GMT (2016 HKT) August 9, 2018

(CNN)Dozens of children, most believed to be under the age of 10, have been killed after a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a school bus in northern Yemen Thursday.

The bus was hit as it was driving through a market in the rebel-held province of Saada, according to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.

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Footage from Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV appears to show a boy, carrying a UNICEF backpack, being treated for injuries.

The children were on their way to summer camps, Yahya Sha'em, head of the Houthi-held health office in Saada told CNN.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was sending supplies to ICRC-supported hospitals to support an influx of casualties.

Image

The Saudi-led coalition called the airstrike a "legitimate military operation," and a retaliation to a Houthi ballistic missile that targeted the kingdom's Jizan province on Wednesday night, according to Saudi Arabia's official news agency.
"The targeting that happened today in Saada province was legal military action to target elements that planned and executed the targeting of civilians in the city of Jizan last night, killing and wounding civilians," the Saudi Press Agency cited official coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki as saying.
One person was killed in that attack, Saudi state media reported.
Houthi media broadcast gruesome footage appearing to show the dead bodies of children. Other footage showed a young boy carrying a UNICEF backpack being escorted to a hospital, his face bloodied as medical staff tried to treat his injuries.
Witnesses that CNN spoke to said the attack could be heard from neighboring districts.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/09/midd ... index.html

US Imperialism got the meanest dogs in town. ISIS, Israel, KSA, they all jump to "his master's voice".
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Thu Aug 09, 2018 4:11 pm

[
excerpt:

SEC. MATTIS: Even in the opening presser, I talked about the humanitarian aspect and the desire to bring -- to end the war. And so, no, that's simply incorrect.

Q: From the readout, that's what we got. But do you think -- what more can they do -- the Saudis -- to minimize civilian causalities? And what did you tell the Crown Prince?

SEC. MATTIS: Yeah. What the -- when you look at such things are air refueling -- when you're a pilot in the air and you've got bombs on your wing and you got somebody calling on you to drop and you're watching you fuel gauge go down, you say, "No, you don't. We're going to refuel you. There's no need for a rash or hasty decision there."

When we're doing the planning, we have shown them how you have what we call no-strike zones. These are places where, because there are schools or hospitals -- but it's not as easy as just saying, "Okay, there's a school or hospital; now, draw a circle around it on a map." Now it's got to go up into the airplane. Now the people who are calling for strikes have got to be aware. Sometimes you add to them; you found a new place where you didn't have it on the map before.

So this is a very dynamic sort of battlefield management.

We have officers there that make certain that that is brought up and the process for bringing it right into the pilots and the decision-making has been proven by pilots saying "Not gonna drop. I don't think I can miss the no-strike area adjacent to that target."

So you see this sort of maturation. Some of you have gotten very used to the U.S. military's ability to do this sort of thing, and we're not perfect about it. But other countries, this is -- this is the trigonometry level of warfare. And it -- so we're helping on that, as well.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcript ... -pentagon/
uh huh
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:55 pm

Last month, the #Saudi Coalition’s heavy attack to south of al #Hudaydah was defeated by strong resistance of #AnsarAllah(also known as Houthis) and People’s Committees groups and heavy attack to the airport, in despite of vast media support did not achieve anything.

Image

In north of #Hajjah after fall of #Midi, attacks to Hayran and Harad from north and west have started which resulted in fall of Hayran. The goal of operation in this axis is to cut Ansarallah’s connection to sea and western coasts, as mentioned earlier.

Image

In this front that Hadi & AlQaeda forces from Coalition & Emirates are more active, there is no significant change & AnsarAllah is defending in northern Bayda.
In recent days,Coalition has started an operation to occupy districts Numan & Malajim but have not achieved anything yet

Image

Courtesy IWN @A7_Mirza
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:04 am

Yemen - Holding Hodeidah Is The Houthi's Last Chance
From last weeks MoA review:

October 31 - Yemen - After 200,000 Died An Embarrassed U.S. Finally Calls For Negotiations
The UAE and its mercenaries have renewed a large attack on Hodeidah. Should they capture it they will control all supplies to the Houthi areas. The Saudis and the UAE seem to use the 30 days Trump has given them for maximum gain.

The attack led by the United Arab Emirates has nearly achieved to surround Hodeidah. The city and its port are the only way left to provide food to some 20 million people living in the capital Sanaa and the northern highlands. Should Hodeidah fall, the Houthi and their allies will have to submit to the Saudis or see their people die of starvation.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which works in Hodeidah, notes:

There is now only one viable overland route from Hodeidah city to Sana'a, and a very high risk that further aerial or land attacks on roads or bridges could sever access roads between the cities entirely, cutting the last remaining supply route for food, fuel and medicine to many of the estimated 20 million Yemenis who depend on imports through Hodeidah to meet their basic needs.
Currently the Houthi try the same tactic that broke earlier UAE attempts to conquer Hodeidah (upper left). They cut the long UAE supply line coming from the south along the western coast over which the attacking force (red) is provided with food, fuel and ammunition. If the latest news is correct they achieved that in two places.

Image

It is relatively easy to interrupt the logistic line for a few hours. It is far more difficult to hold the blocking positions. The landscape along the coast is flat and the UAE proxy forces have tanks, artillery and air support, all of which the Houthi lack. They are mountain infantry fighters and have no means to defend themselves on flat land. They will have to resort to constant surprise attacks in different locations along the supply line to keep the UAE forces off balance. They are somewhat successful (pics) with that. It is not known if they have the manpower and ammunition reserves to maintain such attacks for long.
From the very beginning of the Saudi/UAE war on Yemen the Saudi strategy was designed to starve the highlands into subjugation. Their air attacks were concentrated on water supplies, farms, agricultural factories, fishery and transport routes. They blocked smuggling routes and hindered humanitarian supplies. They took control of Yemen's central bank and willfully induced hyperinflation.

Some smuggled food still reaches the markets in Sanaa but it is now too expensive for most people to buy. The NRC remarks:

The Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB), accounting for food, water, hygiene and cooking fuel needs was revised to YER 73,000 (USD 104) per month last week, reflecting increased costs of more than 40% since July this year. Inflation on the price of essential items, combined with the rapid depreciation of the Yemeni riyal and lack of access to income are among the key factors driving Yemen's worsening hunger crisis.
In a Washington Post op-ed the head of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee Mohammed Ali al-Houthi writes:

The blockade of the port city is meant to bring the Yemeni people to their knees. The coalition is using famine and cholera as weapons of war. It is also extorting the United Nations by threatening to cut their funds, as if it were a charity and not a responsibility required under international law and Security Council resolutions.
The United States wants to be viewed as an honest mediator — but it is in fact participating and sometimes leading the aggression on Yemen.

Yesterday the U.S. announced that it would end its refueling of the Saudi planes that bomb Yemen. This means little. The Saudis have their own tanker fleet and by now enough experience to use it. The UAE planes fly from a base in Eritrea and need no refueling. U.S. intelligence support for the Saudis and the delivery of other war supplies continue. There are also U.S. troops on the ground who might well direct the Saudi/UAE attack.

The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. tactic of calling for a ceasefire in 30 days while intensifying the fight:

"... Taking into account that Washington is offering direct military support to the coalition units fighting in Yemen, the sincerity of the United States’ statements in favor of the soonest end of the active phase of the Yemeni conflict is called to question," the ministry said.
"So far, everything indicates that the US side is not planning to change its policy in Yemen and the parties to the armed confrontation in that country are still staking on settling the conflict by force," the ministry stressed.

To call for a ceasefire in 30 days and to end the refueling for Saudi planes are fig-leaf moves by the U.S. to distant itself from the willfully caused famine of millions of Yemenis. The U.S. has the leverage to make the Saudis and the UAE stop their attack on Hodeidah. Early October President Trump said himself that the Saudi rulers would not last two weeks without U.S. support. That wasn't an exaggeration.

If the Trump administration really wanted, the war on Yemen would stop tomorrow. Instead it considers naming the Houthi a terrorist organization. That step would be a major escalation that would make any peace talks much more difficult.

The Houthi attacks on the supply line of the attacking forces along the west coast are the last chance to prevent the fall of Hodeidah port, and the imminent famine of millions of people.

I wish them luck.

Posted by b on November 10, 2018 at 02:30 PM | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/11/y ... hance.html
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Mon Nov 19, 2018 9:27 pm

U.S. SOLDIERS SECRETLY FIGHTING SAUDI ARABIA'S WAR IN YEMEN, REPORT SAYS
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 5/3/18 AT 5:33 PM

U.S. Army Special Forces have been covertly aiding in Saudi Arabia's war against Zaidi Shiite Muslim insurgents in neighboring Yemen, where the rebels control the capital and often fire ballistic missiles, according to a new report by The New York Times.

Citing information provided by U.S. officials and European diplomats, the Times reported Thursday that about a dozen Green Berets were deployed to Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen in December, a month after the Houthi rebels fired a Burkan-2 ballistic missile at Riyadh's international airport. Saudi Arabia claimed to have intercepted the November attack with its U.S.-built MIM-104F Patriot missile defense system, but analysts have cast doubt on this official version of events.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman reportedly reached out to the U.S. for help in locating and destroying Houthi missile launch sites shortly after, opening what may be a new shadowy front for the Pentagon's operations in the Middle East.

Image
U.S. Special Forces Soldiers, attached to Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, maneuver though a village to gain fire superiority during an operation in the Achin district, Nangahar providence, Afghanistan, October 3, 2016. Green Berets already operate in nearly 70 percent of the world's countries, now they may be escalating their role in Yemen's civil war.
SPECIALIST CHRISTOPHER STEVENSON/U.S. ARMY/DEFENSE VISUAL INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SERVICE

Yemen's current unrest began with the ouster of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh amid a wave of regional protests in 2012. Saleh was replaced by his deputy Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who himself faced growing dissent as well as dueling Shiite Muslim and ultraconservative Sunni Muslim insurgencies. The former, allied with Saleh loyalists, stormed Sanaa in 2014 and took control early the following year.

Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of being a proxy for the kingdom's top regional rival, Iran, and gathered a coalition of Arab allies to begin bombing the rebels and attempt to restore Hadi's rule, which was relegated to the southern port city of Aden. Three years later, Saudi Arabia has helped its local allies gain some ground, but the conflict remains mostly in a stalemate, even after two major schisms within the warring alliances.

First, Saleh was shot dead in December under yet unknown circumstances, but his supporters have blamed their Houthi partners, who accused the former Yemeni leader of trying to reconcile with Riyadh. A month later, the Saudi-led coalition found itself under friendly fire after southern separatists supported by fellow Gulf monarchy the United Arab Emirates seized parts of Aden.

The U.S., meanwhile, has launched airstrikes and raids against jihadi groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), and has offered strategic support to the Saudi-led campaign, but the Pentagon has avoided getting too deeply involved in the civil war. This may be set to change, however, as evidenced by the Times report as well as a contract last month that called for two fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters to be deployed to Yemen, as website The Drive reported.

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A map shows areas of control in Yemen as of March 5. As Yemen's war rages through its fourth year, a Saudi-led coalition continues to bombard Houthi positions, jihadi groups conduct deadly attacks on both sides and the world's worst humanitarian crisis worsens.
RISKINTELLIGENCE/REUTERS

President Donald Trump has sought a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia, who he views as a key ally against Iran. Months after taking office, Trump visited Riyadh and struck a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. When Prince Mohammed visited Defense Secretary James Mattis in Washington in March, he walked home with a $670 million deal for U.S. weapons and equipment.

In addition to threatening to tear up a historic 2015 nuclear agreement, the Trump administration has also pressured Iran over allegations that it provides Houthis with the ballistic missiles they target Saudi Arabia with. Iran publicly supports the Houthis politically, but denies providing them with any weapons.

A 2017 report by the Nation Institute's Tom Dispatch found that U.S. Special Forces were deployed to 138 nations, or 70 percent of the world.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-soldiers-se ... ays-910041
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:41 pm

EXCLUSIVE: Vanessa Beeley Interviews Yemen’s Ministry of Health Spokesperson, Dr Youself Al-Haderi
DECEMBER 17, 2018 BY VANESSA BEELEY 0 COMMENTS

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22 million in Yemen are dependent upon aid to survive, according to an ICRC (Red Cross) tweet.

Vanessa Beeley
21st Century Wire

The “humanitarian” tragedy in Yemen has been in the news a lot recently. What most media and NGOs fail to clarify is that this is not some mysterious “famine” that has organically transpired as a result of a war – the Yemeni people are being deliberately starved and that starvation is aided and abeted by the UN and a number of its agencies via the illegitimate Resolution 2216 that should never have been adopted in the first place.

Many have applauded the recent senate vote that appeared to favour debate over the potential U.S withdrawl from Yemen but more astute observers and analysts picked up on the cynical use of the “Farm Bill” to obfuscate and bury the real intention to remain in Yemen:
[youtube]http://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1074195416663580672[/youtube]

LastAmericanVagabond
@TLAVagabond
Don't let Congress hide its deceitful resolution in the #FarmBill that made #SJRes54 impossible & blocked the War Power Act and all debate on Yemen. They're doing all they can to keep this lie from you #ExposeTheFarmBill #Yemen @VanessaBeeley @HussainBukhaiti @2flamesburning1

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1:51 AM - Dec 16, 2018
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UN chief, Antonio Guterres has been congratulating himself on “progress made” in the recent Yemeni peace talks in Sweden. An alleged ceasefire was negotiated between Ansarullah (Popular Resistance movement) and the Saudi-backed “rebels”. However, a recent tweet from Yemeni journalist, Hussain Albukhaiti, has revealed that this claim by the U.N is another red herring:
Hussain Albukhaiti
@HussainBukhaiti
· Dec 8, 2018
Replying to @HussainBukhaiti
#BREAKING NEWS
A wave of #Saudi #UAE strikes on Alraabasah roundabout & surrounding areas in #Hodeidah city W #Yemen killed &injured more than 20 civilians
Its Reported that many children r among casualties&strikes continue till this moment preventing rescuers frm reaching site👇

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Hussain Albukhaiti
@HussainBukhaiti
Since Sweden agreement&ceasefire
More than 40 #Saudi #UAE strikes on #Hodeidah #Yemen&hundreds of coalition backd forces artillery shells on
- Police station in 7July street
- killo16 road
- Kamaran cigarettes factory
- Alshaab City
- Nana factory
Also cluster bombs injurd 3kids

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5:34 PM - Dec 16, 2018
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On Friday 14th December I put some questions to the Yemen Minstry of Health speaker, Dr Yousef Al-Haderi.

Vanessa Beeley: Thank you so much for giving your time to answer my questions. The first must be, in your opinion, what is the war in Yemen about and where will it end?

Dr Yousef Al-Haderi: Since the first revolution in Yemen on 26 September 1962, these great powers in the world have managed to contain the Yemeni people politically, intellectually and economically so they did not fight us as they have during this ugly war. They enslaved us and ruled us through their puppet presidents.

Yemen’s geographical location, the third best in the world, and Yemen’s rich resources, oil, gas, rock, agricultural and fishing abundance and diversity of landscape should make Yemen one of the world’s wealthiest countries but this has not happened because of this policy of “making us poor to keep us under control”.

The movement that originated in norther Yemen, Saada, called Ansar Allah or as western media like to say, the Houthis, rose out of the poorest societies and it identified the root cause of Yemen’s poverty – the American system and that is why they adopted the slogan “death to the American regime. Their revolution which succeeded on 21st September 2014 then provoked American agents in the region, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to try to persuade the new government in Yemen, represented by Ansar Allah,to continue the mercenary path of dependence upon the U.S that had been taken by former presidents in Yemen. The Ansar Allah movement and leadership rejected this move completely.

When the global powers, represented by the American, British and Saudi regimes saw that the Ansar Allah movement was able to eradicate all the terrorist entities in Yemen, such as Al Qaeda, which previous Yemeni regimes had been unable to achieve, they sensed the threat that the Ansar Allah movement represented for their colonial projects which had been supported by the deliberate planting of these terrorist groups and they launched the aggression against Yemen on 26th March 2015.

The Saudi-led “Operation Decisive Storm” was launched by the former Saudi Ambassador to Washington (current Saudi Foreign Minister) Adil Al-Jubair from inside the White House. On the first day terrible massacres were carried out among the children of Yemen, one of them in the north of the capital, Sana’a (Bani Hawat) and in the middle of the capital. The same night, children and civilians were deliberately targeted in their homes as they were sleeping. Twenty three days later on the 20th April 2015, a powerful neutron bomb was used in Sanaa and every area of the city was bombarded. Thousands of homes were destroyed. All of these crimes were committed with U.S endorsement and support.

The endgame is clear. After the Saudi coalition was able to bring down a number of Yemen’s provinces in the south – a campaign that was characterised by chaos, murder, assassinations, terror and fear – as witnessed by international NGOs and journalists. We witnessed the establishment of dozens of secret torture and detention centers, similar to those established by the U.S in Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prisons. Even those who support the U.S and its Saudi coalition could not return to Aden, they were refused entry by the U.S Saudi Emirates. The Island of Socotra and the province of Hadramaut were occupied by the U.S. The provinces to the east of Yemen on the border with Oman were occupied by Saudi proxies and forces to open a channel for its oil to the Arabian Sea in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. The Yemeni people living there experienced deepening hunger, poverty and disease, they received no benefits from this occupation.

Today, we are nearing the end of the fourth year of this aggression, which has been mobilised by all the most powerful countries of this world, all the resources of this world and all the armies of this world using all the weapons at their disposal. Weapons that are internationally probhibited like U.S and U.K supplied cluster bombs. We can say that the war will not end until the alliance of aggression breaks down and the Saudi regime collapses. The alliance has attempted to weaken us with every weapon in their arsenal – bombing, starvation, disease, cholera, terrorism, diptheria, malnutrition, malaria – but they do not understand that we will not yield until Yemen is free, we will never surrender even if they occupy our homes and lands.

The cessation of this aggression depends entirely upon the vigilance and humanity of the peoples of this world, not upon their criminal governments who profit from our suffering.

VB: Do you have any hope in the current peace talks in Sweden?

Dr YaH: There is no hope in the current peace conversation, and the reason is that the other side did not come to dialogue with us, but sent their mercenaries who not have the ability to make decisions. They do not even have the right to return to their country while they claim they “liberated” which translates as an occupation. When we have American, Saudi Arabian and the UAE government representatives at the same table with Ansar Allah, we will be able to say there is hope.

VB: Most people in the West have been sold the idea that fugitive/resigned former President Mansour Hadi is the head of the interationally recognised government in Yemen.You are the Health Minister of the current, constitutionally elected Yemeni government.Please describe the government in situ. Does it have popular support? Why will the international community not recognise this government?

Dr YaH: I am the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, which was formed constitutionally through the Constitutional Council of Representatives, which is still in Sana’a, which is more than the quorum. I believe that the continuation of the international recognition of the Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi as president of Yemen is due to American and Saudi money and the ruling of the United Nations. Hadi presented his resignation on January 19th 2015 and that was preceded by the end of his presidency of consensus on 21st February 2014. His presidencey was extended by one year but he was never constitutionally elected. For me, there is no legitimacy for those who will murder their own people, besiege and starve their own people. He destroys his own people upon instruction from the U.S and the Saudi coalition.

Everyone can see that the entities that promote American hegemony are effectively besieging or killing their own people or putting economic pressure upon their people or simply ensuring the spread of chaos in their country. We see this in Yemen, Syria, potentially in Iran and North Korea among many others. Unfortunately most of the world is subjected to the devastation brought about by American hegemony in varying degrees. The U.S believes, it alone can determine who or what is legitimate or illegal. “Legitimacy” must be determined by the people of sovereign nations not by external and predatory forces.

Hadi’s internationally recognised government has been living, for four years, in the luxury hotels of Riyadh, Dubai, Cairo and Istanbul. It does not exist in Yemen, even in those areas it claims to have “liberated”. It can never go back to Yemen. Our government in Sana’a is recognised by the people of Yemen. It brings stability, freedom and justice. There is no suppression of doctrinal, sectarian or partisan considerations at all.

The number of people living in the areas of Yemen occupied by the Saudi coalition does not exceed 25% of the 27 million Yemenis. 75% live in the areas controlled by the Sana’a’s government and the popularity of this coalition government is evident in the fighting fronts and popular support. They are supported by religious and national factions alike and there is a marked absence of public rejection or uprising against them – something which is a common occurrence in the provinces of the coalition-occupied south.

VB: Does Iran recognise the Yemeni government? Why has Iran not taken a more active role in defending the rights of Yemenis diplomatically?

Dr YaH: Unfortunately the Iranian government has not done enough against the injustice that is the aggression against Yemen. We find more popular support from the American people than from the Iranian government. They refuse to recognise the Sana’a government in terms of diplomatic support and to be honest Iran’s inaction effectively supports the humiliation of Yemen by the International Community. The Iranian media support covers only economic or humanitarian aspects of the conflict and never addresses the root causes. We have never received any support from Iran even though we would always maintain that the Iranian people are just as humane as the American people and all peoples who stand with the Yemeni people against their global oppressors.

[For further insight into the lack of Iranian and Russian support, listen to Vanessa Beeley’s interview with historian, Dr Isa Blumi – here ]

VB: Has Russia played a role in Yemen since the Saudi coalition aggression began in March 2015?

Dr YaH: The Russian regime, like the American regime, has special objectives in Yemen and in the Middle East in general. There is an exchange of roles between the two superpowers in the world, in Syria and in Yemen. Russia adopted resolution 2216 without using the veto. This reflects the extent of its complicity. Russia welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the 20th summit in Argentina despite the discovery of his crimes against Yemen and against the Saudi journalist Martyr Jamal Khashoggi.

VB: How many children have died of preventable diseases since the conflict began, because of the blockade on food and medicine?

Dr YaH: The statistics that I will list for child mortality are not complete as the Ministry of Health is unable to record accurate figures due to specific issues. There are many children who die silently – they die in their homes after their parents were unable to provide them with hospital because of poverty, siege and lack of money, just for example.

Malnutrition: – 2,300,000 children (less than 5 years) with 1:3 suffering from a type of malnutrition, including 400 thousand children with severe acute malnutrition, one child dies every ten minutes (according to UN reports And the World Health Organization).

2890 Yemeni people have been infected with diphtheria since its re-emergence (October 2017 to date), of whom 169 died, children represent 90% of these statistics.

Cholera and associated diarrhea: – About 1357,998 Yemeni people have been affected during the period 27 April 2017 to date, of whom 2678 died, children represent 70% of those deaths.

Malaria and dengue: – There are about half a million Yemeni people suffering from malaria and 30 thousand died from the disease, the majority are children.

130 medicines needed to treat chronic diseases and life saving medicines are not available in the Ministry of Health because of the economic blockade and the closure of Sana’a airport since 8 August 2016 until today. These drugs include kidneys, renal dialysis, cancer, diabetes, thalassemia, heart, epilepsy. Tens of thousands have died as a result of the lack of these medicines, the majority are children.

Since the closure of Sana’a airport on August 8th 2016 until today, some 200,000 Yemenis have been unable to travel abroad to receive appropriate medical treatment that is not available in Yemen. So far, 28,000 patients have died, 40% are children.

VB: Have attempts to import necessary lifesaving items been delayed or denied entry and by whom? Could you give an example of those items?

Dr YaH: Oil and basic foodstuffs and 120 pharmaceuticals have been banned from entering Yemen except through very complex conditions and only by the sea not through Sana’a airport which is closed. Because of the U.N Verification and Inspection mechanism imposed on ships entering Djibouti port, medicines remain blockaded there for months and many medicines will have perished by the time they finally enter Yemen, if at all. Wheat, for example, will be rendered inedible after storage in high temperatures. The procedures do nothing more than add cost onto the items for the already poverty-stricken civilians. The closure of Sana’a airport and the transferral of the National Bank to Aden (from Sana’a) also have a negative effect. For kidney treatment, for example, Sirolims, Ticrolims, Brucraf, Salsypt, Kidney Dialysis, Insulin etc we can only provide enough for 5% of patients through international organisations.

VB: How are the 5000 (or more) kidney patients coping bearing in mind they are unable to receive the necessary dialysis?

Dr YaH: Eight thousand dialysis patients receive the lowest weekly washings (2 washings each week), although it should be minimum 3 washings per week, and instead of 5 hours per wash, we do only 3 hours (to create time for the rest of the patients) Where dialysis machines work 24 hours / 7 days – 4 dialysis centers have been closed by the Saudi bombardment. 27 centers are still functioning but we are unable to provide equipment or to repair devices thanks to the blockade. We struggle to have enough of the washing solutions. If we did not have the cooperation of some international organisations and the help of Yemeni society, we would have witnessed another humanitarian catastrophe. Even so, we cannot cover all needs and 1200 patients have died of renal failure as a direct consequence of the blockade.

VB: Does it still apply that any surgeries for cancer will be performed free of charge?

Dr YaH: In Yemen, there is no health insurance for citizens at all. Health care is charged for even in public hospitals although the payment is less than in private hospitals. This was one of the main reasons for the uprising in September 2014. The new Minister of Health, appointed in June 2018, introduced a policy to reduce the pain and suffering of patients, especially those with cancer and they have access to free procedures in public hospitals in Sana’a. A new law has also been introduced which will enter into legislation in 2019 – the Fund for the care and treatment of cancer. We hope that this will go some way to relieving the suffering of cancer patients.

VB: How many hospitals remain operational across Yemen?

Dr YaH: In areas governed by the Sana’a government, 79 hospitals provide health services to 75% of Yemenis (24 million Yemenis out of 27-30 million) and 2,000 health centers throughout Yemen.The Saudi coalition air force destroyed 345 health center hospitals completely destroyed or partially destroyed. Of these, 4 hospitals are run by Doctors Without Borders and about 45% of hospitals and health centers have stopped working because of the blockade. Health work in Yemen is only 55% operational and they are overwhelmed by the spread of epidemiological, psychological and physical diseases.

VB: Right before the talks in Sweden, some injured Yemenis were reported to have been allowed to fly out. How many were able to fly out?

Dr YaH: The 200,000 people who suffer from these physical diseases, such as cancer, heart, kidneys, bone etc have been collectively punished by the coalition of aggression’s refusal to allow them to travel. 28,000 have died as a result. The World Health Organisation and the UN expressed a willingness to conduct two trips per month, 100 patients each trip. Those who managed to travel before the peace talks are the war wounded, whether fighters from the frontlines or the civilians injured in Saudi bombing raids. No more than 50 such patients have been able to leave for treatment and one trip was organised as a prerequisite for the Sana’a delegation to participate in the “peace” talks. 50,000 injured are still waiting for permission to travel for treatment, thousands of them with permanent disabilities.

VB: What is needed most in terms of Humanitarian Aid? What is actually being given in adequate quantities?

Dr YaH: The Yemeni people do not require any assistance actually. They only require that the blockade and siege is lifted and the aggression stopped and that they be allowed to live in peace. We will regulate our own problems peacefully and easily. This is the most important demand from the Yemeni people.

VB: Who is ultimately responsible for the genocide in Yemen?

Dr YaH: Those who are officially responsible for the genocide in Yemen are those who own the money of mass destruction with which they buy weapons of mass destruction from the countries of mass destruction endorsed by the United Nations of mass destruction and met with global silence while Yemen is being destroyed. The American regime is mainly responsible, the UN and the Security Council follow closely as legal cover for the crimes committed by the US and its Saudi and UAE partners enabling them to commit the atrocities against the Yemeni people. Saudi Arabia and UAE are number three in the responsibility league table and then you have, as number four, the fugitive, illegitimate President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his political team at the UN or working as ambassadors in other countries.

Finally, I always welcome you and your questions at any time and whatever the questions without reservation, and thank you deeply for your constant solidarity with us. People are two types (either your brother in religion or your counterpart in creation) and we live in one land and one race and live one life and our destiny is one … all respect to you and the people of the world.

***

Vanessa Beeley is an independent journalist, peace activist, photographer and associate editor at 21st Century Wire. Vanessa was a finalist for one of the most prestigious journalism awards – the 2017 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism – whose winners have included the likes of Robert Parry in 2017, Patrick Cockburn, Robert Fisk, Nick Davies and the Bureau for Investigative Journalism team. Please support her work at her Patreon account.

https://21stcenturywire.com/2018/12/17/ ... al-haderi/
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:25 pm

Built-in U.S. war drive fuels genocide in Yemen

December 17, 2018 John Parker

Remains of school bus destroyed by a U.S.-supplied bomb in August 2018. Forty Yemeni children were killed.
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen demands, as a first step, the unconditional withdrawal of U.S. weapons and military aid — not excuses to justify remaining a partner in genocide.

It doesn’t matter whether Washington calls its own political structure a democracy and another country a dictatorship or failed state. These are words used by the powers-that-be to vilify their targets and ease public acceptance of imperialist war.

What actually matters is the fact that a much more powerful imperialist country is terrorizing a sovereign nation for the ultimate purpose of profit.

As V.I. Lenin, leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution, wrote when analysing World War 1: “The struggle for markets and for plundering foreign lands, the eagerness to head off the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and to crush democracy within each country, the urge to deceive, divide, and crush the proletarians of all countries, to incite the wage slaves of one nation against the wage slaves of another nation for the profits of the bourgeoisie — that is the only real content and meaning of the war.” (The Tasks of Revolutionary Social-Democracy in the European War, August 1914)

We hear both Republican and Democratic Party politicians — even some who call themselves socialists — pushing for wars in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, or whipping up fear against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). Yemen is also one of their targets.

For years, Saudi Arabia has been violating the sovereignty of the people of Yemen in their fight against U.S. and Saudi domination. The movement of resistance, Ansar Allah (called Houthi rebels in the U.S. media), at one point successfully overthrew a government tied to Saudi Arabia and the U.S. It was then met with attacks from both al-Qaida and the coalition forces of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

Here’s how a CBS news report from Nov. 28 described the situation: “With weapons supplied by the U.S., Saudi Arabia is capable of much greater damage. The Saudi-led coalition has hit weddings, markets and schools with airstrikes, according to a U.N. report, and aid groups say a Saudi blockade has contributed to a deadly cholera outbreak, leaving thousands dead. There are as many as 14 million people at risk of starvation in Yemen.”

A Nov. 20 report by Save the Children, citing United Nations data, states that some 85,000 children under age 5 may have died from extreme hunger or disease since the war in Yemen escalated. According to the charity, this is a conservative estimate of the effects of severe acute malnutrition between April 2015 and October 2018.

According to the report: “Almost four years since the brutal conflict in Yemen escalated, the U.N. says that up to 14 million people are at risk of famine. That number has increased dramatically since the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition imposed a month-long blockade of Yemen just over a year ago.”

That blockade couldn’t happen without U.S. assistance.

Loophole to continue war

Concessions to the ruling class by politicians, which allow repression and economic war to be waged against workers here on a daily basis, also pave the way for murder against our fellow workers abroad. The road to Trump’s anti-migrant policies and war in Yemen were paved by the Obama administration’s record number of deportations and extension of drone wars over Africa and Yemen.

On Nov. 28, Sen. Bernie Sanders forced a Senate vote that allowed debate on his bill, SJR 54, resulting in its approval on Dec. 13. The bill is supposedly meant to end U.S. support for the war against Yemen, and its victory has been lauded by many well-meaning progressives, who may not have looked under the hood before they bought what Sanders was selling. Some suspicion was warranted given Sanders’ contradictory international record, including his backward stance on Venezuela and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Some of that past support for U.S. wars, in fact, helped pave the way for the humanitarian crisis we are witnessing today in Yemen. This speaks to the influence of the military-industrial complex even on politicians who have a more progressive domestic agenda.

According to an April 1, 2016, article by Alexander Cohen in Politico, entitled “The Defense Industry’s Surprising 2016 Favorites: Bernie & Hillary”:

“Despite advocating steep cuts in defense spending, Sanders’ campaign has accepted at least $310,055 from defense-related workers — more than any Republican presidential candidate — since the start of the 2016 campaign cycle.”

This may explain why the recent bill by Sanders, although presented as a measure to stop Washington’s involvement in Yemen, would actually justify further atrocities by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, in addition to allowing two huge loopholes to continue war cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

One of these loopholes caused even the American Civil Liberties Union to reject a similar bill, primarily authored by Democrat Ro Khanna, to stop U.S. assistance to Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

That bill stalled due to a technicality introduced by Republicans on Nov. 14. In a Nov. 18 article on the ACLU website, Hina Shamsi, director of the group’s National Security Project, explained why they had urged Congress members to vote “No” on that very similar bill.

Shamsi writes: “Critically, the legislation wouldn’t actually end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition. That’s because it requires an end to U.S. support for Saudi ‘hostilities,’ but it doesn’t specifically define the hostilities that Congress is prohibiting. To understand why that’s a problem, you have to know a bit of recent history — going back to the Obama administration, when U.S. support began.”

Democrats blazed trail for Trump

Shamsi goes on to explain that to justify the war in Libya, Obama changed the definition of “hostilities” in order to allow unchecked use of airstrikes, setting a dangerous precedent — as legal scholars warned at the time. And, Trump is now taking advantage of that precedent.

Shamsi also explains how the legislation “gives a pass” to current U.S. assassinations in Yemen, allowing the Trump administration to put a formal legal stamp on murder. “That’s because the Yemen resolution contains an exception stating that it doesn’t apply to the United States’ own use of force in Yemen if those activities are authorized by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF),” states Shamsi. “That law authorized only the war in Afghanistan, but three administrations have improperly relied on it for military actions around the world.

“We have long fought against the government’s untenable arguments about where and how the AUMF applies — arguments the government has made to justify everything from deadly drone strikes in Yemen to unlawful detention of a U.S. citizen captured in Syria. Courts have largely been reluctant to adjudicate these claims, even in cases of the worst American human rights abuses. And the Trump administration knows that,” Shamsi explained. …

“As The Associated Press reported just last week, this administration has dramatically expanded the number of lethal U.S. strikes in Yemen, and at least a third of those killed so far in 2018 were civilians. … There’s another related mistake here. The Trump administration would also likely read this exception to justify its support for the United Arab Emirate’s devastating actions in Yemen, so long as they are purportedly taken against al-Qaida under the AUMF Umbrella.”

Although the Sanders bill does not name the AUMF waiver, it emphatically states that engagement and assistance to Saudi forces is justified as long as the claim of al-Qaida involvement is made by either country. And, as history has shown time and again, the actual presence or nonpresence of al-Qaida is irrelevant to the claims made by the U.S.

But, that’s just the first major loophole. The second is even bigger. When the bill was presented on Dec. 13, it also allowed an amendment that reads: “As Modified; To provide that nothing in the joint resolution shall be construed to influence or disrupt any military operations and cooperation with Israel.”

Meaning, this bill says nothing at all. Why? Because if “military operations” does not refer to “and cooperation with Israel,” then anything goes and this bill has no effect. If the clause “military operations” is part of “and cooperation with Israel,” meaning it refers only to allied war moves with Israel, then all that U.S.-armed Israel has to do is say that it’s part of the coalition in Yemen and, again, the bill has absolutely no effect. The intentionally vague language allows the bill to be read either way.

Even the one thing this bill is clear on, not allowing the U.S. to fuel Saudi aircraft, is contradicted by that amendment. In any case, the Saudis are now fueling their own aircraft. In fact, as reported in the Financial Times on Nov. 10, the Saudis themselves asked for this: “Riyadh said that it requested the cessation as it had increased its ‘capability to independently conduct in-flight refuelling in Yemen.’”

Just as pertinent is the fact that, as the Associated Press reported on Aug. 6, al-Qaida, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have been working together against the Ansar Allah forces, which are actually fighting al-Qaida. That association between the Saudis, the U.S. and al-Qaida, again, makes this bill useless, since wherever the U.S. is fighting in Yemen, as in the U.S. war against Syria, al-Qaida forces are close by, and sometimes in collaboration.

Sanders and the war on Libya

Former President Obama wasn’t the only Democratic Party candidate whose actions directly affected the pace and direction of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with his justification for the 2011 war against Libya being used today. Regime change in Libya was also endorsed by Bernie Sanders.

In addition, Trump’s nomination of James Mattis, earlier appointed by President Obama as head of Central Command, for secretary of defense, was supported by most Democrats, and Sanders. This despite the fact that Mattis was responsible for multiple war crimes against the people of Iraq, including the siege of Fallujah. There, the Pentagon targeted civilians and children with white phosphorus — a substance that self-ignites and melts skin immediately on contact — a horrific weapon whose use on civilians violates international law.

On Sept. 19, 2016, the Washington Post admitted it was likely the U.S. gave white phosphorus weapons to Saudi Arabia to use in Yemen. That Sanders’ bill would basically do nothing to stop the use of these types of weapons against the children of Yemen speaks volumes about the complicity of the Democrats and their supporters, whose talents mostly center on quieting dissent against U.S. war crimes.

Although the money going to Democratic, pro-Democratic and Republican politicians explains their support of U.S. wars, it doesn’t explain why the ruling class, the financial and industrial monopolists who run this country, pay to maintain these wars in the first place. But their profit motive and billions of dollars in arms sales to the Saudi alliance does.

Even after Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul last October by direct order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the CIA, Trump refused to threaten relations with the Saudi family for the benefit of arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin. Lockheed made the bomb that Saudis dropped on a school bus in Yemen, killing 40 children in August. (Guardian, Aug. 19)

By the way, Sanders was the sixth-largest recipient of affiliated aid from Lockheed Martin in his 2016 electoral campaign, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Quelling people’s anger

After the revelations came out last year about mass starvation resulting from the U.S.-assisted war in Yemen, and especially after Khashoggi’s murder, when people began to respond with anger and shock, a way of appeasing that anger had to be manufactured. Not with a bill that would actually stop U.S. assistance vital to the Saudi war against Yemen — but with one that could calm the opposition while continuing to block self-determination for the people of Yemen, which would likely threaten U.S. profits.

As Lenin explained in his scientific analysis of capitalism’s final, imperialist stage, the constant acquisition of land, resources and increased exploitation of labor is required to fend off a continual decline or decay in its ability to maintain ruling-class profits. This requires more war and denying the working class even more of the wealth created through its labor.

Taking basic social services away from workers is a direct consequence of the trillions of dollars necessary to prosecute imperialist wars. Dollars denied to our communities, and the wars that steal the wealth of workers abroad, lead to more police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement brutality here at home, to keep the people in fear so they won’t demand the wealth that they created.

And as the economy worsens and recessions take longer and longer to recover from, so-called progressive politicians, even those who call themselves socialist, increasingly seek to quell the people’s anger. They aim to limit reforms to window dressing that does nothing to better the condition of the working class in the long run, here or abroad.

Instead of being satisfied with whatever piece of legislative rotten meat is thrown our way, let’s come together and make our own solutions. Let’s work on shutting this system down and demanding that not one more child die in criminal wars for profit.

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2018/ ... -in-yemen/
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Sat May 18, 2019 1:02 pm

Massacres won’t weaken Yemeni nation: Houthi leader
Sat May 18, 2019 07:02AM [Updated: Sat May 18, 2019 09:14AM ]

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Supporters of Yemen's Ansarullah movement attend a rally in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, December 5, 2017. (Photo by AP)

The leader of Yemen's Ansarullah movement has condemned the recent Saudi-led airstrikes on residential areas in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, saying the attacks won’t weaken the nation's determination.

“The enemy’s persistent crimes will never weaken the will of the Yemeni nation; they are in fact steadfast in the resistance against the enemy’s aggression,” said Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi on Saturday.

At least seven civilians, including children, were killed in the Saudi air raids on Thursday. Four of those died were from one family. Dozens more were also wounded in the attacks.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs later said that five children had died as a result of the airstrike.

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PressTV-6 civilians killed in Saudi strikes on Yemen’s capital

At least 6 civilians, including children, are killed in multiple Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sana’a.
Houthi said that killings served as yet another instance of Saudi crimes against the country, revealing the “true essence” of the enemy.

“The coalition proved its animosity towards the Muslim people of Yemen since the first days [of its campaign] and showed that the victims of the coalition’s crimes are children, women and civilians which are bombed while asleep,” he said.

The Ansarullah leader further noted that “the crimes of the coalition have developed into a well-known issue in the world.”

“Today, the transgressing coalition – with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at its forefront, along with all its backers – hosts the worst record in genocide in the world,” he said.

Saudi war crimes

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi issued a statement condemning the attacks on Friday.

"We urge international bodies and human rights organizations to act according to their responsibilities and stop such crimes from happening again by any means possible," said Mousavi.

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PressTV-Iran condemns Saudi bombing of Sana'a residential areas

Iran condemns recent Saudi-led airstrikes which targeted residential areas in Yemeni capital Sana'a.
United Nation's Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, also condemned the attack.

“Everything must be done to protect civilians. This is not optional. This is a legal and above all moral obligation on all parties,” she said.

The Saudi attack also prompted the condemnation of various Yemeni officials.

Speaking to Russia's Arabic RT channel, Ansarullah Supreme Political Council member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said that attacking residential areas would attract more volunteers to fight “in the fronts”, rather than be killed under the coalition’s bombings.

Ali al-Qahoum, a member of Ansarullah's Political Council, described the attacks as a sign of “the enemy’s weakness and defeat”.

“This massacre, demonstrates the amount of savagery of the Saudi kingdom," he added.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of ex-president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.

According to a December 2018 report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis.

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PressTV-UN: Saudi strikes on Yemen may amount to war crimes

United Nations human rights experts raise alarm at civilian casualties in Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen, saying the strikes “may amount to war crimes.”
The US-backed war effort has also led to a major surge of Western arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which depend greatly on foreign arms and military support in the war.

France, the United States, Britain and other Western countries have faced criticism over arms sales to the Saudi regime and its partners over the war.

Last week, popular protests prevented a Saudi cargo ship that had been expected to pick up a hugely controversial shipment of arms from receiving its arms cargo from France.

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PressTV-Amnesty slams French weapons sales to Saudi

Amnesty international says France is no longer trustworthy as it keeps changing its explanation for striking arms deals with Saudi Arabia.
The Human Rights Watch later described the event as a “small victory” against arms sales to the kingdom.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/05/ ... ians-Saudi
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Sat Jun 08, 2019 7:47 pm

HOUTHIS REPEL THREE ATTACKS IN SOUTHERN NAJRAN, DESTROY SEVERAL SAUDI MILITARY VEHICLES (VIDEO)



The Houthis repelled three ground attack by the Saudi-led coalition and its proxies on their positions west of the al-Sudais Mount in the Saudi province of Najran on June 8.

Houthi fighters destroyed 2 vehicles of the coalition with heavy improvised-explosive devices (IEDs) during the clashes in southern Najran. A Saudi-backed Yemeni fighter was also captured by the Houthis after being abandoned by his comrades.



The last few days witnessed a series of hit and run attacks by the Houthis in southern Najran. The attacks led to heavy losses among Saudi-led coalition forces. The coalition’s attacks west of al-Sudais were likely another attempt to put an end to the Houthis’ activists inside Saudi Arabia.

The failure of these attacks, confirms, yet again, that the Houthis have the upper hand on the Saudi-Yemeni border despite all the previous attempts by Saudi-led coalition to secure this area.

https://southfront.org/houthis-repel-th ... les-video/
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