OMNI
YEMEN WATCH, November 18, 2018
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace and Justice
http://omnicenter.org/donate/
CONTENTS
Introduction
Arranged by 4 topics in 2 parts,
I For the War
Saudi/US War Against Yemen
US Mainstream Media Supporting
II Opposition
Resistance to the War
Is Our Policy Changing?
US BOMBINGS AND SUPPORT OF THE SAUDI BOMBINGS of YEMEN (a tiny glimpse of the complicated story provided by the NADG)
2010 Schmitz, Beginnings: US Drone War Against Al Qaeda
2011 Obama Withdraws from Saleh
2012 Johnsen, Book on Al-Qaeda in Yemen
Apps, Sunni Saudis v. Yemeni Shi’ite Rebellion
2016 Cockburn, Our Shameful War
Michael, Drone Kills Al-Quada’s No. 2
2017 Haddad, State of Emergency, US/SA Arms Deal
Nesbit, Hell on Earth
VOA, Death and Destruction
Emmons, War Crimes
2018 Kuzmarov, “Another Deadly Imperial War,” Atrocities, Murphy Bill v. Arms
Sales
Sales
Boardman, Yeman and US War on Terror
Ferguson, US Bombs and US Enemies
Corbett, Kashoggi and Yemen Famine
Worth, Stalemate
US MEDIA REPORTING ON YEMEN
It is almost the Corporate-Pentagon-White House-Congress-MAINSTREAM MEDIA.
Adam Johnson. “Saudi Arms Deal Stories Omitted Who the Weapons Would Be
Killing.” Extra! (July/August 2017).
Killing.” Extra! (July/August 2017).
Adam Johnson. MSNBC, the supposed network of the anti-Trump
resistance, is ignoring the president’s most devastating war.
Bennett, Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette(NADG) mis-reporting
Yemen—the curse of nationalism in breaking news format.
RESISTANCE, PROTEST, PEACE-MAKERS, PEACE-MAKING: STOP REFUELING, STOP ALL SUPPORT OF THE INVASION OF YEMEN (a glance at a small part of the national opposition)
OMNI
UN Initiatives August 2018
Peace Action
War Resisters League
Just Foreign Policy
Win Without War
Veterans for Peace
Move On
Norwegian Refugee Council
STOP REFUELING: IS US POLICY CHANGING?
Win Without War
Common Dreams
INTRODUCTION
I recently revisited a town where I had once lived, curious about changes. As I drove into town on the main highway, I counted two new banks under construction, and later I learned there was a third. The business of circulating honeymoney was thriving. Intersections were packed with cars and trucks. The town was on the move!
At the end of the day, however, I felt differently. Maybe I was just tired, but at the end of the day, for a few minutes I imagined myself in a satellite hovering over the town. I couldn’t see the people walking, nor even the vehicles hurtling. All seemed stationary. The busy-bees town seemed frozen in time
I had visited with several local people during the day. The book store was a welcome sight. It had no section on peace; but only a wall of shelves for various US wars. I had pinned a poppy on my coat lapel, which a friend had made, but the few who asked had to be reminded of Armistice Day, replaced by Veterans Day.
The residents and their cars and trucks were moving, some banks were expanding, but I found no change in the general, national acceptance of the Democrat/Republican War Party and US Empire. Instead of poppies for peace, I found, as I had increasingly discovered during recent decades, celebration of veterans, war, warriors—the troops.
I was there only a few hours, but if my freeze-frame recollection of the town is true of the nation, then it helps me understand why the US is allied with Saudi Arabia in destroying Yemen. The decimation of that country—the million people killed, wounded, made homeless and hungry--would not be happening without US satellite intelligence, US aircraft, US refueling tankers, and US bombs. And all of that destructive power could not happen without its acceptance by the thousand other similar towns and cities of the nation.
The purpose of this newsletter is to expose and protest the genocidal invasion of Yemen.
US SUPPORT OF THE SAUDI INVASION of YEMEN
Initially I intended to distinguish articles on the history of the war from US support of the Sunni Saudis v. the Shi’a Yemeni rebels, but because the subjects proved indistinguishable, I have placed each item in its chronological order, beginning in Feb. 2010. Some of these articles refer to US mainstream media support of the US-Saudi alliance, for which a separate section follows.
2010 US Drone War in Yemen
US/YEMEN ANTI-TERRORISM, ANTI- INSURGENCY, CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
DEMOCRACY NOW 2-23-2010.
Prof. Charles Schmitz, Am. Instit. For Yemen Studies at Towson U.
US operated Predator drones in Yemen for several years against al Qaeda in support of Yemen ruler Saleh against rebels in N. And S. Yemen . Many civilian casualties. Two ethnic groups: Zaydi and Hoothi. --Dick
2011 WHOM TO SUPPORT AGAINST AL QAEDA? Obama withdraws from Saleh. Just Foreign Policy News, July 11, 2011.
President Obama sent his counterterrorism chief to meet with Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, with the envoy telling him that the only way to get US aid flowing again was to sign an accord that would effectively remove Saleh from power, the New York Times reports. The US had long been a supporter of Saleh's authoritarian rule, viewing it as the best way to combat Qaeda affiliates in Yemen
Just Foreign Policy naiman@justforeignpolicy.org to jbennet
2012 Gregory D. Johnsen. The Last Refuge: YEMEN, AL-QAEDA, AND AMERICA'S WAR IN ARABIA. Norton, 2012. Overview | Inside the Book.
A gripping account of how al-Qaeda in Yemen rebounded from an initial defeat to once again threaten the United States.
Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers in an unforgiving corner of Arabia.
The Last Refuge charts the rise, fall, and resurrection of al-Qaeda in Yemen over the last thirty years, detailing how a group that the United States once defeated has now become one of the world’s most dangerous threats. An expert on Yemen who has spent years on the ground there, Gregory D. Johnsen uses al-Qaeda’s Arabic battle notes to reconstruct their world as they take aim at the United States and its allies. Johnsen brings readers inside al-Qaeda’s training camps and safe houses as the terrorists plot poison attacks and debate how to bring down an airliner on Christmas Day. The Last Refuge is an eye-opening look at the successes and failures of fighting a new type of war in one of the most turbulent countries in the world.
The Last Refuge charts the rise, fall, and resurrection of al-Qaeda in Yemen over the last thirty years, detailing how a group that the United States once defeated has now become one of the world’s most dangerous threats. An expert on Yemen who has spent years on the ground there, Gregory D. Johnsen uses al-Qaeda’s Arabic battle notes to reconstruct their world as they take aim at the United States and its allies. Johnsen brings readers inside al-Qaeda’s training camps and safe houses as the terrorists plot poison attacks and debate how to bring down an airliner on Christmas Day. The Last Refuge is an eye-opening look at the successes and failures of fighting a new type of war in one of the most turbulent countries in the world.
“Gregory Johnsen has written a break-through book on one of the most under-reported and misunderstood stories of the post 9-11 era. Penned in gripping prose and with incredible attention to detail, The Last Refuge unfolds with the pace of an action novel. But this story is all too true. If we ignore the widening covert war in Yemen and fail to learn from its complicated history, we do so at our own peril. Years from now, Johnsen will be seen as one of the few who got it right.” — Jeremy Scahill, author of the international bestseller,Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
2012 As violence rises, U.S. and allies pulled into Yemen.
AL QAEDA IS THE PROBLEM, OR RELIGIOUS WAR?
Peter Apps, Reuters, June 1, 2012. For full report go to:
With an estimated several hundred military advisers already deployed, Washington and its allies are already being drawn ever deeper into Yemen U.S.
Some, including US Naval War College expert Hayat Alvi, warn that a "myopic" focus on counterterrorism may be blinding the US to other issues. She suspects that in Yemen as elsewhere, the U.S. is being drawn deeper into growing region-wide struggle between ethnic Sunni and Shi'ite forces itself fueled by growing confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saudi's Yemen policy, she believes, is focused primarily not on Al Qaeda but on crushing the northern Yemeni Shi'ite rebellion.
2016 ANDREW COCKBURN in DEMOCRACY NOW and in HARPER’S MAGAZINE, “Acceptable Losses”:
"This is Our War & It is Shameful:" Journalist Andrew Cockburn on the U.S. Role in the War in Yemen Democracy Now! - August 22, 2016.
For more, we're joined by Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor for Harper's magazine. His latest piece for Harper's is headlined "Acceptable Losses: Aiding and Abetting ...” http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/22/this_is_our_warWATCH FULL SHOW
ANDREW COCKBURN, “ACCEPTABLE LOSSES,” Google Search, August 23, 2016 [Letter from Washington] | Acceptable Losses, by ... -Harper's Magazine harpers.org › ARCHIVE › 2016 › September Just a few short years ago, Yemen was judged to be among the poorest countries in the world, ranking 154th out of the 187 nations on the U.N.'s Human ... Saleh's own offensive was equally ineffectual, and the Houthis were left to fight another day. Meanwhile,.. More news from Andrew Cockburn, Acceptable Losses
"This is Our War & It is Shameful:" Journalist Andrew Cockburn on the U.S. Role in the War in Yemen Democracy Now! - August 22, 2016.
For more, we're joined by Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor for Harper's magazine. His latest piece for Harper's is headlined "Acceptable Losses: Aiding and Abetting ...” http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/22/this_is_our_warWATCH FULL SHOW
ANDREW COCKBURN, “ACCEPTABLE LOSSES,” Google Search, August 23, 2016 [Letter from Washington] | Acceptable Losses, by ... -Harper's Magazine harpers.org › ARCHIVE › 2016 › September Just a few short years ago, Yemen was judged to be among the poorest countries in the world, ranking 154th out of the 187 nations on the U.N.'s Human ... Saleh's own offensive was equally ineffectual, and the Houthis were left to fight another day. Meanwhile,.. More news from Andrew Cockburn, Acceptable Losses
2016 Maggie Michael. “Drone Strike Got al-Qaida’s No. 2. Ex-bin Laden aide commanded network’s Yemen branch.” NADG (June 17, 2016). Killing Nasir al-Wahishi “…dealing the global network its biggest blow since the killing of Osama bin Laden.” He “is the latest in a series of senior figures from al-Qaida’s Yemen branch who have been killed by U.S. drone strikes the past five months.” At end a paragraph reported an “airstrike” apparently from the Saudi-led coalition on a “passenger bus carrying families fleeing the violence” that “killed more than two dozen civilians,”. For the complete report:
2017 A CATHOLIC Report
Casa Cry (June 2017)
In Yemen, officials have declared a state of emergency in the capital over a cholera outbreak that has already killed 115 people. Yemen’s health, water and sanitation services have been severely impacted by the ongoing U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war on Yemen. The Saudis’ seemingly deliberate bombing of roads, bridges, ports and cranes contributes to the death of a Yemeni child every 10 minutes, every day, according to the U.N. Unnamed officials say the White House is close to finalizing an arms deal worth $100 billion with Saudi Arabia, from Dr. Hussein El Haddad, the director of one of the few hospitals in the capital that is still functioning. Maryknoll News Notes via Casa Cry (June 2017). –Dick
2017 Jeff Nesbit. U.S. News & World Report: Yemen: Welcome to Hell. June 26, 2017.
“Yemen looks an awful lot like Hell on Earth right now – and virtually no one in the United States seems to know about it, or much less care.”
“Yemen looks an awful lot like Hell on Earth right now – and virtually no one in the United States seems to know about it, or much less care.”
2017 Yemen War Brings Multiple Disasters: Death, Destruction, Cholera, Famine. Voice of America. June 28, 2017.
“More than two years of civil war have led to continually compounding disasters in Yemen. Fighting rages on in a deadly stalemate. The economy has been bombed into ruins. Hunger is widespread, and a new misery has been added: the world's biggest current outbreak of cholera, with more than 200,000 cases.”
“More than two years of civil war have led to continually compounding disasters in Yemen. Fighting rages on in a deadly stalemate. The economy has been bombed into ruins. Hunger is widespread, and a new misery has been added: the world's biggest current outbreak of cholera, with more than 200,000 cases.”
2017 Chris Murphy Accuses U.S. of War Crimes Complicity
Alex Emmons. THE INTERCEPT. November 14 2017, 9:15 p.m.
https://theintercept.com/2017/11/14/chris-murphy-accuses-u-s-of-complicity-in-war-crimes-from-the-floor-of-the-senate/ (Forwarded to the Bernie group and Sr Dems officers 11-15-17. –D)
Alex Emmons. THE INTERCEPT. November 14 2017, 9:15 p.m.
https://theintercept.com/2017/11/14/chris-murphy-accuses-u-s-of-complicity-in-war-crimes-from-the-floor-of-the-senate/ (Forwarded to the Bernie group and Sr Dems officers 11-15-17. –D)
2018 “What Uncle Sam Really Wants in Yemen.” Huffpost, April 12, 2018
Yemen is currently facing a “biblical type” humanitarian catastrophe.
Fifty thousand children are believed to have died this year alone including from a cholera outbreak and thousands have been displaced.
A Saudi-led coalition is seeking to install Abdrabbah Mansour Hadi as president against a Shia-dominated Houthi rebellion backed by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. To accomplish this end, the Saudis have mercilessly bombed civilian infrastructure with the goal of starving the population into submission.
Their crime has been aided and abetted by the United States, which has provided intelligence for bomb targeting, pilot training and refueling assistance for Saudi planes as well as ordinance which has been used to kill and maim civilians.
The Obama administration provided over $100 billion in arms sales to the Saudis and blamed the Houthis for the violence, saying they “had a way of putting civilians into danger.” Trump expanded funding in a trip to the kingdom and Jared Kushner has had a series of private meetings with Prince Salman with whom he has got along with famously well.
A consortium of Congressmen led by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) have spoken out against U.S. complicity in the atrocities in Yemen and sponsored a bill calling for a ban in arms sales. MORE https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-uncle-sam-really-wants-in-yemen_us_5a12ee54e4b0e30a9585091d
Also see: “Secret Teams in Another Deadly Imperial War.” Dick and Sharon’s L. A. Progressive,
2018 William Boardman. “Mega Deaths from America.” Z Magazine (Jan. 2018). US support of slaughter in Yeman, part of US global war of terror. –D
2018 Jane Ferguson. “American-Made Bombs in Yemen Are Killing Civilians, Destroying Infrastructure and Fueling Anger at the US.” PBS, 5 July, 2018. This morning, Democracy Now had a hard-hitting report on the U.S.-Saudi war in Yemen. They combined highlights of the PBS Newshour series with an interview with Jane Ferguson, the PBS Newshour journalist who “smuggled” herself into Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen to report on conditions there. [Just Foreign Policy reported this July 20.] Watch & share the Democracy Now report. Tell Congress to act.
2018. As Khashoggi Case Highlights Saudi Crimes, UN Warns Famine Driven by US-Backed War in Yemen Could Kill 13 Million People.
While the U.S. faces pressure to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, the United Nations estimates that if current conditions continue, Yemen could face "the worst famine in the world in 100 years."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/15/khashoggi-case-highlights-saudi-crimes-un-warns-famine-driven-us-backed-war-yemen Published on Monday, October 15, 2018 By
"I think many of us felt as we went into the 21st century that it was unthinkable that we could see a famine like we saw in Ethiopia, that we saw in Bengal, that we saw in parts of the Soviet Union—that was just unacceptable," Lise Grande, chief of the U.N.'s diplomatic mission in Yemen, said in an interview with BBC News."Many of us had the confidence that would never happen again and yet the reality is that in Yemen that is precisely what we are looking at," she continued. "We predict that we could be looking at 12 to 13 million innocent civilians who are at risk of dying from the lack of food."
Asked by BBC correspondent Orla Guerin if the global community should be ashamed about what already has become the world's worst humanitarian crisis, Grande responded: "Yes. There's no question we should be ashamed, and we should, every day that we wake up, renew our commitment to do everything possible to help the people that are suffering and end the conflict."
Yemeni civilians who don't starve to death or die from rampant disease are still at risk of being killed by the Saudi and UAE-led coalition's airstrikes. MORE https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/15/khashoggi-case-highlights-saudi-crimes-un-warns-famine-driven-us-backed-war-yemen
Following Khashoggi's suspected murder, President Donald Trump has been hit with a new wave of pressure to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia and end support for the coalition. While Trump, in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, threatened "severe punishment" if the United States finds evidence that Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the president has alsorepeatedly said in recent days that he doesn't want to cut off arms sales to the country because it would cost U.S. weapons manufacturers jobs and profit.
Last month—even before Khashoggi's suspicious disappearance—Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation that aims to revoke all U.S. support for the war. It was welcomed by peace advocates as a long overdue move that "offers a glimmer of hope to the suffering people of Yemen."
William D. Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy and a supporter of Khanna's measure, argued Monday that "regardless of what ultimately happened to Khashoggi, continuing U.S. arms sales and military support to Saudi Arabia under current circumstances is immoral."
"Jobs should not be an excuse to arm a murderous regime," Hartung asserted, "that not only may be behind the assassination of a U.S. resident and respected commentator but is responsible for thousands of civilian casualties in its three-and-one-half-year military intervention in Yemen—the majority killed with U.S.-supplied bombs and combat aircraft and U.S. refueling and targeting assistance."
[What are we to think of this almost equal attention to the death of one man and the death of a nation? Is the death of one man a tragedy, but the death of millions is a statistic, a comment misattributed to Joseph Stalin?].
"How the War in Yemen Became a Bloody Stalemate - and the Worst Humanitarian Crisis in the World"By Robert E. Worth (photographs by Linsey Addario), New York Times Magazine, posted October 31.
| Nov 12, 2018 |
MAINSTREAM Media Reporting on Yemen
Adam Johnson, “Saudi Arms Deal Stories Omitted Who the
Weapons Would Be Killing.” Extra! (July/August 2017).
Weapons Would Be Killing.” Extra! (July/August 2017).
The US/Saudi weapons deal is worth nearly $110 billion immediately and $350 billion over 10 years, and by July 2017 10,000 civilians had been killed and 7 million people were living in near-famine conditions. But “the vast majority of the media reports on the topic” omitted “whom the weapons will be used to kill.” No major newspaper criticized Trump for its close relationship with the SA dictatorship. “Such is most reporting on the US’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
MSNBC Not Reporting on Yemen
MSNBC has done 455 Stormy Daniels segments in the last year — but none on U.S. war in Yemen. Why is the supposed network of the anti-Trump resistance totally ignoring the president’s most devastating war?
ADAM JOHNSON JULY 25, 2018 1:00PM (UTC)
This article originally appeared at FAIR.org. Used by permission.
As FAIR has noted before, to MSNBC, the carnage and destruction the U.S. and its Gulf monarchy allies are leveling against the poorest country in the Arab world is simply a non-issue.
On July 2, a year had passed since the cable network’s last segment mentioning U.S. participation in the war on Yemen, which has killed in excess of 15,000 people and resulted in over a million cases of cholera. The U.S. is backing a Saudi-led bombing campaign with intelligence, refueling, political cover, military hardware and, as of March, ground troops. None of this matters at all to what Adweek calls “the network of the Resistance,” which has since its last mention of the U.S. role in the destruction of Yemen found time to run over a dozen segments highlighting war crimes committed by the Syrian and Russian governments in Syria.Click for Sound
By way of contrast, as MSNBC was marking a year without mentioning the U.S. role in Yemen, the PBS NewsHour was running a three-part series on the war, with the second part headlined, “American-Made Bombs in Yemen Are Killing Civilians, Destroying Infrastructure and Fueling Anger at the US.” The NewsHour’s Jane Ferguson reported:
The aerial bombing campaign has not managed to dislodge the rebels, but has hit weddings, hospitals and homes. The US military supports the Saudi coalition with logistics and intelligence. The United States also sells the Saudis and coalition partners many of the bombs they drop on Yemen.
Arkansas Democrat GazetteReporting on Yemen 2018
Compiled by Dick Bennett (at end I comment on the items and on one cited in bold)
Civilian deaths in Saudis’ strikes in Yemen projected to rise (ADG, 11-11-18)
Houthi rebels deny Yemen airport taken (ADG, 6-17-18)
U.N. says siege will decimate Yemenis (ADG, 6-9-18)
Saudi-led coalition captures Yemeni town (ADG, 6-15-18)
Twenty-eight deaths reported in Yemen (ADG, 8-3-18)
Inquiry urged in militia abuses in Yemen (ADG, 7-13-18)
Saudis kick out Canadian envoy (ADG, 8-6-18)
80 people killed in Yemen fighting (8-6-18)
Saudis seek death for female activist (8-23-18)
Al Qaeda chief killed in Yemen (8-26-18)
Group calls Yemen airstrikes a war crime (9-3-18)
Saudis apologize for some mistakes (9-2-18)
Coalition strike kills 17 people in Yemen (10-14-18)
Turk killing brutal, planned (10-24-18) (reference the cartoon at beginning, I have included only 3 of the NADG’s articles)
U.S. pushes for Yemen solution (11-1-18)
Saudi prince said to deride slain journalist in call (11-2-18)
Airstrikes target rebels in Yemen (11-8-18)
Yemenis flee Saudi-led onslaught (11-10-18)
Shared audio tapes in writer’s slaying, Turk says (11-11-18)
Civilian deaths in Saudis’ strikes in Yemen projected to rise (ADG, 11-11-18)
Civilians killed in strike on Yemen (11-15-18) (fleeing civilians in a bus)
Senate Clears Arms Sales to Saudi Ally (11-16-18).
Saudis Sanctioned in Writer’s Death (11-16-18).
CIA: Saudi prince knew about journalist’s killing (11-17-18)
[I included several of the reports on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by 17 Saudis to illustrate the sub-topic of the NADG and US mainstream media in generalallowing the Saudi state murder of one person to compete with the war that is destroying an entire nation The fragmentation of information into disproportionate historical and ethical bits by newspapers calls readers to seek depth and coherence elsewhere--by reading books or viewing documentaries.]
Analysis
Several of the reports claim that the “U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition” (Sunni) is defending the “internationally recognized Yemeni government” without explanation. That sounds favorable to the invasion, but it’s complicated. (Of course, the fragmented, breaking news mode of journalistic reporting prevents in-depth explanation in each item. Readers must be well-informed, careful, and possess a good memory.) For example, In Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection (2016), you find this history (pp. 160-61): Saudi Arabia’s long meddling in Yemeni politics, the Arab Spring rebellion against autocratic President Saleh, the replacement of Saleh by his vice president, Mansour Hadi, for a supposed two-year interim term leading to elections, Hadi’s refusal to relinquish office, World Bank insistence on suspension of fuel subsidies that supported the poor, the uprising of the Houthis, a Shi’a rebel group demanding reinstatement of the subsidies and representative government, “brute force” response from Hadi, union of the Houthis and the deposed president Saleh, civil war, Houthi conquest of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and Hadi’s flight to Saudi Arabia, government in exile, support from Saudi Arabia, SA bombing campaign against Houthis, and more. Now, what, who is the legitimate Yemeni government?
Several of the reports claim that the “U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition” (Sunni) is defending the “internationally recognized Yemeni government” without explanation. That sounds favorable to the invasion, but it’s complicated. (Of course, the fragmented, breaking news mode of journalistic reporting prevents in-depth explanation in each item. Readers must be well-informed, careful, and possess a good memory.) For example, In Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection (2016), you find this history (pp. 160-61): Saudi Arabia’s long meddling in Yemeni politics, the Arab Spring rebellion against autocratic President Saleh, the replacement of Saleh by his vice president, Mansour Hadi, for a supposed two-year interim term leading to elections, Hadi’s refusal to relinquish office, World Bank insistence on suspension of fuel subsidies that supported the poor, the uprising of the Houthis, a Shi’a rebel group demanding reinstatement of the subsidies and representative government, “brute force” response from Hadi, union of the Houthis and the deposed president Saleh, civil war, Houthi conquest of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and Hadi’s flight to Saudi Arabia, government in exile, support from Saudi Arabia, SA bombing campaign against Houthis, and more. Now, what, who is the legitimate Yemeni government?
Civilian deaths in Saudis’ strikes
But not all of the reports assuming a US/Saudi/”internationally recognized Yemeni government” in exile are so biased. The 11-11-18 report provides contradiction analysis of the US claim of scrupulous “precautions to prevent such bloodshed,” while the Saudi-US planes increase the killing. In the first four paragraphs, the AP reporter Lee Keath reported the US claim of care not to kill and showed how false is the claim. And Keath notes that the data for civilian casualties doesn’t include those killed by side-effects, such as starvation—perhaps 50,000 children in 2017 alone. Now that’s responsible journalism. And it was published by the NWAG.
But not all of the reports assuming a US/Saudi/”internationally recognized Yemeni government” in exile are so biased. The 11-11-18 report provides contradiction analysis of the US claim of scrupulous “precautions to prevent such bloodshed,” while the Saudi-US planes increase the killing. In the first four paragraphs, the AP reporter Lee Keath reported the US claim of care not to kill and showed how false is the claim. And Keath notes that the data for civilian casualties doesn’t include those killed by side-effects, such as starvation—perhaps 50,000 children in 2017 alone. Now that’s responsible journalism. And it was published by the NWAG.
RESISTANCE, PROTEST, PEACE-MAKERS, PEACE-MAKING
OMNI: Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology
OMNI originated in April 2001 as part of a comprehensive international movement. At first, because the invasion of Afghanistan occurred a few months later, and the invasion of Iraq two years later, we were preoccupied with world peace and justice. Gradually, as we become better informed about the climate catastrophe, we embraced ecology. See OMNI’s web site.
UN INITIATIVE
There is no military solution to the "absurd and futile war" being waged in Yemen, and Saudi-led coalition forces are killing an increasing number of Yemeni civilians, warns United Nations humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick. He says civilians are being punished by both sides in the conflict and urges all parties to consider their obligations to distinguish between civilian and military targets.
UN WIRE, UN FOUNDATION, 12-29-17
 Call now: We have a War Powers Resolution on Yemen!
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WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE
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Support Sen. Murphy's Amendment: No Tax Dollars for Killing Kids in Yemen
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Dear Dick,
Support Chris Murphy's amendment to
end the Yemen war. Sign the petition
Support Chris Murphy's amendment to
end the Yemen war. Sign the petition
On August 9, an airstrike by the Saudi-UAE-U.S. coalition bombing Yemen struck a bus packed with children in the northern village of Dahyan, killing at least 51 people, including 40 children, according to the Red Cross. Saudi regime spokesmen have defended this horrific massacre, calling the bus a “legitimate military target.”
When journalists asked a senior U.S. official if the U.S. supplied the bomb the Saudis used to blow up the bus full of kids and refueled the Saudi warplane that dropped the bomb on the bus full of kids, he responded: “Well, what difference does that make? We are providing the refueling and support to Saudi aircraft. We are also selling them munitions that are being used ... We are not denying that.”
When journalists asked a senior U.S. official if the U.S. supplied the bomb the Saudis used to blow up the bus full of kids and refueled the Saudi warplane that dropped the bomb on the bus full of kids, he responded: “Well, what difference does that make? We are providing the refueling and support to Saudi aircraft. We are also selling them munitions that are being used ... We are not denying that.”
CNN has established that the bomb that the Saudi regime used to blow up the bus full of kids was made by Pentagon contractor Lockheed Martin; transfer of the bomb to the Saudi regime was approved by the U.S. State Department.
The Washington Post editorial board says: “It is long past time to end U.S. support for this misbegotten and unwinnable war. There is a clear path out: A U.N. mediator has called the various parties to Geneva early next month to discuss a peace process. Among the first steps would be a cease-fire... U.N. sources say the Houthis...are ready to strike these accords, but the Saudi and UAE regimes have been resistant...[the Saudi and UAE regimes] will accept a peace process only if it is clear that they will not have Washington’s support for more war.”
Senator Chris Murphy has introduced an amendment to the Pentagon appropriation that would cut off U.S. tax dollars for this unconstitutional war – the war was never authorized by Congress, every day the war continues it violates Article I of the Constitution - unless Secretary of Defense Mattis certifies that the U.S.-enabled Saudi airstrike on the bus full of kids complied with international law and U.S. policy, something Mattis could never do unless he wants to be known as a shameless liar.
The Washington Post editorial board says: “It is long past time to end U.S. support for this misbegotten and unwinnable war. There is a clear path out: A U.N. mediator has called the various parties to Geneva early next month to discuss a peace process. Among the first steps would be a cease-fire... U.N. sources say the Houthis...are ready to strike these accords, but the Saudi and UAE regimes have been resistant...[the Saudi and UAE regimes] will accept a peace process only if it is clear that they will not have Washington’s support for more war.”
Senator Chris Murphy has introduced an amendment to the Pentagon appropriation that would cut off U.S. tax dollars for this unconstitutional war – the war was never authorized by Congress, every day the war continues it violates Article I of the Constitution - unless Secretary of Defense Mattis certifies that the U.S.-enabled Saudi airstrike on the bus full of kids complied with international law and U.S. policy, something Mattis could never do unless he wants to be known as a shameless liar.
52 Senators have voted against against the war in a floor vote, either in June 2017 or in March 2018 on the Sanders-Lee-Murphy bill invoking the War Powers Resolution. Among Senate Democrats, only Joe Donnelly, Joe Manchin, and Bill Nelson have never voted against the war in a floor vote.
Urge Senators to speak out for and vote for the Murphy amendment to cut off U.S. tax dollars for the kid-killing Saudi war in Yemen by signing our petition.
Urge Senators to speak out for and vote for the Murphy amendment to cut off U.S. tax dollars for the kid-killing Saudi war in Yemen by signing our petition.
https://www.change.org/p/support-chris-murphy-s-amendment-no-u-s-tax-dollars-for-killing-kids-in-yemen
Thank you for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Thank you for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Sarah Burns, and Tyler Bellstrom
Just Foreign Policy
Just Foreign Policy
If you think our work is important, please support us with an $18 donation.
We just got the chance to save millions of lives
Dick, We have a chance to save millions of lives by ending America's shameful role in the war in Yemen. Vermont progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and constitutional conservative Senator Mike Lee of Utah have introduced a resolution to cut off U.S. support for this illegal war. Because Congress has never authorized the war in Yemen, Bernie’s resolution is guaranteed a vote within days. This is huge. And we have just a few days to get our senators on board.  For three years, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been waging a secretive war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and its allies have deliberately put 8 million people a step away from famine. Meanwhile, the United States continues to funnel bombs, planes, and fuel into enabling Saudi and UAE brutality. In the movie Spotlight, I play a journalist who is determined to uncover abuse, no matter how powerful the abuser. Spotlight shows us that harm against innocents can only persist when no one is watching. In Yemen, the powerful figure enabling human rights abuse is our own government. I believe that when the American people are presented with the facts, we will act to stop our tax dollars from being used to bomb and starve innocent Yemenis simply to advance the Saudi dictatorship’s military ambitions. Thank you for working for peace, Mark Ruffalo and the Win Without War team |
Legislative Action: Stop War on Yemen
“American-made bombs - – dropped by American-made planes, refueled by American military forces – - have created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. [It has] … plunged millions to the brink of starvation, and sparked a cholera outbreak that kills another Yemeni nearly every hour.”
Yemen poses NO threat to our national security. Yet OUR government has helped fund the Saudi-led war that has killed 10,000 innocent Yemenis. There is a resolution in congress right now to stop this insanity. The Huffington Post, Democracy Now and the New York Times have published articles this week.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP IT? CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP IT? CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY.
1. THANK your Congressperson, IF s/he is one of the brave ____ that has already urged an end to this war. (List of them is attached: “Supportive Representatives.”)
2. If your Representative is not on the “Supportive Representatives” list, ask her/him to VOTE FOR THE KHANNA/MASSIE RESOLUTION TO STOP FUNDING THE SAUDI-LED WAR ON YEMEN. (HCR 81).
3. Read the Talking Points, for your phone call. They give:
o A two sentence explanation of this life-saving Resolution
o An overview of the tragic war our government is funding.
MoveOn comes out against the Saudi war in Yemen!
| Oct 5 (4 days ago)  | | ||
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Today, MoveOn.org came out in opposition to U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen, calling on House Members to support the bipartisan Khanna-Massie-Pocan-Jones resolution to end U.S. participation in the famine-inducing war, which is to be voted on next week. [1]
This is a very big deal. Every Democratic Member of the House knows very well who MoveOn is. Let's make sure that everyone we can reach finds out about this.
Here's three ways you can help spread the news. Take your pick, or do them all.
1. Share the news on Twitter. Go here and retweet.
https://twitter.com/MoveOn/status/915988941584482304
2. Share the news on Facebook. Just paste this link into your status update.
https://twitter.com/MoveOn/status/915988941584482304
3. Forward this email you're reading now, wherever you want.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
If you think our work is important, support us with a $17 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate
References:
1. https://twitter.com/MoveOn/status/915988941584482304
Dear Dick,Sunjeev Bery is MoveOn Campaign Director; before that he was at Amnesty International, where he was their lead campaigner on Congressional efforts to block U.S. weapons transfers to Saudi Arabia.
This morning, he laid out a powerful case on Twitter against the Saudi war in Yemen, against U.S. participation in that war, and in favor of the Khanna-Massie-Pocan-Jones resolution to end U.S. participation in that war.
I collected Sunjeev's tweets, together with the MoveOn endorsement of the Khanna-Massie bill, in this post at Daily Kos. I want Democrats who read Daily Kos to know about Sunjeev's case against the war and in favor of the Khanna-Massie bill.
Here's how you can help: share my post at Daily Kos, so that others will see it. While you're there, please vote in the poll in support of the Khanna-Massie bill.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/6/1704799/-MoveOn-Calls-on-House-to-Vote-Down-Saudi-War-in-Yemen
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
If you think our work is important, support us with a $17 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/6/1704799/-MoveOn-Calls-on-House-to-Vote-Down-Saudi-War-in-Yemen
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
If you think our work is important, support us with a $17 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate
CNN video: "If Hodeida is attacked, millions will surely not have food"![https://plus.google.com/u/0/_/focus/photos/public/AIbEiAIAAABDCJfYj5r5lfubQSILdmNhcmRfcGhvdG8qKDMwMWEwODdiNWY2NWQ1NGU5NmRjZmU2OTJjN2ZlOTU4MWFiYjk1YTMwAXRZWyRA0Nqlp2171Zmvla1PQg9V?sz=24]()
2:19 PM (58 minutes ago) | | |||
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Dear Dick,
CNN conducted a powerful 8 minute interview with Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council on the imminent threat of famine in Yemen. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the U.S. should support Saudi Arabia's planned attack on Yemen’s Hodeida port. Here’s what Jan Egeland said about that plan:
"There is one port here called Hodeida where we get all of the relief through and where most of the commercial import has come through. That port is now threatened by attack. If it is attacked, that lifeline will be cut and millions will surely not have food."
Egeland concluded: "We need world leaders to put an end to both the war and the economic collapse here."
Help spread Jan Egeland's warning by watching and sharing the 8 minute video.
And if you haven't signed our petition to Congress against attacking Hodeida yet, you can do that here.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
If you think our work is important, support us with a $17 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate
US POLICY CHANGING?
Trump will cease refueling SA bombers, and will back up his call for ceasefire? The new Democratic House majority will turn words into actions and be successful?
BREAKING RE: Yemen: This is IT
BREAKING: The Trump administration plans to stop refueling the Saudi-led coalition's jets as they bomb civilian targets in Yemen. [1] This is MAJOR news. Dick, this is happening because of you. Over 100,000 Win Without War activists have pushed nonstop to end U.S. complicity in bombing kids and starving millions. And now, the dam is starting to break. But absolutely nothing is guaranteed. The Trump administration’s plans are still only closed-door rumors. And we are still up against $27 million in Saudi lobbying money trying to shut us up. Congress reconvenes next week to take an official vote on ending U.S. support for this war. And until then, we cannot stop fighting, even for a second. —Kate _________________________ Dick, this is it. We have a HUGE chance to get Congress to stop pouring support into Saudi Arabia’s bloody war in Yemen — and the vote could be as soon as next week. For nearly four years, the U.S. has been shoveling weapons and military support into the Saudi-UAE bombing campaign in Yemen. But last month, the Saudi Arabian government secretly hacked apart Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi with a bonesaw, then dissolved his body in acid. [2] Suddenly, Congress is realizing that the United States shouldn't give a murderous regime a blank check to slaughter more civilians in Yemen. The tide has turned in a BIG way. Congress gets back in session next week. Champions in the House and the Senate are forcing votes to end U.S. support for the brutal war in Yemen. And for the first time, we could win these votes. Win Without War is pulling out all the stops to drive pressure on Congress. But the last time we got a vote on this war, Saudi Arabia literally hired 200 lobbyists to squelch our voices and keep Congress supporting their war crimes. That’s why we need your help. Can you chip in an emergency gift of $15 to help Win Without War drown out the Saudi lobby and end U.S. support for the brutal war in Yemen once and for all?
For over a year, Win Without War activists like you have been pushing to demand an end to the war in Yemen. And the whole time, the Trump administration has been dodging, ducking, and outright lying to justify giving a thumbs up to Saudi and U.A.E. war crimes. Then, last week, something extraordinary happened: The Trump administration called for a ceasefire in Yemen. But there’s zero guarantee that Trump and his war cabinet will back up their words by actually cutting off U.S. support for the Saudi-U.A.E. coalition. Congress has to vote to force Trump's hand and end U.S. support for this brutal war before it's too late. Thousands have already died because the Saudi-UAE coalition bombed hospitals and school buses and blocked lifesaving food and medicine, all with U.S. support. Now, the United Nations is warning that half of Yemen's population - 14 million people - could die of starvation by the end of the year. [3] All because the United States refuses to rein in Saudi war crimes. We need to let Congress know: If they don’t end U.S. support for this war, the deaths of literally millions of Yemenis will be on their hands. Win Without War is joining with partners to raise an massive grassroots ruckus. We’re meeting with members of Congress and their staff on a daily basis. But we need your help. The last time we got a Senate vote on Yemen, we were supposed to lose — badly. Instead, your tireless activism got us just a few votes shy of ending U.S. support of the war for good. Now, together, we’re about to clinch this fight and finally stop our tax dollars flowing to bomb kids in Yemen. And I couldn’t be prouder to be in this movement alongside you. Thank you for working for peace, Kate, Mariam, Amy, and the Win Without War team [See just above legislation to revoke all US support for the war.] Applauding Plan to Stop Refueling Saudi Planes, Progressives Call for Further Action to End Yemen's "Humanitarian Nightmare" Sunday, November 11, 2018. "Now that it's no longer a secret that the war in Yemen is a national security and humanitarian nightmare, we need to get all the way out." MORE https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/11/applauding-plan-stop-refueling-saudi-planes-progressives-call-further-action-end Anti-war groups and progressive lawmakers expressed cautious optimism this weekend after the Trump administration announced it would end its policy of refueling Saudi planes that are engaged in Saudi Arabia's assault on Yemen—but called for bolder and broader policy changes to ensure an end to the attacks that have killed more than 15,000 civilians.On Friday, the Washington Post reported that the refueling practice would end, with Saudi Arabia claiming in a statement that it now has the ability to refuel its own planes—a claim that U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis bolstered in his own comments on the policy change but that drew skepticism from critics. The change came amid heightened calls from across the political spectrum to end the U.S. military's cooperation with the Saudis, following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Progressives including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have called for an end to U.S. participation since long before Khashoggi, a Saudi who wrote critically of his home country's government, was killed by Saudi agents in October. Khanna and Sanders both said they would take action in Congress to hold the administration accountable for its pledge to end refueling efforts. "When it comes to Yemen, talk is cheap and those on the brink of starvation can't afford any political stunts. The world is watching to see if this is merely more empty promises or if the United States will finally use its power to end the suffering in Yemen."—Kate Kizer, Win Without War Calling the decision one that "could avert a humanitarian crisis," Khanna told The Intercept that Congress should now pass Senate Resolution 54 and House Resolution 138, which direct the president to remove U.S. forces entirely from the war in Yemen unless they have been authorized by Congress. "Similar to what we did in Somalia's case, when the White House said that we weren't going to have any intervention, Congress went ahead and passed both of the War Powers Resolution [measures], just to make sure that was definitive," Khanna said, referring to Congress's urging of President Bill Clinton to limit U.S. involvement in Somalia in 1993. "I'm glad that the Trump administration is ending U.S. refueling of Saudi aircraft in Yemen's devastating war... U.S. participation in this conflict is unauthorized and unconstitutional and must end completely," Sanders said in a statement. "I will soon bring Senate Joint Resolution 54 back to the floor for another vote, so the Senate can compel an end to U.S. participation in the Yemen war as a matter of law, not simply as a matter of the president’s discretion." But other critics of the country's involvement in the war, which has devastated the impoverished country since it began in 2015 as the Saudi coalition has supported the Yemeni government in its attempt to defeat the Houthis, say the U.S. must go much further to ensure that the assault can't continue. MORE https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/11/applauding-plan-stop-refueling-saudi-planes-progressives-call-further-action-end | |||||||||||||||
END YEMEN WATCH NOVEMBER 2018