Multiple Parties Colluding to Starve Yemen into Submission to Saudi Objectives

Rasa - It is up to the international civil society to decide; either remain complicit in Saudi war crimes in Yemen or initiate calls at the United Nations to force Western governments, including the United States and Britain, to end their arms sale to the despotic regime.

News ID: 423432

Date: 11 September 2016 - 21:37

RNA - To be sure, as long as American tanks and bombs are involved in the dirty war, more lives will be lost. And it's not just about tanks. It is about the United States fuelling Saudi war crimes without demanding that the Saudis demonstrate a serious commitment to preventing civilian casualties. The United Nations has repeatedly said the Saudis are responsible for approximately two-thirds of civilian casualties. It has documented Saudi attacks on a slew of civilian areas, including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, markets, civilian homes and more.

The key argument here is that there is already instability in the region on several levels. The Saudi regime and its partners in crime need stop their indiscriminate bombing campaign and take real steps to prevent civilian casualties and further instability. Ask any Yemeni who is bombing his country and they will all say the US is bombing Yemen - technically not, but Washington is supporting the Saudi-led coalition militarily.

The same is true about the British government. Despite international outcry, in London, a concerted attempt has been mounted to water down a draft report from the Committee of Arms Export Controls that would recommend halting that country's arms trade with Saudi Arabia. Just like the United States, Britain has sold many billions of dollars worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, and has supported the coalition with intelligence and other forms of military assistance. American and British military personnel are even in the command room with Saudi bombers, and have access to a list of targets.

That said, the increases in Western arms sales are extremely destabilising. At the moment something that also doesn’t get mentioned is the complete lack of interest in arms control among the Arab countries in the region. It is not in the minds of their leaders and decision-makers, except for the need to arm to defeat any potential opponent, even if that requires arming terrorist groups.

Worse yet, the West keeps arming Saudi Arabia in its devastating war on Yemen, despite thousands of dead and the outcry of human rights groups worldwide. Western governments are all in the know that what they are doing in support of the dirty war is a serious violation of international protocols, including International Humanitarian Law.

They are also in the know that it is indeed their bombs and missiles that have wreaked devastation and displacement on the Yemeni population. By continuing to sell more weapons to a known violator that has done little to curtail its abuses, the US and UK risk being complicit in unlawful civilian deaths. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have thoroughly documented war crimes committed by Saudi Arabia and its coalition.

In addition to profit for the Military-Industrial Complex, Saudi Arabia’s energy interests are also behind the conflict. Yemen was literally set on fire so Riyadh could manifest its long-held ambition of an oil monopoly. The region offers control over the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, a key oil route, and the country is the proposed site of the US-backed Hadramawt pipeline.

What's more, the United Nations Security Council, which has kept mum about the Saudi crime and genocide, is complicit too. The silence here is deafening. Far from acting out of humanitarian aims, the UN is, in reality, actively allowing the denial of human rights to the Yemeni people by the predatory aggressor, Saudi Arabia.

It is almost impossible not to conclude that multiple parties are colluding to starve Yemen into submission to Saudi objectives, including the US government and its NATO allies. So any measure taken at the United Nations must take the form of a binding resolution of disapproval that would force Saudi Arabia and its partners in crime to end their dirty war on the poorest country in the Middle East.

This way, the world community could also force Western powers to stop their deadly arms sales, help avert humanitarian disaster, and institutionalise a non-violent conflict-resolution mechanism following a ceasefire.

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