Insidious:

US Promotes Saudi Arabia’s White Phosphorous Crimes in Yemen

Rasa - Saudi Arabia is using US-supplied white phosphorous munitions in its dirty war against Yemen, a violation of the law of armed conflict.

News ID: 423788

Date: 21 September 2016 - 21:58

RNA - White phosphorous is to be used only for signalling to other troops and creating smoke screens. When the munition explodes, it releases white phosphorous that automatically ignites in the air and creates a thick white smoke. However, Saudi Arabia is using these munitions against Yemeni soldiers and civilians, which can maim and kill by burning to the bone.

It’s interesting to hear US officials confirming that their government has supplied the Saudis white phosphorous – sometimes compared to napalm. But it's rather odd to hear them say they cannot trace these munitions to a particular sale. It's also silly for the State Department officials to say that ‘the United States expects any recipient of US military assistance to use those data-x-items in accordance with international law and under the terms and conditions of any US transfer or sale.’ Lest they forget, the Saudi-led, US-backed war on Yemen is not in accordance with international law.

Based on damning evidence – images and videos posted to social media, as well as numerous reports and documents published by Western media outlets and human rights organisations - Saudi Arabia is using US-supplied white phosphorous munitions – besides US-supplied cluster bombs – in civilian areas. What's more, Washington is not taking any appropriate corrective action. On the contrary, Washington has even signed a $1 billion arms deal that would replace Saudi Arabia's US-supplied tanks that have been damaged in the conflict.

Meaning, as a major arms seller to Saudi Arabia, the United States is indeed complicit in Saudi war crimes in Yemen. The Saudis could not do it without the United States and Amnesty International agrees. The organisation says the US government should stop selling guided and general purpose aerial bombs and combat aircraft to Saudi Arabia, because the regime has used them to hit schools, markets and other civilian objects, even a Doctors Without Borders-supported hospital, killing thousands of civilians and medical staff in serious violations of international humanitarian law.

All this and more highlights, yet again, the urgent need for a comprehensive embargo on all weapons that could be used by Saudi Arabia and the mere extras in Yemen, and for an international investigation to bring those responsible for these war crimes to justice.

And the US complicity in all this hasn't been lost on the world community. Since 2009, the United States has sold over $115 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia. That's why the world community has on several occasions called for a stop to the US arms and military equipment sales, even a resolution at the United Nations to block such sales. They have also urged the US government to stop re-supplying planes engaged in the reprehensible and illegal bombing runs or providing “intelligence” for the civilian targets that Saudi Arabia is hitting.

Tragic enough, the international community is apt to be disappointed, as it does not appear Washington or Riyadh put much stock in human rights these days. Instead, all we hear is joint bombing runs against civilian objects by these foreign actors, using cluster and white phosphorous munitions, even though it flies in the face of long-standing international standards of conduct. After all, Oxfam says, due to the US support for the Saudis, this is a Saudi-American military campaign, not just a Saudi campaign.

Here, the hypocrites are deliberately promoting yet another humanitarian catastrophe, just like the disaster that is Syria. The Saudi war criminals would never be grounded because Washington has no intention to withhold its support for their atrocities, much less reverse its insidious policy, which has only boosted Al-Qaeda and ISIL in the Arabian Peninsula.

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