Selling Murder in Yemen: The Be-All and End-All of US Foreign Policy

Rasa - According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), more than 60,000 people have been killed in the US-backed, Saudi-led war on Yemen since January 2016 (that's 9 months after the start of the war), with nearly half of those killings happening this year alone.

News ID: 442104

Date: 15 December 2018 - 13:21

RNA - This is more than six times higher than a previous UN estimate that put the death toll in Yemen at 10,000. ACLED says the death toll “is far higher than official estimates - and still underestimated. Fatality numbers are only one approximation of the abject tragedy and terror forced upon Yemenis from several sides. This cannot be overstated.”

Tragic enough, the official class in Washington is still doing just that. The US State Department continues to push against a Senate resolution that might put an end to the US support for the war, with Deputy Assistant Secretary for Persian Gulf Affairs Timothy Lenderking saying they believe it “sends a wrong message” to the world, and that the Saudis need to be supported – basically what they call “customer support for Saudi customers who bought all those US-made weapons for the war”.

President Trump has also been clear that continuing Saudi arms sales is the top priority, which is reflected in the desire to support the illegal war and condemning more civilians to die horrible deaths - in the name of creating “American jobs” and shoring up future campaign contributions from the arms industry and pro-Saudi lobbyists.

Then again, even if the resolution passes in the Senate, there likely won’t be any concurrent resolutions in the House until next year, as the House leadership has once again made a last second rule change in an unrelated bill to block any challenges to the Yemen war. In other words, this pure aggression, offensive in nature, and not waged due to any foreign invasion will continue apace, disguised as patriotism, nationalism, or containing Iran and support for Saudis, with false justifications purposely embedded into the minds of Christian-Zionist politicians on the Capitol Hill, all under the guise of idiotic politically correct ideologies.

Selling this concept has been a key component in the warmongers arsenal used to further their mission to turn all independent nations in the Middle East into failed states, to foment fear and fool the international community into supporting their state sponsored aggression and terror in the name of democratization of Yemen, to justify purposely crafted and unending “war on terror” and occupation, and to gain money and power to affect this colonial strategy.

The American politicians in the Senate and the House understand this concept and have been successful in their efforts to incite fear among their people to support the Saudi-led despots, by creating an enemy, demonizing Iran, and controlling the “fakestream” media with targeted propaganda in support of the war.

According to Fars News Agency, this tactic to maximize legality and to make body counts the be-all and end-all of US foreign policy is a horrendous mistake that needs to be stopped immediately. As indiscriminate airstrikes spread around the poorest country in the region, with Saudi despots following the lead of the self-styled “beacon of freedom and democracy in the region”, they label their civilian victims at homes, schools, hospitals, and markets as “pro-Iran currents” before murdering them with US-delivered missiles and bombs. The normalization of selling murder as business as usual in Yemen must be recognized for what it is: a shameful chapter in human history and a hideous assault on not only International Law and International Humanitarian Law but also human dignity and conscience.

Unless things change, there will be more lives lost in this unnecessary war of aggression and man-made famine, which threaten over 14 million people in besieged areas. There must be a sustained ceasefire right now in order to get the people and resources into Yemen that are necessary to stop the famine.

Yet, the US is defying even this norm, and threatening to insist in practice that the United Nations for that matter can’t tell them what to do on war powers in Yemen. This is why, to force the end of the Yemen War now - as the United Nations and aid groups or the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project say is necessary to stop the famine – the world body needs to pass a Yemen War Resolution at the Security Council right now, and begin pushing for a global undertaking to end the illegal blockade and war.

Likewise, the world community needs to stop the flow of arms that are fuelling human rights violations and continued violence in Yemen. Countries - including Germany, the Netherlands and Norway - have started to restrict weapons sales to the Saudi despots. But other countries, including the US, UK, Spain, and Canada, are still supplying weapons.

The United Nations and the international civil society can and must put pressure on these countries to stop the transfers, reduce violations and civilian suffering, and drive home the message to the Saudi despots and their American-European partners that selling murder in Yemen will not be tolerated.

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