Saudi Arabia Committing War Crimes In Yemen With US Weapons

A new report by Human Rights Watch published on Sunday claims that Saudi Arabia has been using near-universally banned cluster munitions supplied by the United States in airstrikes in Yemen. Cluster bombs are notoriously dangerous to civilians and 116 countries signed a treaty in 2008 banning them from use on the battlefield - Saudi Arabia and the United States are not signatories to the agreement.

Just as problematic is the Saudis nonchalant use of US cluster and other munitions on civilian targets such as hospitals leading to the civilian death toll already exceeding 500 including over 115 children. The Saudis blatant disregard for civilian casualties has been met with silence from the Obama Administration even as the killings are carried out with US made and supplied weapons.

While the Saudis are carrying out their killings with US weapons such as cluster bombs to target the Houthis rebels in Yemen the Obama Administration is busy condemning the use of barrel bombs on rebels in civilian areas in Syria - what exactly is the standard again?

Photographs, video, and other evidence have emerged since mid-April 2015 indicating that cluster munitions have been used during recent weeks in coalition airstrikes in Yemen’s northern Saada governorate, the traditional Houthi stronghold bordering Saudi Arabia. Human Rights Watch has established through analysis of satellite imagery that the weapons appeared to land on a cultivated plateau, within 600 meters of several dozen buildings in four to six village clusters. 

“Saudi-led cluster munition airstrikes have been hitting areas near villages, putting local people in danger,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. “These weapons should never be used under any circumstances. Saudi Arabia and other coalition members – and the supplier, the US – are flouting the global standard that rejects cluster munitions because of their long-term threat to civilians.”

The US has its own troubling history using barrel bombs, perhaps most notably in the Vietnam war. US forces use barrel bombs to try and start fires in the jungles of Vietnam and used cluster munitions in covert wars in Laos and Cambodia - munitions still endangering civilians to this day.

Given the course of events and the contradictory public positions the reality appears to be that the US only has a problem with war crimes if the country is not allied with the US. That's not a revelation by any measure but seeing how obvious that truth is becoming perhaps its time for the White House to dial down the "humanitarian" rhetoric. It just looks silly.

US Moves Warships To Yemen As Warning To Iran As Report Notes Iran Not Behind Rebels

While US bombs and military equipment via Saudi hands attack forces within the country of Yemen, US warships have now sailed to positions off Yemen's coast as the White House continues to claim it is not involved in the war. The naval maneuvers are a clear warning to Iran and the US flotilla would stop any ships that would supply the Shiite Houthis rebels in Yemen.

The White House claimed, with no sense of irony, that Iranian weapons were "destabilizing" Yemen and that Iran had continued to “supply arms to one party to that dispute so that the violence can continue.”

Beyond the brazen hypocrisy of accusing Iran of destabilizing Yemen by providing weapons is a report that US officials believe Iran warned the Houthis against launching an insurrection last year. While Saudi Arabia and the US have justified the brutal air campaign killing civilians in Yemen as a proxy war between themselves and Iran, the evidence indicates that the Houthis have their own agency.

Evidence offered by US government officials no less.

Iranian representatives discouraged Houthi rebels from taking the Yemeni capital of Sanaa last year, according to American officials familiar with intelligence around the insurgent takeover.The seizure of the capital in September came as a surprise to the international community, as Houthi rebels demonstrating outside Sanaa realized the city was abandoned and effectively unguarded. Despite Iran's advice, the Houthis walked into the city and claimed it... 

U.S. lawmakers and Gulf state leaders who are skeptical of the nuclear negotiations with Iran have pointed to the Houthis' rise to power in Yemen as more evidence of Iran's unhelpful expansionary objectives in the region. But the news that Iran actually opposed the takeover paints a more complicated picture. As the regime in Tehran has signaled, the Iranians are not unhappy to see their Gulf rivals embroiled in conflict in their neighborhood, but their advice against seizing Sanaa suggests that controlling Yemen is at best a secondary priority for Iran, far behind relief from sanctions that could come with a successful nuclear pact.

So what does the White House actually believe? And if the genuine view is that Iran did not instigate the Houthis rebellion then what is the point of sending warships to Yemen's coast?

One possible explanation is that the US is trying to assuage wounded Saudi pride. The Saudis have been continually whining in private and public about the US dealing with Iran and not supporting the Saudi position on Syria of overthrowing the Assad government. Now, with a nuclear deal with Iran within sight, the Obama Administration may have decided to facilitate the Saudis venting their frustrations with US policy by bombing the hell out of the people in Yemen.

Report: War On Terror May Have Killed Two Million People

A report issued by the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) claims that US military operations launched after 9/11 known as "The War On Terror" have led to the deaths of as many as two million people. The report includes data from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as information related to drone strikes and other actions in Pakistan.

PSR calculated the number of dead by aggregating data and statistics compiled and presented by the UN, governments and NGOs. The numbers for Afghanistan and Pakistan are murkier than the numbers for Iraq which has had multiple reviews conducted.

PSR arrives at a firm number of 1.3 million killed directly or indirectly by US combat operations but suggests that based on their research the actual number could surpass two million:

This investigation comes to the conclusion that the war has, directly or indirectly, killed around 1 million people in Iraq, 220,000 in Afghanistan and 80,000 in Pakistan, i.e. a total of around 1.3 million. Not included in this figure are further war zones such as Yemen. The figure is approximately 10 times greater than that of which the public, experts and decision makers are aware of and propagated by the media and major NGOs. And this is only a conservative estimate.  

The total number of deaths in the three countries named above could also be in excess of 2 million, whereas a figure below 1 million is extremely unlikely.

Adding to the horror of these figures is the understanding that the vast majority of those killed were civilians who had nothing to do with terrorism - they were just in the way.

OK. So we've killed roughly two million people, is the bloodlust from 9/11 now satiated? Al Qaeda left Afghanistan in the first six months of the war and Iraq had nothing to do with the attack yet their populations have drowned in blood for a decade thanks in part to our efforts - feeling better?

How many random innocent people have to die before we say enough and start getting back to rational policymaking?

UN: Yemen 'On Verge Of Total Collapse,' Saudis Killing Civilians With US Weapons

The United Nation has warned that the effects of the war in Yemen have pushed the contrary to the "verge of total collapse." The UN focused particularly on civilians who are caught in the crossfire between a Saudi-led forces bombing campaign and Houthis rebels who have taken the capital and are battling local government forces.

The air campaign along with ground battles has crippled the country with military attacks occurring in civilian areas. The Houthis have blamed the Saudis for civilian deaths in refugee camps whereas the Saudis have blamed the Houthis for locating forces in densely populated areas. The Houthis were cited as having been involved in attacks on hospitals.

The airstrikes killing civilians and militants in Yemen are coming from US made military equipment sold to Saudi Arabia.

Yemen spiraled further into chaos on Wednesday night, with a Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition launching a military intervention marked by airstrikes by dozens of fighter jets and the deployment of thousands of ground troops and tanks on its Yemeni border. U.S. officials said they will offer intelligence and logistical support to the Saudis, but that’s really only a piece of it: The Saudi military is equipped with billions of dollars in advanced American-made weapons.  

Between October 2010 and October 2014, Washington and Riyadh reached more than $90 billion in weapons deals, according to a report published in January by the Congressional Research Service. The sales have included everything from war planes to armored vehicles, along with powerful missiles and bombs.

Since Friday at least 93 civilians had been killed according to the UN with 62 of the dead being children. Why do they hate us?

Will the US (at least) condemn what Amnesty International cited as indiscriminate killing in Yemen by the Saudis? Obviously it would be too much to ask to cut off arm sales to a state that has been sponsoring terrorism around the world including 9/11. 

Saudi Arabia Bombs Shiite Rebels In Yemen As US Pledges Support And Continued Drone Strikes

Though it seems impossible, the Middle East is getting even more chaotic. Yesterday the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and allies bombed Shiite rebels in Yemen known as the Houthis. The Houthis responded to the bombing with rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Last month the Houthis overthrew the US-backed government of Yemen and currently control the country's capital, Sana, where much of the Saudi strikes are focused. The US has already evacuated its personnel from the capital, which was a prudent move given that the Houthis have reportedly obtained the intelligence files compiled by the US and previous Yemeni government.

The files should detail, among other things, the targets of the expansive US drone operation in Yemen which famously involved the killing of US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki and his son. The initial focus of the US drone killing campaign in Yemen was Al Qaeda but now may expand even further to include the Houthis. As the US issued a statement applauding Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign and promising assistance:

The United States coordinates closely with Saudi Arabia and our GCC partners on issues related to their security and our shared interests. In support of GCC actions to defend against Houthi violence, President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to GCC-led military operations. While U.S. forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen in support of this effort, we are establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate U.S. military and intelligence support.  

At the same time, the United States continues to closely monitor terrorist threats posed by al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula and will continue to take action as necessary to disrupt continuing, imminent threats to the United States and our citizens.

The war must go on no matter how destabilizing and counterproductive.

There were already concerns about the accuracy of the drone strikes before the US lost the cooperation of the local government, now the strikes will be based on even worse intelligence. That means more innocents killed with relatives and friends pledging revenge against the United States - rinse and repeat.

Clearly US involvement in the Middle East is exceptional and indispensable.