“More than 1,000 days of families driven from their homes by brutal violence. 1,000 days without enough food to eat and safe water to drink. 1,000 days of bombed hospitals and damaged schools. 1,000 days of children recruited to fight. 1,000 days of disease and death … of unimaginable human suffering.”
“The conflict in Yemen has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world – a crisis which has engulfed the entire country.”
From a joint statement published on December 29, 2017 by the directors of three UN agencies, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP).
Humanitarian crisis from bad to worst!
This horrendous war against the people of Yemen started on March 2015, by Saudi Arabia and its allies coalition with the full backing of the United States. The Saudi government used the pretext of internal conflicts in the country to intervene militarily and claimed wanting to bring legitimacy and stability back to Yemen by reinstating the deposed unpopular former president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who is still hiding in his master’s palaces in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
So now more than 1000 days of war and bombing, what did the Saudi-led coalition achieve in Yemen? Where is the peace and stability the Saudi government promised the Yemeni people?
According to the the UN report titled “Yemen: 2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview”, “an estimated 22.2 million people in Yemen need some kind of humanitarian or protection assistance, including 11.3 million who are in acute need – an increase of more than one million people in acute need since June 2017.”
This UN report highlight the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen that continues worsening. Millions of Yemenis are facing daily war, displacement, disease and famine. On December 22, 2017 the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported that “the total number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has crossed one million”. The lack of access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation and access to medical clinics has aggravated the spread of this epidemic.
In addition to the Cholera epidemic, Yemen is now facing a rapidly spreading diphtheria outbreak. According to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) “Diphtheria is a contagious and potentially fatal bacterial infection […] It can be prevented through vaccination, but it can be challenging to treat—in part because it is often unfamiliar to health workers. Before this year, the last diphtheria case in Yemen was recorded in 1992, and the last outbreak was in 1982.” The brutal Saudi-led bombing campaign coupled with the land, sea and areal blocked imposed on Yemen, are bringing back forgotten diseases that were thought to be eradicated but that are now taking the life of Yemenis specially malnourished children who are already so vulnerable.
In addition to the destruction of human life, the Saudi-led coalition has bombarded and ruined homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, markets, water and sanitation facilities, roads and other vital infrastructure. The Saudi government has also targeted historical and cultural facilities in Yemen in an failed attempt to erase the Yemeni pride and strong cultural heritage.
U.S./ U.K. and Canada are direct accomplice of Saudi’s crimes
The Saudi-led coalition has shown a complete disregard for human life in Yemen, and continues to commit daily crimes agains the Yemeni people with the the full support of the government of the United States. Since day one, the U.S. continued to supply armament and offered logistical, political and intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition. U.S. force tankers are refueling Saudi fighter jets after they drop their bombs on Yemen.
According to the Al-Monitor “The Pentagon more than doubled US refueling support for the Saudi-led mission in Yemen over the past year [..] Amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, the US Department of Defense provided about 480,000 gallons of aviation fuel to the mission at a cost of more than $1 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 [2017], a 140% increase over the previous year.”
The U.S. is also replenishing the Saudi government weaponry and has increased its sale to Saudi Arabia as Trump announced the $110 billion arms deal in his trip to Riyadh in May 2017. The British government has also increased its weapons sale to Saudi Arabia since the start of the bloody bombing campaign in Yemen by almost 500 per cent, according to the Independent newspaper. Back here in Canada, the Trudeau government is no innocent! Canada is proceeding with a $15 billion arms deals to supply the Saudi government with LAV 6.0 advanced combat vehicles.
On December 14, 2017, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the UN gave a speech in front of fragments from what she claims is a missile launched at Saudi Arabia from the Houthi rebel group in Yemen and provided to them by Iran. Nikki Haley’s bizarre presentation in front of this dramatic background reminded some of Colin Powell’s speech at the UN before the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.
In an interview with Salon.com, William D. Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, commented on Nikki Haley’s speech “It's hypocrisy of the highest order […] And I think obscene, in this context, because the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world is in Yemen, and U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are primarily responsible”.
He added that the U.S. has “offered them [Saudi Arabia and allies] tens of billions of dollars in weapons, including some of the very bombs that have been used to kill the civilians, and to pretend that's not happening — and then to put on this dog and pony show about Iranian missile parts — I think is not only outrageous, but it kind of insults people's intelligence.”
The Yemeni People Heroically Resisting
Despite all the weaponry and support Saudi Arabia receives from the U.S. and their imperialist allies, they have failed to achieve their so called goals in Yemen or to break the steadfast resistance of the Yemeni people. We saw images of thousand of Yemenis on the streets of the city of Sa’ada protesting 1,000 days of the Saudi-led war against their beloved country. Yemenis have also been using art, social media and other online platforms to counter the media blackout and share testimonies of their daily life under the Saudi-led bombing and blockade.
Let us join the people of Yemen in exposing the atrocities committed by the U.S. backed Saudi-led coalition on their country. Let us join them as they fight for their self-determination and sovereignty. Stop Bombing Yemen! Lift the Naval, Aerial and Land Blockade on Yemen!
Follow Azza Rojbi on Twitter: @Azza_R14
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