Unprecedented Human Suffering in Yemen

Unprecedented Human Suffering in Yemen

by Stephen Lendman

Yemen is Obama’s war - planned months before conflict began, using Saudi and other regional rogue state partners as proxies, doing America’s dirty work, wanting Yemen returned to US client state status at the expense of thousands of mostly civilian deaths so far (many more than officially reported) and unprecedented human suffering, according to the ICRC.

It issued a press release expressing alarm over intensified conflict, saying:

“The suffering of the civilian population has reached unprecedented levels. More than 100 days into the crisis, severe shortages of water, food and fuel continue across the country, together with airstrikes and fighting on the ground,” ICRC Yemen delegation head Antoine Grand explained.

“The last two weeks have seen an intensification of fighting in the southern governorates of Aden and Taiz where it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to reach affected areas, to evacuate the dead and the wounded and to provide life-saving assistance.”

“We remain ready to facilitate the evacuation of the dead and wounded - as we are currently doing in both Aden and Taiz - and to visit detainees on both sides, but all parties must facilitate our access and respect our mandate.”

The ICRC has 262 personnel in Yemen - 144 in Sanaa (the capital), 70 in the southern port city Aden (Yemen’s second largest city), 36 in Saada governorate and 12 in Taiz (the nation’s third largest city).

Well over a million Yemenis were displaced so far - thousands more daily. More than 80% of the population desperately needs humanitarian aid. US-supported Saudi blockade prevents most vital supplies from entering.

Terror bombing and imported takfiri terrors continue ravaging and destroying the region’s poorest country before conflict began.

Over half of Yemen’s 24 million people live on less than $2 a day with no access to clean water. Pre-conflict child malnutrition was severe - much worse as war rages.

Most Yemenis today are food insecure. They don’t get enough to eat. Around of 90% of food needed is imported - greatly impeded by Riyadh’s blockade.

Vitally needed medicines, medical supplies and equipment, fuel and other essentials aren’t getting in as needed - small amounts only.

Saudis are willfully bombing residential neighborhoods and other civilian sites, including the Mazraq refugee camp in Hajjah province.

Banned weapons are used, including toxic chemicals and US-supplied cluster munitions. On Friday alone, Saudi terror bombing murdered 120 Taiz residents, injuring at least 150 others.

A Riyadh-announced five-day truce beginning Sunday night local time is meaningless. It violated two earlier ones straightaway - blaming Houthis for its duplicity. Its proxies on the ground continued fighting. Don’t expect them to stop this time.

An official statement said Saudi forces reserve the right to resume fighting in response to continued Houthi military activity - true or false, even if it’s defensive against imported takfiri attacks.

Separately, Saudi helicopters terror bombed their own territory - targeting Akhdoud, Najran region residential districts bordering Yemen.

The Ahrar al-Najran opposition movement gained control over Akhdoud. A local activist said Riyadh seeks revenge by targeting noncombatant civilians -the same tactic used in Yemen.

It annexed Najran earlier along with other areas bordering Yemen. Another local activist said “(t)he Najran tribes in a statement declared war against the occupying Saudi regime, stressing that the House of Saud represents corruption on the Earth and sheds the blood of innocent people across the globe in a very routine and normal manner.”

Riyadh uses US-made weapons to terror-bomb Yemen daily, arm regional Islamic State and other takfiri terrorists, along with targeting its own people wanting international law guaranteed rights they’re denied.

The US Defense Department just authorized the sale of hundreds more air-to-ground missiles so Riyadh can continue terror-bombing Yemen and internal areas at its discretion.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest arms buyers. It significantly increased purchases in recent months. So far this year, it’s the world’s top importer of weapons and munitions.

Many are used to murder Yemenis - Obama’s latest atrocity putting an entire population at risk. Who does he have in mind to attack next?

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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