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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Guardian view on Yemen: stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia
The Guardian view on Yemen: stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Wednesday 17 August 2016 14.51 EDT
The war in Yemen has been good for British arms manufacturers. In the first year of bombardment, the UK licensed £3.3bn of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade. Riyadh is carrying out extensive air strikes to drive back Houthi rebels as leader of the US- and UK-backed coalition supporting president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and the British government has vowed to support the intervention in every practical way short of engaging in combat. British officials are also in the command and control centre for the strikes and have access to target lists.
The cost to Yemen has been immense. After 16 months of civil war, more than 6,500 people have died, according to the UN; 2.5 million have been displaced; over half the population faces severe food insecurity. Save the Children says one in three under-fives is suffering from acute malnutrition. Damage to infrastructure and economic losses have already amounted to more than $14bn, according to a joint report by the World Bank, United Nations, Islamic Development Bank and European Union, though that figure is likely to be a substantial underestimate since the research concluded earlier this year. The tally of damaged schools and unusable public hospitals is particularly horrifying in a country that was desperately poor even before the outbreak of war, when its per capita GDP stood at just under $1,100.
The devastation has not brought a resolution any closer. The government of President Hadi is recognised internationally, yet the Zaydi Shia Houthis who have formed a marriage of convenience with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, ousted in the Arab spring still hold Sanaa. A spate of bombings since the collapse of a four-month ceasefire earlier this month have killed 10 children at their school and hit a hospital, killing 14, as well as striking a food factory. Meanwhile, Houthis have renewed attacks across the border with Saudi Arabia, claiming more lives.
Britain bears much responsibility for this suffering as does the US, which has overseen $110bn of arms sales to the Saudis under the Obama administration and France. UK arms sales rules state that export licences should not be granted if there is a clear risk equipment could be used to break international humanitarian law. The British government says its licensing system is one of the most careful in the world. But on the kindest possible reading, the Saudi forces are incompetent in their attacks and, at worst, they are indifferent to the civilian deaths. In January, a UN panel warned of widespread and systematic attacks on targets such as schools, weddings, mosques and medical facilities, in violation of international law. The Foreign Office has just retreated on assurances that the Ministry of Defence assessments showed the coalition was not targeting civilians and had not breached human rights law. Late on the day that parliament went into recess, it issued written corrections, saying that the MoD had merely not assessed that the coalition was targeting civilians or breached human rights law....
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/17/the-guardian-view-on-yemen-stop-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia
Wednesday 17 August 2016 14.51 EDT
The war in Yemen has been good for British arms manufacturers. In the first year of bombardment, the UK licensed £3.3bn of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade. Riyadh is carrying out extensive air strikes to drive back Houthi rebels as leader of the US- and UK-backed coalition supporting president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and the British government has vowed to support the intervention in every practical way short of engaging in combat. British officials are also in the command and control centre for the strikes and have access to target lists.
The cost to Yemen has been immense. After 16 months of civil war, more than 6,500 people have died, according to the UN; 2.5 million have been displaced; over half the population faces severe food insecurity. Save the Children says one in three under-fives is suffering from acute malnutrition. Damage to infrastructure and economic losses have already amounted to more than $14bn, according to a joint report by the World Bank, United Nations, Islamic Development Bank and European Union, though that figure is likely to be a substantial underestimate since the research concluded earlier this year. The tally of damaged schools and unusable public hospitals is particularly horrifying in a country that was desperately poor even before the outbreak of war, when its per capita GDP stood at just under $1,100.
The devastation has not brought a resolution any closer. The government of President Hadi is recognised internationally, yet the Zaydi Shia Houthis who have formed a marriage of convenience with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, ousted in the Arab spring still hold Sanaa. A spate of bombings since the collapse of a four-month ceasefire earlier this month have killed 10 children at their school and hit a hospital, killing 14, as well as striking a food factory. Meanwhile, Houthis have renewed attacks across the border with Saudi Arabia, claiming more lives.
Britain bears much responsibility for this suffering as does the US, which has overseen $110bn of arms sales to the Saudis under the Obama administration and France. UK arms sales rules state that export licences should not be granted if there is a clear risk equipment could be used to break international humanitarian law. The British government says its licensing system is one of the most careful in the world. But on the kindest possible reading, the Saudi forces are incompetent in their attacks and, at worst, they are indifferent to the civilian deaths. In January, a UN panel warned of widespread and systematic attacks on targets such as schools, weddings, mosques and medical facilities, in violation of international law. The Foreign Office has just retreated on assurances that the Ministry of Defence assessments showed the coalition was not targeting civilians and had not breached human rights law. Late on the day that parliament went into recess, it issued written corrections, saying that the MoD had merely not assessed that the coalition was targeting civilians or breached human rights law....
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/17/the-guardian-view-on-yemen-stop-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia
The New York Times Editorial Board was even more condemning of the bombing in Yemen by coalition forces:
America Is Complicit in the Carnage in Yemen
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD - AUG. 17, 2016
A hospital associated with Doctors Without Borders. A school. A potato chip factory. Under international law, those facilities in Yemen are not legitimate military targets. Yet all were bombed in recent days by warplanes belonging to a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, killing more than 40 civilians.
The United States is complicit in this carnage. It has enabled the coalition in many ways, including selling arms to the Saudis to mollify them after the nuclear deal with Iran. Congress should put the arms sales on hold and President Obama should quietly inform Riyadh that the United States will withdraw crucial assistance if the Saudis do not stop targeting civilians and agree to negotiate peace...
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/opinion/stop-saudi-arms-sales-until-carnage-in-yemen-ends.html
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD - AUG. 17, 2016
A hospital associated with Doctors Without Borders. A school. A potato chip factory. Under international law, those facilities in Yemen are not legitimate military targets. Yet all were bombed in recent days by warplanes belonging to a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, killing more than 40 civilians.
The United States is complicit in this carnage. It has enabled the coalition in many ways, including selling arms to the Saudis to mollify them after the nuclear deal with Iran. Congress should put the arms sales on hold and President Obama should quietly inform Riyadh that the United States will withdraw crucial assistance if the Saudis do not stop targeting civilians and agree to negotiate peace...
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/opinion/stop-saudi-arms-sales-until-carnage-in-yemen-ends.html
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The Guardian view on Yemen: stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia (Original Post)
think
Aug 2016
OP
malaise
(267,788 posts)1. K & R for truth
Killing is very profitable
think
(11,641 posts)2. Thank you. It's frustrating. Yemen seems to just slip under the radar here in the US...
malaise
(267,788 posts)3. and not just Yemen
there's way too much proxy killing with impunity by the so-called civilized nations