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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHillary Celebrated F-15 Sales Used To Bomb Yemen
https://theintercept.com/2016/02/22/saudi-christmas-present/The shockingly brutal Saudi air campaign in Yemen has been led by American-made F-15 jet fighters.
The indiscriminate bombing of civilians and rescuers from the air has prompted human rights organizations to claim that some Saudi-led strikes on Yemen may amount to war crimes. At least 2,800 civilians have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the United Nations mostly by airstrikes. The strikes have killed journalists and ambulance drivers.
The planes, made by Boeing, have been implicated in the bombing of three facilities supported by Doctors Without Borders (Médicins Sans Frontières). The U.N. Secretary General has decried intense airstrikes in residential areas and on civilian buildings in Sanaa, including the chamber of commerce, a wedding hall, and a center for the blind, and has warned that reports of cluster bombs being used in populated areas may amount to a war crime due to their indiscriminate nature.
Bombs dropped by fighter jets are pulverizing Yemens architectural history, possibly in violation of international humanitarian law.
A few years earlier, as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton made weapons transfer to the Saudi government a top priority, according to her closest military aide.
And now, newly released emails show that her aides kept her well-informed of the approval process for a $29.4 billion sale in 2011 of up to 84 advanced F-15SA fighters, manufactured by Boeing, along with upgrades to the pre-existing Saudi fleet of 70 F-15 aircraft and munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance, and logistics.
The deal was finalized on Christmas Eve 2011. Afterward, Jake Sullivan, then Clintons deputy chief of staff and now a senior policy adviser on her presidential campaign, sent her a celebratory email string topped with the chipper message: FYI good news.
The email string was part of a new batch of emails from Clintons private server, made public on Friday evening as the result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
One American official, whose name is redacted in the emails, said he had just received confirmation that Prince Salman, now the king of Saudi Arabia but at the time the senior Saudi liaison approving the weapons deal, had signed the F-15SA LOA today and would send scanned documents the following day.
Not a bad Christmas present, he added.
Another official, whose name is also redacted, confirmed that a Saudi general who had been working with U.S. officials was pleased, as are all of us, and said he would soon contact executives at Boeing.
The congratulatory tone continues through the email chain with other officials, also with redacted names, calling the weapons deal Great news!
On December 26, Jeremy Bash, then-chief of staff at the Pentagon, sent the email string, titled F-15SA Christmas Present, to Sullivan, who sent it to Clinton with his own note at the top.
The indiscriminate bombing of civilians and rescuers from the air has prompted human rights organizations to claim that some Saudi-led strikes on Yemen may amount to war crimes. At least 2,800 civilians have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the United Nations mostly by airstrikes. The strikes have killed journalists and ambulance drivers.
The planes, made by Boeing, have been implicated in the bombing of three facilities supported by Doctors Without Borders (Médicins Sans Frontières). The U.N. Secretary General has decried intense airstrikes in residential areas and on civilian buildings in Sanaa, including the chamber of commerce, a wedding hall, and a center for the blind, and has warned that reports of cluster bombs being used in populated areas may amount to a war crime due to their indiscriminate nature.
Bombs dropped by fighter jets are pulverizing Yemens architectural history, possibly in violation of international humanitarian law.
A few years earlier, as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton made weapons transfer to the Saudi government a top priority, according to her closest military aide.
And now, newly released emails show that her aides kept her well-informed of the approval process for a $29.4 billion sale in 2011 of up to 84 advanced F-15SA fighters, manufactured by Boeing, along with upgrades to the pre-existing Saudi fleet of 70 F-15 aircraft and munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance, and logistics.
The deal was finalized on Christmas Eve 2011. Afterward, Jake Sullivan, then Clintons deputy chief of staff and now a senior policy adviser on her presidential campaign, sent her a celebratory email string topped with the chipper message: FYI good news.
The email string was part of a new batch of emails from Clintons private server, made public on Friday evening as the result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
One American official, whose name is redacted in the emails, said he had just received confirmation that Prince Salman, now the king of Saudi Arabia but at the time the senior Saudi liaison approving the weapons deal, had signed the F-15SA LOA today and would send scanned documents the following day.
Not a bad Christmas present, he added.
Another official, whose name is also redacted, confirmed that a Saudi general who had been working with U.S. officials was pleased, as are all of us, and said he would soon contact executives at Boeing.
The congratulatory tone continues through the email chain with other officials, also with redacted names, calling the weapons deal Great news!
On December 26, Jeremy Bash, then-chief of staff at the Pentagon, sent the email string, titled F-15SA Christmas Present, to Sullivan, who sent it to Clinton with his own note at the top.
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Hillary Celebrated F-15 Sales Used To Bomb Yemen (Original Post)
berni_mccoy
Feb 2016
OP
The SoS in the service of the military-industrial complex... how is this surprising? The whole
thereismore
Feb 2016
#1
How many millions did the Saudis 'donate' to the Foundation for this deal to get approved?
HooptieWagon
Feb 2016
#2
thereismore
(13,326 posts)1. The SoS in the service of the military-industrial complex... how is this surprising? The whole
system sucks.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)2. How many millions did the Saudis 'donate' to the Foundation for this deal to get approved?
berni_mccoy
(23,018 posts)4. Good question..
kgnu_fan
(3,021 posts)3. ... nt
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)5. Gross.
zappaman
(20,606 posts)6. Yes, have you seen the picture of her celebrating this?
Pretty damning...