Yemen: Another Impoverished Country Crushed by US Bombs

By Debra Sweet           Six weeks of bombing by U.S. close ally Saudi Arabia has brought about a desperate situation in Yemen. The Saudi government said weeks ago it would reduce bombing, but instead has increased it. Reports that hospitals are shutting down for lack of fuel, and the expected loss of the whole telecommunications system will bring more danger for the people.

Larry Everest writes in Obama & U.S. Imperialism: Pushing Yemen Deeper into Hell:

“Recently the UN Commissioner for Human Rights called the situation in Yemen a humanitarian catastrophe, with over 1,000 dead in recent fighting, another 300,000 displaced, and the country on the brink of collapse. Yemeni journalists report that very little electricity, water, gasoline, or food is available, so people can’t even leave.”

John Kerry is off to visit the Saudi King in Riyadh, with a public mission of a “humanitarian cease fire.” But that's just for public consumption.

CNN reports that “U.S. military involvement in supporting the Saudis has grown over the last several weeks. The US military assistance team in Riyadh is now providing specific targeting information to the Saudis, which the US hopes will avoid civilian deaths on the ground, the official said. That has deepened the US effort, as originally the American team was only providing broad brush information about the location of rebel Houthi forces to the Saudis.”

Most alarmingly, the Saudis are getting cluster bombs from the US, and using them. Human Rights Watch says they have evidence of cluster bombs being used at least twice.

116 countries have banned the use of the bombs, which explode after a primary explosion, killing and maiming more people. But neither Saudi Arabia or the US have signed the convention against them. The US says it will stop selling cluster bombs in 2018... cold comfort to all the people who will continue to die as these bombs wait to be found.