A conference held by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh this week underscores the damage being inflicted on Yemen by Saudi bombing conducted with U.S. arms. ADVERTISING A conference held by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh this week underscores the damage being inflicted
A conference held by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh this week underscores the damage being inflicted on Yemen by Saudi bombing conducted with U.S. arms.
The conference also points up the political confusion in Yemen, the unlikely end to the fighting and the lack of wisdom in U.S. involvement.
Yemen, with 25 million people, has been in turmoil since 2011 when the United States was involved in the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his replacement by Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Both are Sunni Muslims.
Yemen for many years has been troubled by a North-South division. The two regions started out as separate, then were unified in 1990. But secessionist tendencies continue.
The other fissure is between the country’s Sunnis, who make up 65 percent of the population, and Shiites. The Shiites are organized into an armed movement named after the Houthis, their dominant tribe. The Houthis have taken control of much of the country and driven Mr. Hadi into exile in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis, with aircraft, armaments and technical support from the United States, have been bombing the Houthi-held areas of Yemen. In the meantime, the forces of the former president have been fighting the forces of the exiled president.
Yemen’s cities and villages are being reduced to rubble and many civilians are being killed. But the Riyadh conference was useless in trying to end the conflict since it did not include the Houthis.
The question is why does the United States approve of arms for this bloody civil war? The argument that it’s because U.S. companies sold the Saudis their aircraft is cynical at best — and it lacks moral grounding at worst.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
