Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes on a funeral Saturday in Yemen, killing at least 140, should be the last straw in America’s support of the kingdom in its intra-Islamic, Sunni vs. Shiite war in that tragic country. ADVERTISING Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes on
Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes on a funeral Saturday in Yemen, killing at least 140, should be the last straw in America’s support of the kingdom in its intra-Islamic, Sunni vs. Shiite war in that tragic country.
The Saudis took the occasion of a funeral in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, of a patriarch of a large, prominent family to carry out a three-wave bombing attack on the hall where the ceremony was hosted.
One argument President Barack Obama’s administration uses to sustain America’s policy of continued support for the Saudi-led coalition is that the intelligence the United States provides its air war against Yemen enables its planes to be more precise in hitting military rather than civilian targets. What that line of argument would lead to this time is either it isn’t an accurate description of what is occurring or U.S. intelligence helped the Saudis target the attack on the funeral.
Neither “explanation” is acceptable to American principles.
What is likely more accurate is to refer to the fact the United States sold the Saudis and the other Sunni Persian Gulf Arab states the aircraft and technology they are using to wage war against the Shiite Houthis in Yemen. The figure for sales to the Saudis is $100 billion during the Obama years. Companies profiting from the sales include Boeing, General Dynamics and United Technologies. The Department of Defense has yet to assure there are no U.S. co-pilots in the Saudi aircraft carrying out attacks in Yemen.
The other argument used to justify continued U.S. support of the Saudis in their intra-Islamic war is that America is placating the kingdom, based on its opposition to the Iran nuclear agreement concluded last year. The Shiite Islamic republic exchanged its nuclear program for the immediate and middle future in return for an alleviation of economic and financial international sanctions against it.
Unfortunately, at this time, Yemenis — citizens of the poorest country in the Middle East — are paying the price in blood to please the Saudis and their theocratic regime for the Iran deal.
Saturday’s slaughter makes it clear that the time is long since past when the United States should stop using U.S. companies’ arms sales and defense of the Iran deal as reasons to continue to help Saudi Sunnis slaughter Yemenis, even if they are supported to a degree by Iran. A lethal attack on a funeral is simply an atrocity that qualifies as a war crime.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
