Forbes joins the opposition to US and Saudi Arabia's genocide in Yemen!

Forbes joins the opposition to US and Saudi Arabia's genocide in Yemen!

 Forbes, OCT 25, 2016 @ 06:00 AM 

America Should Quit Saudi Arabia's War In Yemen: The Senseless Killing Must Stop

The entire article should be read.  Here are some quotations from the article, as teasers:

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Secretary of State John Kerry explained: “we’re not going to step away from our alliances and our friendships.” Even with an essentially totalitarian state which has promoted illiberal, intolerant religious teaching and Islamic extremism, and whose citizens have contributed both money and people to terrorist attacks against America.

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America still must worry about terrorism, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) remains a dangerous force. Alas, the KSA’s aggression has created a vacuum, freeing AQAP to grab more territory and plot more terrorist attacks. The Houthis, no friends of liberal, democratic values, disliked the U.S. even before the American military joined with the Saudis to rain bombs down upon Yemen, but they never attacked or even threatened America. Ansar Allah did, however, fight al-Qaeda—that is, until the movement was forced to concentrate on the Saudis. Last year Defense Secretary Ashton Carter acknowledged the terrorist group’s resulting “great gains.”

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 The KSA’s last resort has been to justify its murderous military campaign by pointing at Tehran. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad calls all insurgents “terrorists,” trying to appeal to Washington in the latter’s fight against terrorism. The Saudi royals similarly call all Yemenis “Iran-supported” to camouflage Riyadh’s depredations. It is an equally deceitful claim

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 Moreover, Saudi Arabia is less free politically and culturally, allows no religious liberty, and has done more than any other country to promote Islamic intolerance and underwrite terrorist groups which have attacked the U.S. and the West. Exactly how the KSA differs from the Islamic State, except in relative refinement of repression, is not obvious.

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 The Yemen war could go on for years. President Obama should end America’s participation. If he doesn’t care about the loss of innocent life he should look to his legacy. At least President George W. Bush could claim humanitarian and security reasons for his misbegotten invasion of Iraq. There is no justification for America to play bloody handmaiden to the Saudis in Yemen.

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Here are some images from the article:

 

A Yemeni collects items amidst the rubble of a destroyed funeral hall building following reported airstrikes by Saudi-led coalition air-planes on the capital Sanaa on October 8, 2016 (MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images) 

US President Barack Obama  speaks with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud) of Saudi Arabia alongside Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.jpg 

A Saudi F-15 fighter jet landing at the Khamis Mushayt military airbase, some 880 km from the capital Riyadh, on November 16,2015 as the Saudi army conducts operations over Yemen. (FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)

Yemeni children stand amid empty jerrycans as they wait to fill them with water from a donated source amid ongoing widespread disruption of water supplies in an impoverished coastal village on the outskirts of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.jpg

The possibility of a less-dark future for Yemen

The following report is from Dawn, the main English language news organ in Pakistan.

English is an official language in Pakistan, and its leaders, many of them, are still educated in England, as they were in colonial days.

The information in the article has not been widely-published in United States newspapers, though it has been published in Great Britain.

The possibility of less-bad news is that it now seems as if Obama is serious about allowing the Houthi a major say in the future government in Yemen, and that is necessary for there to be a cease-fire.   For there to be food and medical supplies the Saudi need  end he blocked not yet covered in any cease-fire agreement.

Dawn News

US asks Saudis to accept unconditional ceasefire in Yemen

THE NEWSPAPER'S CORRESPONDENT — UPDATED 2 DAYS AGO

WASHINGTON: The United States urged Saudi Arabia on Sunday to recommit to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Yemen.

The appeal for ending hostilities in the strife-torn Middle Eastern country follows a Saudi admission that misinformation and abuse of procedure resulted in the Oct 8 bombing of a funeral in Sana’a that killed 140 people.

“We urge all sides to recommit to an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities that can lead to renewed negotiations and a political settlement that ends the conflict,” said US State Department’s deputy spokesman Mark C. Toner.

The State Department also welcomed the initial results of the joint investigation by the Saudi-led Arab coalition into the air strike, saying that it “considers it an important first step towards better understanding the events of that day.”

“Throughout this conflict we have expressed our deepest concern about the ongoing actions by all parties involved,” Mr. Toner said in a statement to the media.

He noted that the war in Yemen has “killed and injured civilians, damaged civilian infrastructure, and inflicted a heavy humanitarian toll paid by the Yemeni people.”

So far more than 4,000 non-combatants have been killed in this war.

On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition announced initial results of its investigation, reporting that a party affiliated with the Yemeni general chief of staff headquarters misinformed coalition command that armed rebels were gathering at the location in Sana’a and insisted that the target be hit immediately.

The targeted funeral was for the father of a close ally of Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh who supports the rebel Houthi militia.

The war started last year when the Houthi militia over-ran the capital and ousted the president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

So far the United States has backed the Saudi-led coalition but the US media reported earlier this week that future American military assistance to the kingdom will now hinge on whether Riyadh embraces a Washington-backed cease-fire with Houthi rebels.

The media also reported that the White House has begun a top-to-bottom review of military aid for the kingdom, including both a massive, long-standing program of arms sales and more-limited assistance for the extended air war over Yemen.

Last week, the Pentagon launched Tomahawk cruise missiles against Houthi targets in Yemen, a response to a series of attacks this week on nearby US ships.

Since last year, US tanker planes have conducted more than 1,400 missions, offloading tens of millions of pounds of fuel. US personnel also have advised their Saudi counterparts on targeting rebels and avoiding civilian casualties.

AFP adds: The United Nations envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said: “We are here to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, which will be declared in the next few hours.” Cheikh Ahmed said he had been in contact with the rebel Huthi militia’s lead negotiator and with Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government.

But he also warned that he hoped for “clearer plans” for a ceasefire in coming days.

US Secretary of State John Kerry would not predict whether Yemen’s government or rebel forces had accepted the demand, but said the diplomats were not operating “in a vacuum.” “This is the time to implement a ceasefire unconditionally and then move to the negotiating table,” Kerry told reporters. Kerry was speaking after meeting Cheikh Ahmed and his opposite numbers from Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at talks hosted by Britain in London.

Published in Dawn October 17th, 2016

Will Obama push for Yemen cease-fire?

Yes indeed!

Smoke rises from the community hall where Saudi-led warplanes struck a funeral in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 9, 2016.  (photo by REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/war-yemen-escalation-saudi-arabia-humanitarian-crisis.html#ixzz4N5MKvPbk

Will Obama push for Yemen cease-fire? NEWS INFO BRUCE RIEDEL for Al-Monitor The United States, which fired cruise missiles at rebel radar sites in Yemen on Oct. 13 after missiles were fired at a US warship, needs to push for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Yemen before things get even more out of hand.