by Stephen Lendman
Media reports on devastating war in Yemen, including from most alternative sources, fail to explain the conflict was planned and orchestrated in Washington.
It began under Bush/Cheney shortly after US naked aggression was launched in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 – four weeks after the 9/11 state-sponsored mother of all false flags.
Both wars and all others that followed were planned months in advance. US warmaking and enlistment of terrorist groups Washington created and supports, didn’t emerge like Topsy. Strategy and tactics take months of planning in advance.
Afghanistan is America’s longest war in modern times, in its 18th year with no prospect for resolution.
The shocking, largely ignored, reality about Yemen is it’s been ongoing almost as long. The Bush/Cheney regime launched it by drone terror-bombing.
Saudi terror-bombing began, then temporarily stopped, years before full-scale war was launched in March 2015. Resolution is nowhere in sight because the US under Republicans and undemocratic Dems reject peace and stability in all US war theaters.
Saudis and the UAE are US proxies in Yemen. Washington and Britain select targets to strike, including hospitals, schools, residential neighborhoods, mosques, marketplaces, agricultural land, and other civilian sites.
The US provides intelligence, logistics support, and mid-air refueling of Saudi and UAE warplanes.
Practically none of the above hard truths are reported by Western and Israeli media. Make no mistake. The Netanyahu regime is involved in the war – serving US, UK, French, Saudi, UAE and its own interests.
The same agenda is true about Syria, IDF terror-bombing of sites in the country temporarily halted because of Russian supplied sophisticated S-300 air defense systems.
According to the Saker, Syria was supplied with the same ones delivered to Iran and China, not “some antiquated,” less effective version, adding:
“Combined with the EW systems also delivered by Russia, these air defense systems clearly are having an impact on US and Israeli operations…complicat(ing) future attacks.”
Yemen is a different story, Russia involved only in trying to resolve the war diplomatically. It’s an unattainable objective as long as the US wants it continued endlessly.
On November 3, a major Saudi/UAE ground offensive began, trying to capture, control, and cut off remaining humanitarian aid entering Yemen through the port city of Hodeidah – the campaign so far unsuccessful.
On Thursday, spokesman for Yemeni armed forces allied with Houthi fighters General Yahya Sari said the following:
“The offensive operations blocked all the land supply routes, which led to confusion among enemy (Saudi and UAE) forces, and the aggressor warplanes failed to support (their) mercenaries.”
Reportedly, Saudi and UAE forces, along with their proxy fighters, are trapped inside Hodeidah and its surrounding areas after breaking through Houthi defenses on Tuesday.
Fierce fighting continues for the strategically important port city. Houthi fighters controlled it since 2014, a humanitarian aid lifeline for food, medicines and other vital aid able to get into Yemen, far short of what’s desperately needed.
Deplorable Saudi propaganda claims the kingdom “stand(s) with the Yemeni people” – while regime terror-bombing massacres them daily. War and blocked aid risks starvation for millions, young children, the elderly, ill and infirm most vulnerable.
The notion that US aircraft will stop refueling Saudi and UAE warplanes is as hollow as Trump regime war secretary Mattis’ call for ceasefire. US supported aggression in the country escalated after his statement.
In early November, UNICEF called Yemen a “living hell,” especially for its children – severe malnutrition and starvation killing countless tens of thousands, virtually unreported in the West.
UNICEF Middle East/North Africa director Geert Cappelaere said: “Every 10 minutes, a child is dying from diseases that can be easily prevented” – countless others from war and starvation.
Likely hundreds of thousands of Yemenis perished since March 2015 – not the phony 10,000 figure reported by major media.
Millions of Yemenis may starve to death if war and blockade continue endlessly.
Most Yemenis obtaining food subsist on about 500 calories daily, causing severe malnutrition. It’s a third or more of what’s needed to survive.
Around 80% of Yemenis are food insecure. Save the Children estimates over 50,000 Yemeni children died from starvation and untreated diseases in 2017 alone.
Because of its arid land, Yemen is dependent on food imports. What’s available is too expensive for most Yemenis, the region’s poorest country in normal times, why humanitarian aid is vital. Yet far too little is available.
According to the UN, Yemen faces the “worst famine in the world in 100 years” if war continues.
Famine is already a reality for millions of Yemenis, mass starvation ongoing, largely out of sight and mind, lip service to it alone paid in the US and other Western capitals.
Food and medical treatment deprivation is part of US orchestrated, Saudi/UAE waged war and blockade on the country.
UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande said as many as 13 million civilians may die from starvation if conflict resolution remains unachieved.
There’s no prospect of it ahead because the Trump regime rejects it.
When America goes to war, the human toll is never a consideration.
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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
