A lesser known member of President Trump’s travel ban of Middle East countries is Yemen. Located in the Southern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has struggled with violence for years. It was the site of Trump’s first special forces operation, a botched raid that targeted Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The raid left more than two dozen, including Navy Seal William Owens and 8-year-old Yemini-American girl Nawar al-Awlaki, dead. Al-Awlaki was the daughter of American terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki. Both her father and innocent 16-year-old brother were killed in separate United States drone strikes during the Obama presidency. Though many scorned Trump’s advocacy for killing terrorists’ families and argued the military would never do such a thing, it has become a disturbing reality.
The deadly raid took place against the background of a murderous bombing campaign carried out by Saudi Arabia with full U.S. backing since 2015. United Nations Human Rights officials state Saudi Arabia’s air war has resulted in at least 10,000 civilian casualties. Air strikes carried out with U.S.-supplied F-15s have targeted schools, hospitals and weddings. Saudi Arabia has used U.S.-provided cluster bombs and white phosphorous on civilians, which violates international law and chemical weapons prohibitions. The Obama administration was so certain it was aiding Saudi war crimes that internal documents reveal the State Department wanted to “limit U.S. exposure to Law of Armed Conflict concerns.” Now Trump seems to be escalating the war.
Saudi Arabia initiated the war to target Houthi Rebels who were threatening the Saudis’ client government in Yemen. Both Washington and Riyadh swear the Houthis are proxy fighters for Iran. That characterization is hotly disputed, and even the Washington Post has reported that Iranian involvement in Yemen is limited and “the war in Yemen is driven by local grievances and competition for power among Yemini actors.” Prior to the war, most Yeminis disliked the Houthis for their authoritarian leanings. Though thanks to Saudi Arabia’s slaughtering of civilians, support for the Houthis has solidified, and the population is now intransigent and dug in to withstand Saudi aggression.
To break the population, Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen’s main seaport in August and instituted a naval blockade. Through this port comes most of Yemen’s food and humanitarian aid. It plunged the country into a vicious mass starvation that verges on the genocidal, with the U.N. stating there are 370,000 malnourished children in Yemen and 3 million displaced. The images of starving Yemini children reveal that the conflict may be one of the worst crimes against humanity of the century. Unlike the Syrian Civil War where the images of victims have been permanently branded into the Western consciousness, Yemen receives little publicity. The reason shouldn’t surprise anyone because the aggressors in the war are the U.S. and its ally and the public would be outraged to learn of the twisted atrocities being committed there in its name.
Making the situation worse is the Trump administration’s desire to make Yemen the centerpiece of its escalation of tensions with Iran. Trump’s decision to “put Iran on notice” cited alleged support for the houthi rebels. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blamed Iran for the targeting of a Saudi navy vessel by Houthi rebels, even falsely insinuating it had been an Iranian attack on “our Navy vessel.” If the White House is set on a confrontation with Iran, it should be acknowledged that the long-ignored war in Yemen orchestrated under Obama helped facilitate the heightening of tensions.
luwrobin@umail.iu.edu
