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Yemen Civil War


Ten oz

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Since 2015 their have been 10,000- 50,000 killed and over 3 million people displace as a result of the war in Yemen. The war isn't getting much news here in the U.S. yet the U.S. has been involved providing Saudi Arabia with munitions and intelligence.

1 - Why isn't Yemen receiving more attention?

2 - Does the U.S. have an obligation to take in more Yemen refugees since we are participating in the war which is displacing them?

3 - What needs to happen to end the war?

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The bomb used by the Saudi-led coalition in a devastating attack on a school bus in Yemen was sold as part of a US State Department-sanctioned arms deal with Saudi Arabia, munitions experts told CNN. Working with local Yemeni journalists and munitions experts, CNN has established that the weapon that left dozens of children dead on August 9 was a 500-pound (227 kilogram) laser-guided MK 82 bomb made by Lockheed Martin, one of the top US defense contractors.

The bomb is very similar to the one that wreaked devastation in an attack on a funeral hall in Yemen in October 2016 in which 155 people were killed and hundreds more wounded. The Saudi coalition blamed "incorrect information" for that strike, admitted it was a mistake and took responsibility.

The schoolboys on a field trip in Yemen were chatting and laughing. Then came the airstrike

In March of that year, a strike on a Yemeni market -- this time reportedly by a US-supplied precision-guided MK 84 bomb -- killed 97 people.

In the aftermath of the funeral hall attack, former US President Barack Obama banned the sale of precision-guided military technology to Saudi Arabia over "human rights concerns."

The ban was overturned by the Trump administration's then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in March 2017.

As the US-backed Saudi-led coalition scrambles to investigate the strike on the school bus, questions are growing from observers and rights groups about whether the US bears any moral culpability. The US says it does not make targeting decisions for the coalition, which is fighting a Houthi rebel insurgency in Yemen. But it does support its operations through billions of dollars in arms sales, the refueling of Saudi combat aircraft and some sharing of intelligence.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/17/middleeast/us-saudi-yemen-bus-strike-intl/index.html

 

 

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Don't look at me.
Us Canadians are doing our part.

Our Prime Minister ( sometimes surprises me by demonstrating he has cojones ) and government is involved in a huge row with the Saudis over human rights violations.
The Saudis even communicated a picture of an airliner flying towards the CN tower ( as a thinly veiled threat ).

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For the second time this month the United Nations has blamed the Saudi-led forces fighting in Yemen's civil war for an airstrike that killed children.

There were conflicting reports about the death toll in the strike, which occurred Thursday, and about who committed it. But the United Nations top humanitarian official issued a statement blaming the attack on the Saudi-led forces, saying that at least 26 people were killed including 22 children and four women.

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/24/641646100/children-again-pay-the-price-in-yemens-war-as-focus-shifts-to-accountability

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  • 1 month later...

In the wake of Saudi Arabia murdering columnist Jamal Khashoggi U.S. President Trump's is highlighting the $110 billion weapons purchase by the Saudi govt as a reason to tame criticism of the Saudis. Meanwhile the weapons in questions are being used to kill people in Yemen, 50,000 people and counting. Should or will any world leaders stand against Saudi Arabia?

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Ten oz said:

In the wake of Saudi Arabia murdering columnist Jamal Khashoggi U.S. President Trump's is highlighting the $110 billion weapons purchase by the Saudi govt as a reason to tame criticism of the Saudis. Meanwhile the weapons in questions are being used to kill people in Yemen, 50,000 people and counting. Should or will any world leaders stand against Saudi Arabia?

 

 

15chappatte-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale

Yes, they should, but I think countries will start from the least aggressive position until the evidence is too strong. I recently read an article in Reuters that the ultimate consequence might be the crown prince being removed from the line of accession. His accession is not automatic as it needs to be approved by a council of elder princes, who may feel it is not in the country's interest to have him as king, in the light of this emerging situation.

Edited by StringJunky
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17 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Yes, they should, but I think countries will start from the least aggressive position until the evidence is too strong. I recently read an article in Reuters that the ultimate consequence might be the crown prince being removed from the line of accession. His accession is not automatic as it needs to be approved by a council of elder princes, who may feel it is not in the country's interest to have him as king, in the light of this emerging situation.

Saudi can have whomever they choose as heir to the thrown. What bothers me is my govt continuing to sell them weapons and buy their oil. Here i the U.S. we are fighting with our own allies like Canada over the distribution of milk but are tuning a total blind eye to Saudi Arabia. It is very sad. We should stop doing business with them. 

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2 hours ago, Ten oz said:

Saudi can have whomever they choose as heir to the thrown. What bothers me is my govt continuing to sell them weapons and buy their oil. Here i the U.S. we are fighting with our own allies like Canada over the distribution of milk but are tuning a total blind eye to Saudi Arabia. It is very sad. We should stop doing business with them. 

Saudi oil is very important to the global infrastructure, so it's going to be a very tortuous journey for everybody. I don't disagree with you, I'm just commenting on the potential scale of the problem; it's complex. It could very well get swept under the carpet.

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27 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Saudi oil is very important to the global infrastructure, so it's going to be a very tortuous journey for everybody. I don't disagree with you, I'm just commenting on the potential scale of the problem; it's complex. It could very well get swept under the carpet.

It is a deal with devils the Western World has had half a century to figure out an exit for. Enough procrastination I say. 

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  • 1 month later...
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The United Nations' refugee agency said Friday there were nearly 1,500 civilian casualties in Yemen from August through October, the latest grim tally to emerge from a four-year civil war as opposing parties hold talks in Sweden. The announcement came as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, met for a second day for U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the bloodshed.

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees urged the two sides to do more to protect civilians, saying data from Yemen shows an average of 123 civilians killed or wounded every week during the three-month period, in a war that has killed at least 16,000 civilians. The agency said of the 1,478 civilian casualties, 33 percent were women and children; that's a total of 217 women and children killed and 268 wounded.

In Lahij, Yemen, about 2,500 people live at a refugee camp in the most rudimentary shelter consisting of bits of wood and tarps, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports. They have no proper access to medical care. Link

 

The U.S. is knowingly supplying the Saudi govt with the weapon being used Yemen. I fear turning a blind eye to the plight of Yemen will only lead to more conflict in the future. Some of the children watching their Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, and etc dying today will grow up hardened an full of animosity towards the world. We (human) are better than this. I wish my govt would stop selling weapons being use in Yemen and get on the ground in Yemen to help on the humanitarian side. 

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The U.S. Senate voted today to end it's support if Saudi Arabia in Yemen. I consider this an important first step. 

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The 56-to-41 vote marks the first time the Senate has invoked Congress' war powers to challenge U.S. military involvement abroad. The dramatic step was both a condemnation of Saudi Arabia's execution of the Yemen war – which has killed thousands of civiliansand created a humanitarian catastrophe – and the kingdom's role in the murderof Jamal Khashoggi.

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The House will not take up the measure before the end of the year. Republicans introduced a rule that passed on Wednesday, 206-203, that effectively blocks lawmakers in the House from forcing a vote on Yemen-related resolutions through the end of 2018.

The White House is also staunchly opposed to the Senate’s measure, and if anything managed to get through both chambers, it would surely meet a Trump veto.

Still, the Senate’s passage of the resolution, 56-41, indicates that the Senate might still be able to push this bipartisan resolution in the next Congress — and this time, it might get somewhere with the House, which Democrats will control in 2019.

This also isn’t the only measure being considered that would punish Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s death. The Senate also approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday that holds MBS responsible for Khashoggi’s killing.

The Senate may also take up a vote on a bill that would suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and impose sanctions on officials who block humanitarian access in Yemen, or who were involved in Khashoggi’s death.

The Senate’s resolution comes on the same day that the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels reached a ceasefire agreement for a key strategic city in Yemen. This easing of hostilities doesn’t end the war in Yemen — but this week offered real breakthroughs in tackling one of the world’s most devastating humanitarian crises.

 

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16 hours ago, ecoli said:

amazing development @Ten oz. Perhaps this leads to a showdown between executive and congress... or does Senate have to approve arms sales anyway?

POTUS is the Commander in Chief and over the State Department. Congress can remove funding and pass laws prohibiting U.S. assets being utilized but those actions will require further action. In the short term this doesn't prevent POTUS from anything specific. 

 

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