Monday, November 19, 2018
'There Is
a US Imprint on the Death of Every Child in Yemen': Sen. Chris Murphy
As World Food Program head conveys scenes "of nightmares,
of horror" and makes urgent plea for U.S. to end war, lawmakers decry U.S.
complicity in civilian deaths
commondreams.org
As the
"humanitarian nightmare" gripping Yemen
rages on, the head of the United Nations World Food Program pleaded for the United States to
"end this war," while a group of U.S. lawmakers underscored American
complicity in civilian deaths.
"What
I have seen in Yemen this week is the stuff of nightmares, of horror, of
deprivation, of misery. And we—all of humanity —have only ourselves to
blame," World Food Program (WFP) executive director David Beasley told the U.N. Security Council on Friday
after finishing a three-day visit to the war-ravaged country.
"This
is not on the brink of a catastrophe. This is a
catastrophe," he told reporters.
While
the White House recently announced it was ending its policy of
refueling Saudi planes, the U.S. continues to provide assistance to the bombing
campaign with intelligence and arms—that's despite increased scrutiny over
rights abuses by the kingdom, and despite the fact that the conflict has led to
what the U.N. calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
In
light of that role, Beasley said to NPR that the
U.S. must "end this war."
In the
meantime, the U.S. should provide sufficient funding for the agency to
"make certain that every innocent Yemeni who's not involved in combat has
the food they need to keep their children and their family alive," Beasley
said in the interview that aired Monday.
Beasley's
visit to the country included a stop in Hodeidah; it's a key port because over
80 percent of humanitarian aid passes through there. Yet it's become "a
true militarized combat zone," he told NPR.
"My
heart is breaking after what I saw at the hospital in Hodeidah," Beasley
said in a statement. "Small children, so
malnourished they're little more than skin and bone, lying there with hardly
the strength to breathe. In the name of humanity, I urge all warring parties to
put an end to this horrific war. Let the children live and let the people start
to rebuild their lives."
UNICEF's
regional director Geert Cappelaere, who had just visited over 50 children at a
hospital in Hodeidah, had an equally bleak assessment and said last week the conflict had become
become a "war on children."
Given
that impact on the nation's youngest, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who just saw
House Republicans block a vote on his War Powers Resolution
to stop U.S. support for the war, dismissed the suggestion that another bid at
the resolution could wait until January, when his party retakes contol of the
chamber: "13 million Yemeni civilians are at risk of famine and 500,000
children could die in a matter of months," he stressed. He added,
"The deaths of babies and children in Yemen are not abstractions."
The
deaths of babies and children in Yemen are not abstractions. Every member of
Congress must read this story of a father watching his 4 month old die. This
was entirely preventable. What more must happen to stir the conscience of our
Congress to act? https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/yemeni-father-mourns-baby-girl-who-died-of-starvation …
Some
might think that my Yemen resolution can wait until Democrats take control in
January.
But 13 million Yemeni civilians are at risk of famine and 500,000 children could die in a matter of months.
The people of Yemen don’t have the luxury to wait. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-war-famine-starvation-cholera-children-mukalla-alqaeda-houthis-gulf-a8505156.html …
But 13 million Yemeni civilians are at risk of famine and 500,000 children could die in a matter of months.
The people of Yemen don’t have the luxury to wait. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-war-famine-starvation-cholera-children-mukalla-alqaeda-houthis-gulf-a8505156.html …
Similarly
stressing the urgency of action was Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif):
.@UNICEF is right: the war in Yemen has
become a war on children. #YemenCantWait,
and neither can these kids. Congress MUST put an end to US complicity in this
horrific war. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/11/14/667805263/why-a-war-on-children-could-get-worse …
Sen.
Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who's drawn repeated attention to U.S. involvement in
the war, said the U.S. must do more than cut off refueling of Saudi
military aircraft. He tweeted Friday: "There is a U.S. imprint on the
death of every child in Yemen."
"Yemen
has become a hell on earth for millions of children."
There is a U.S. imprint on the death of every child in Yemen. And it's time for us to end our role in this humanitarian nightmare. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/11/14/667805263/why-a-war-on-children-could-get-worse …
There is a U.S. imprint on the death of every child in Yemen. And it's time for us to end our role in this humanitarian nightmare. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/11/14/667805263/why-a-war-on-children-could-get-worse …
Sen.
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who, with Murphy, has War Powers Resolution legislation in the Senate to end U.S.
involvement in Yemen that could get a vote in the coming weeks, also made
recent calls on social media to end the U.S. role in the war:
The
CIA has confirmed what was obvious, that Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the
direction of the Saudi crown prince. The United States must thoroughly
reevaluate our relationship with the brutal Saudi dictatorship, and start by
ending support for the catastrophic war in Yemen.
WFP's
Beasley said the U.S. should end the war—and as William D. Hartung, director of
the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, argues
Monday, it can take clear steps to do so.
"If
it wants to make an earnest effort to protect innocent lives, the Trump
administration should end all support for the Saudi/UAE war effort. That
includes targeting assistance, arms sales, and the provision of spare parts and
maintenance for the existing Saudi and UAE arsenals," he writes in an op-ed at CNN.
"Given that the bulk of the Saudi arsenal—including more than half its
combat-capable aircraft, tens of thousands of bombs, and 2,000 armored
vehicles—is of US-origin, an end to U.S. support could quickly degrade the
fighting capability of the Saudi armed forces."
Meanwhile,
the Houthis said Monday they were halting their
missile attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a move seen
as a possible "a turning point in peace efforts."
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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