Friends,
I got a call from Marc Steiner today who informed me that a Saudi ship will dock at the Port of Baltimore on February 12. Despite Biden’s call for an end to U.S. involvement in the slaughter of the people of Yemen, the question remains if weapons will be loaded on the Saudi ship coming to the Port of Baltimore? Let me know if you would be interested in protesting this Saudi ship on February 12?
Kagiso, Max
Friday, February 05, 2021
After Biden Move, Anti-War Groups Call on Boris Johnson to End UK Support for Saudi Assault on Yemen
"Johnson
and Raab have blood on their hands. Their support for the carnage in Yemen must
end immediately."
commondreams.org/news/2021/02/05/after-biden-move-anti-war-groups-call-boris-johnson-end-uk-support-saudi-assault
Buoyed by President Joe Biden's announced
decision to
limit U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, U.K. peace activists on
Friday renewed calls for the British government to stop selling weapons to
Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi-led forces have killed thousands of
civilians... No matter how dire the crisis has become, they have been able to
count on the uncritical political and military support of the U.K.
government."
—Sarah Waldron, CAAT
The Stop the War Coalition called Biden's move "a welcome change to
U.S. foreign policy," and the group's convener, Lindsey German, said that
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab should
now follow his lead.
German accused both Johnson and Raab of having
"blood on their hands" in what the United Nations has called the
world's worst humanitarian crisis.
"Their support for the carnage in
Yemen," said German, "must end immediately."
The group said the ongoing U.K. backing for the
Saudis is shameful and that an "overwhelming majority" of people
"on both sides of the Atlantic" oppose the ongoing arms sales fueling
the war.
On Friday, the Campaign Against Arms Trade
(CAAT) also published a statement calling on Britain to follow Biden's lead
and stop supporting the war.
"Since the bombing of Yemen began in March
2015, the U.K. has licensed at least £5.4 billion [$7.4 billion] worth of arms
to the Saudi regime," said CAAT, including warplanes, helicopters, drones,
missiles, bombs, and other armaments.
In addition to providing technical and
logistical support for the Saudi-led war effort, British arms manufacturers
profit handsomely from the conflict that has claimed an estimated 233,000 lives from direct and
indirect causes, according to the U.N.
Sarah Waldron of CAAT said that Biden's move
"puts the spotlight firmly on to the U.K. government and companies that
have armed, supported, and enabled the brutal bombardment."
"Saudi-led forces have killed thousands of
civilians and bombed schools, hospitals, and homes," said Waldron.
"No matter how dire the crisis has become, they have been able to count on
the uncritical political and military support of the U.K. government."
"That support must end, and so must... the
arms sales that have done so much damage," she added.
The activists' calls were echoed by Lisa Nandy,
the Labour shadow foreign secretary, who said Friday that "the government's support
for Saudi campaign in Yemen is not only morally wrong but increasingly leaves
Britain isolated on the world stage."
"President Biden's decision to end U.S.
support for operations in Yemen shows just how far global opinion has shifted
and leaves the U.K. worryingly out of step with our allies."
—Lisa Nandy,
Labour shadow foreign secretary
"President Biden's decision to end U.S.
support for operations in Yemen shows just how far global opinion has shifted
and leaves the U.K. worryingly out of step with our allies," said Nandy.
"Ministers must now take long overdue action to stop arms sales to Saudi
Arabia and end the U.K.'s role in a conflict which has caused the world's worst
humanitarian crisis."
Leading weapons-manufacturing nations
including Italy and Germany have ended or significantly limited arms
sales to the Saudi-led coalition, while others including Canada and France have continued to profit from the
war.
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.
Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore
Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212.
Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"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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