Who Is to Blame for Death and Destruction in Yemen?

TEHRAN (FNA)- Washington - during both the Obama and Trump administrations - has been a co-belligerent with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the failed war on Yemen.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped Washington from blaming Iran for the death and destruction there!

Discussing the US-backed Saudi invasion of Yemen, Pompeo has just declared Iran to be to blame for the death and destruction in the country!

Pompeo’s silly narrative blaming Iran is built around Saudi allegations that Iran is secretly in league with the Houthis (Ansarullah popular movement) who are resisting their criminal invasion. In practice, Ansarullah has never had more than nominal ties with Iran, and Iranian statements of public support is mostly built on criticizing the Saudis, and calling on the US to end its complicity in Saudi war crimes which has gotten well out of hand.

One of the most visible aspects of such complicity is midair refueling of Saudi warplanes bombing the country. Washington claims this has come to an end which should be good news. But that’s not enough. The US needs to do the next best thing which is ending its diplomatic and military support, including arms sales.

After all, US officials say this is part of a “limited punishment” that the Trump administration intends to impose over the grisly murder of reporter Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2!

Worse still, Defense Secretary James Mattis says the US will continue to support the Saudi war on Yemen, and “collaborate on building up legitimate Yemeni forces.”

The policy is telling. When we remember that the US has provided the Saudi coalition with arms, refueling, intelligence, and diplomatic cover so that they can wage their war on Yemen for more than three years, it is remarkable that US officials try to keep up the pretense that they are not involved and complicit in the failed invasion.

However, the US is the reason why the Saudis and their partners invaded Yemen in the first place and why the bloodshed and the humanitarian disaster continue. This kind of unconditional support and complicity in crimes is in no way “limited” and “non-combat” in nature. It is direct and in full-scale, as it is getting out of hand.

When they are adamant that their support must never be cut off, they clearly admit that they are directly involved in Saudi atrocities against the civilians of that unfortunate nation and they will stay in the game.

When it comes to answering for Saudi atrocities, the Americans have everything to do with the war and they should be held to account. By falsely blaming Iran for the death and destruction in that country they cannot shrug responsibility. They have been directly involved in killing thousands of civilians in airstrikes and torturing detainees by helping the Saudis in this war, including their military assistance to Saudi warplanes to hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, jails, boats and medical facilities.

At a time when the United Nations warns that “there is little evidence to minimize civilian casualties,” it is obvious that the United States is still deeply implicated in war crimes in Yemen and the Trump administration is unwilling to constrain the war.

United States fully responsible for Saudi massacre of Yemeni children: Houthi

The chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, has vehemently condemned a recent deadly airstrike by Saudi warplanes on a bus carrying schoolchildren in the country’s northwestern province of Sa’ada, stating that the United States bears full responsibility for the carnage.

“We hold the United States of America, the Commander-in-Chief of the Saudi-led military alliance against Yemen, and all those who are serving at the coalition, whether they are of Saudi, Emirati or British nationalities, accountable for the massacre in Dhahyan as well as all previous crimes against the Yemeni people,” Houthi said in a speech at a funeral ceremony for the victims of the massacre in the northern city of Sa’ada on Monday.

He added, “America is indeed killing Yemeni children and women. Saudi Arabia is attacking our country under the tutelage of the United States. It would have been impossible for Saudi and American officers in the command center of the Saudi-led coalition to perpetrate the recent slaughter if they had not received the green light from the US State Department. It is the United States that has granted Saudis the right to liquidate their opponents.”

A boy injured in Thursday's Saudi airstrike lies on a hospital bed in Sa’ada, Yemen, on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

Houthi further noted that the appalling massacre of children in Yemen is a repetition of the atrocities that Americans committed against Japanese people during World War II.

The high-ranking Yemeni official then hailed the military might of Yemeni rocket units, stressing that it has sent chills up the enemies’ spine.

He said Yemeni ground, naval and air forces will continue their operations against aggressors to convey the message of Yemenis’ resilience and steadfastness.

Houthi then expressed his gratitude to all freedom-loving people who commiserated with the Yemeni nation over the carnage in Sa’ada.

Boys inspect graves prepared for victims of Thursday's Saudi airstrike in Sa’ada province, Yemen, on August 10, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

The airstrike on Thursday hit a bus carrying a group of young schoolchildren attending summer classes of the Holy Qur’an from a summer camp in a busy market area, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement.

According to Yemeni medical sources, 50 people were killed and 77 injured in the strike.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said a hospital it supports in Sa’ada province had received 29 bodies of “mainly children” younger than 15, and 40 injured, including 30 children.

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has censured the attack, calling for “an independent and prompt investigation” into the incident.

Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen in March 2015.

Boys demonstrate outside the offices of the United Nations in Sana’a, Yemen, on August 13, 2018 to denounce last week’s Saudi airstrike that killed dozens, including children, in the northwestern province of Sa’ada. (Photo by Reuters)

The United Nations says a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

A high-ranking UN aid official has warned against the “catastrophic” living conditions in Yemen, stating that there is a growing risk of famine and cholera there.

“The conflict has escalated since November, driving an estimated 100,000 people from their homes,” John Ging, UN director of aid operations, told the UN Security Council on February 27.