... Jemenitische Frauen und der Weg zum Frieden – Eine neue Resolution des UN-Sicherheitsrats ist notwendig – Lowcocks Bericht vor dem UN-Sicherheitsrat – US-Senat stimmt gegen Unterstützung im Jemenkrieg und gegen Kronprinz Salman – Australier in Diensten der Emirate – Iranische Waffen im Jemen – Jemengespräche: Waffenstillstand für Hodeidah vereinbart, aber Umsetzung vage, Kämpfe gegen weiter – und mehr
Dec. 16, 2018: Yemenis speaking about the war – Meet Abrar, 12 – Pregnant in a war zone – Yemeni fates – A female doctor and starving children – Yemeni women and the road to peace – A new UN Security Council resolution is needed – Lowcock’s briefing to UN sec. Council – US Senate votes to end support for Yemen War and for condemning Crown prince Salman– Australians in UAE services – Iranian arms in Yemen – Yemen talks: Agreement to Hodeidah truce, but implement stays vague, fighting continues – and more
Dieses Jemenkrieg-Mosaik besteht aus zwei Teilen / This Yemen War Mosaic is divided in two parts
Teil 1 / Part 1: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-491-yemen-war-mosaic-491
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
(Teil 1: Kursiv / Part 1: In Italics)
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(* B P)
Wieso es in Saudi-Arabien gerade kräftig rumort – und was das für die Region bedeutet
Riad ist eine der am schnellsten wachsenden Metropolen der Welt.
Nicht nur die Hauptstadt wandelt sich rasant. In ganz Saudi-Arabien ist ein Modernisierungsprozess in Gange, der selbst pessimistische Beobachter in Staunen versetzt.
Gleichzeitig scheint das Land immer tiefer in diplomatischen Krisen zu versinken.
Die andauernde humanitäre Katastrophe im Jemen und die Ermordung des regierungskritischen Journalisten Dschamal Khashoggi haben die Imagekampagne des jungen Kronprinzen Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) weit zurückgeworfen.
(* B P)
So, I Asked People in Saudi Arabia About Their Mad, Murderous Crown Prince
The U.S. has leverage over Riyadh. Let’s use it.
It’s awkward to find yourself in a police state interviewing people about their leader’s penchant for starving children, torturing women or dismembering critics.
The result is nervous smiles. And long pauses in the conversation.
It’s sad because on this visit, I found Saudi Arabia truly is changing under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. You feel a dynamism on the ground in Riyadh, and young Saudis are thrilled that the country finally has a bold leader trying to modernize the economy.
Public opinion is difficult to judge in any police state in which journalists are closely watched. But my best guess is that the support here for the prince is real, with people welcoming his youthful leadership as a breath of fresh air
Senior Saudis privately accept that M.B.S. ordered Khashoggi’s death but insist that the Saudi-U.S. relationship is more important than one man’s life. For the sake of stability in the region, they say, America should stand by Saudi Arabia.
To which my answer is: The problem is not only that M.B.S. is a murderer, but also that he has destabilized the region, starved Yemeni children and undermined the interests of Saudi Arabia and the United States alike. Everything he touches, he breaks.
My most interesting interaction was with a group of young professionals who believe that I am getting it all wrong.
“I don’t know why the media focuses on the bad side,” protested Tariq Buhilaigah, a consultant in Riyadh. Sure there have been missteps, he said, but the most important things going on are the modernization of the country and the diversification of the economy away from oil.
Felwa AlBazie, who is preparing to get her driver’s license, said she doesn’t know why the women’s rights activists are detained but added, “The big picture I’m seeing is that every woman in life benefits from driving, and women and men benefit from social progress.”
But modernity isn’t just about cappuccinos and iPhone apps; it’s also about human dignity and the rule of law. While M.B.S. is bringing social progress, he’s also reckless, oppressive and brutal, and I am skeptical of his economic competence.
Trump’s bizarre defense of the prince reflects what has been wrong with the U.S.-Saudi relationship. It has become all transactional. The Saudis have treated us like body guards, and we have treated them like gas station attendants.
I suspect the real reason Trump and Kushner embrace M.B.S., aside from the hope that he will back their Middle East peace plan, is business: the belief that Saudis will invest in their personal real estate projects for decades to come – by Nicholas Kristof
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/opinion/sunday/saudi-arabia-yemen-khashoggi.html
and what Saudi media make of this:
Saudi paper Okaz: "American journalist after his visit: Saudis pleased with their Crown Prince & their support for him is real." Okaz: @NickKristof "found that Saudi Arabia is truly changing under the leadership of Prince Mohammed bin Salman."
https://twitter.com/viviannereim/status/1074331837047205895
(A P)
Western tourists trickle into Saudi Arabia as it tries to open up
Western tourists, a rarity in Saudi Arabia, visited this weekend under a new visa system, as one of the world’s most inaccessible countries tries to open up its society and diversify its economy away from oil.
Thousands of fans flocked to Riyadh’s historic Diriyah district for Formula E, a motor sports tournament using electric vehicles, and concerts including by David Guetta and Black Eyed Peas.
(* B P)
The Saudi Regime’s Other Victims
The murder of Jamal Khashoggi has focused attention on Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses. We need to remember all of the thousands in prison.
But despite continuing anger over Mr. Khashoggi’s fate, too little attention is being paid to the crown prince’s treatment of dissidents inside the kingdom, who often lack the resources to consider lives in exile, and who are now being imprisoned in record numbers. More than 2,600 Saudi dissidents, including prominent scientists, writers, lawyers and women’s rights campaigners, are in detention in Saudi Arabia, according to Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners. Most were convicted under the kingdom’s counterterrorism laws, receiving sentences for such nonviolent offenses as “criticizing the royal court” and “ridiculing religious figures.” Few of these people are as well known in Western capitals as Mr. Khashoggi was, but their stories are no less important.
Saudi Arabia was not always like this. Viewed from afar, Saudi kings may look like one long, undifferentiated line of autocrats. But the degree to which dissent is tolerated has fluctuated over time, depending on the temperament of the ruler and the pressures he faces.
But the spectacle of Arab leaders succumbing to the Arab Spring uprisings alarmed the elderly king and his advisers, leading them to wonder if they’d gone too far. The Saudi government tried to buy off the opposition, spending billions on public housing and higher salaries. It also imprisoned some of the most outspoken activists, including Mohammed Fahad al-Qahtani, Abdullah al-Hamid, and Mohammed Saleh al-Bejadi, founding members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association who had steadfastly refused to be co-opted.
After King Salman took the throne in January 2015, the pace of arrests accelerated. Executions spiked, reaching levels unseen for two decades.
The killing of Mr. Khashoggi, a relatively mild critic of the kingdom, has exposed Prince Mohammed and the Saudi government’s intolerance of any kind of dissent. But the thousands of political prisoners should be part of the conversation, too, even if they didn’t write columns for major Western newspapers or were never popular dinner-party guests in Washington and London – by Katherine Zoepf
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/opinion/saudi-arabia-khashoggi.html
(A E P)
Saudi Arabia Pumps Up Stock Market After Bad News, Including Khashoggi Murder
Saudi Arabia’s government has been spending billions of dollars to quietly prop up its stock market and counter selloffs that have followed repeated political crises in recent months.
According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of trading data and interviews with multiple people with direct knowledge of government intervention efforts, the Saudi government has placed huge buy orders, often in the closing minutes of negative trading days, to boost the market (subscribers only)
infographic. https://twitter.com/georgikantchev/status/1073306840799371270
(* B P)
MBS said to be plotting Camp David-style handshake with Netanyahu
Task force dealing with Khashoggi fallout working on 'game-changing' photo with Israeli PM that would cast prince as peacemaker, sources say
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is reported to be “seriously considering” setting up a “game-changing” Camp David-style summit meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with US President Donald Trump playing host.
The crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, has asked the emergency task force he created to deal with the fall-out from the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to look at the idea, sources in the kingdom with close knowledge of the discussions told Middle East Eye.
The plan is to present the crown prince, who is widely accused of involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, as a breakthrough Arab peacemaker in the mould of the former Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mbs-plotting-camp-david-style-handshake-netanyahu-446814831
Comment: This is important but will it bring MBS in from the Khashoggi cold or will it alienate Netanyahu? Or will it just grow the world divisions that are creating such chaos in the world order?
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157217944313641
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia seeks new political bloc in strategic Red Sea region
Saudi Arabia is seeking an alliance with six countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a strategic area vital to global shipping and increasingly an arena of contention with regional rivals like Iran, Turkey and Qatar.
Representatives from Egypt, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Jordan gathered in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss the initiative without reaching final agreement. A team of experts is expected to meet “soon” in Cairo for technical talks.
“This is part of the kingdom’s efforts to protect its interests and those of its neighbors and ... to stabilize the region that we live in and to try to create synergies between the various countries...” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters after a day of closed-door meetings.
“The more cooperation and coordination that you have among the countries of this region, the less negative outside influence will be on this region,” he said.
My comment: Fishing for vassals in the contest with Iran.
(* A P)
A UN Committee Calls on Saudi Arabia to Release 12 Human Rights Activists
A United Nations Rights Committee has called on Saudi authorities to release more than a dozen human rights activists detained in the kingdom, some of whom have been tortured or ill-treated during interrogation. The Committee composed of 10 independent experts, sought information on whether an impartial investigation had been opened into allegations that "high-ranking officials involved in the torture and murder of Jamal Khashoggi were outside the law."
In a letter posted on Tuesday, the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) based its report on "serious allegations" that activists such as Jane Al-Hathul, Iman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef and prominent women's rights activist Samar Badawi, Naseema al-Sada, Muhammad al-Rabiah and Ibrahim al- have been charged in Dhahban prison near Jeddah since May 2018. The letter stated that they were "tortured, sexually harassed and other forms of ill-treatment during interrogation."
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4316&cat_id=3
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
(* A P)
Erdogan: Riyadh Trying to Cover up Killer of Khashoggi
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed part of the audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's murder, saying one of the killers of the Saudi dissident journalist is heard saying, “I know how to cut."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his call to the Saudi authorities to extradite the murderers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, pointing out that the Turkish people are "not stupid" and know how to hold them accountable.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4365&cat_id=3
and a reminder from 2004 (!)
(* B P)
So Much for Saudi Reform
ON FRIDAY, MARCH 19, President Bush reiterated his commitment "to encourage reform and democracy in the greater Middle East as the alternatives to fanaticism, resentment, and terror." Anyone following the American media lately might actually believe that this policy is showing signs of success in Saudi Arabia.
This glowing discussion of Saudi reform failed to mention one unpleasant fact: Two days before, the Saudi authorities had arrested 12 prominent reformers, charging them with "endangering the unity of the country." One of the detained men, the respected intellectual Abd al-Kareem Al-Juhaiman, is almost 90 years old.
The producers of National Public Radio are not the only ones turning a blind eye to the anti-reform activities of the Saudi government. Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a Riyadh press conference with his Saudi counterpart on March 19, downplayed the arrests.
https://www.weeklystandard.com/ali-al-ahmed/so-much-for-saudi-reform
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B P)
Editorial: America's shame in Yemen
This is not the kind of leadership Americans expect of their country. Rather than enable a brutal war, the U.S. should have been leading an effort to negotiate or impose a ceasefire and install a peacekeeping force while a settlement is negotiated.
As we enter what's often called a season of peace, Americans must call on their government to put into practice the values this nation once preached.
https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Editorial-America-s-shame-in-Yemen-13469113.php
(* B P)
SAUDI ARABIA’S CRUELTY HAS PEOPLE LISTENING TO RAND PAUL ON WAR POWERS
VICE News sat down with Sen. Paul, one of the supporters of the Yemen resolution and a huge critic of both America’s alliance with Saudi Arabia and the president’s failure to consult Congress on the use of the U.S. military abroad.
Here’s part of his conversation with VICE News Tonight Washington Bureau Chief Shawna Thomas. The exchanges have been condensed for space and clarity:
Does it mean something diplomatically to have the Senate say this?
I think some of it’s symbolic, but it's a very loud, large symbol to have one body of Congress vote to say we should no longer be supporting Saudi Arabia in a war. And I think that their government and the royal family will say, "Hmmm, we risk really becoming a pariah in the U.S. We've been allies for so long. Do we really want to have a problem where we can't even buy parts for airplanes?" So I think the Saudis are waking up, and I think there will be a discussion within the royal family.
Do you think the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. ought to be expelled?
I think he ought to be expelled. Absolutely.
And send another prince over?
I can't dictate to them who they send over. They have a royal family. They’re run as a monarchy, a dictatorial monarchy. They are not anything like the United States. So it can't dictate to them who they choose. But I think we can also say that we're not going to reward that kind of behavior. What's going on in Yemen. What's going on with Khashoggi. But also what's been going on for decades. They’ve been playing a game with us. On the surface, they feed us some intelligence. They say they're supportive. They probably are supportive in some ways. But at the same time, they spend hundreds of billions of dollars supporting these religious madrassas that teach hatred of Christians, Jews, and Hindus.
Shouldn’t we be a little bit worried they won't play our game anymore because we do have a strategic relationship with them in the Middle East?
I really don't see much strategic value in them, to tell you the truth.
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/4395ad/why-rand-paul-is-trying-to-send-a-message-to-trump-about-saudi-arabia and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZz3GnUxZVg
(* B P)
Rash Report: Journalists cover, and are central to, Senate's Saudi rebuke
Jamal Khashoggi's murder spurs Senate to condemn the crown prince and end U.S. military aid for the war in Yemen.
Journalists, of course, are covering the story.
But they’re also part of the story — starting with the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
The brutality didn’t start, and sadly hasn’t stopped, with Khashoggi.
“There’s an evolution not only in the number of journalists detained [in Saudi Arabia, look at cp8], but the scope of the repression, as well,” said Justin Shilad, CPJ’s Middle East and North African research associate. “It had moved firmly into the mainstream from the margins.”
So has the concern — over Khashoggi, and Yemen. “I don’t know if it’s human psychology, but there’s something really fascinating about how hearing about this brutal murder of one person has galvanized American public interest in the conflict in Yemen and the way it’s affecting civilians, families and children,” said Alexandra Stark, a predoctoral research fellow at Harvard’s Middle East Initiative.
Stark, a scholar of civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa, put particular focus on the optics of the conflict, including the devastating New York Times photograph of Amal Hussain, a starving 7-year-old Yemeni girl.
The congressional and public pressure may have had “a strong impact in terms of how the intervening countries the United States supports” view the issue, Stark said.
The paper hasn’t blinked. Columnist Nicholas Kristoff, upholding the “guardian” ethos, dedicated most of his recent column space to show another startling image, this time of Abrar Ibrahim, a 28-pound, 12-year-old girl, who is just one individual in a country where half are at risk of famine.
After all, members of Congress should be “guardians,” too.
http://www.startribune.com/journalists-cover-and-are-central-to-senate-s-saudi-rebuke/502820662/
(* B P)
Film: How will Trump respond to the Senate's rebuke of Saudi Arabia?
Although it is unlikely the House of Representatives will take up the Yemen measure during this Congress, politicians have vowed to bring up the issue again next year.
If it passes, will President Donald Trump act on his threat to reject the measure?
Guests: Fatima Alasrar - senior analyst at the Arabia Foundation in Washington, DC; Hakim Almasmari - political and military mediator, who took part in the recent Yemen talks in Sweden; Natasha Lindstaedt - professor of government at the University of Essex and a specialist in authoritarian governments and US politics
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2018/12/trump-respond-senate-rebuke-saudi-arabia-181214204235439.html = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK8LGSZINAw
Remark: The Arabia Foundation is Saudi paid, Alasrar is a Saudi propagandist.
(* A B P)
Symbolic votes challenge Trump on policy toward Saudis, Yemen war
Although the resolutions are largely symbolic — because it’s unclear if they will be considered by the House — their passage Thursday showed senators seeking to assert oversight of Trump administration foreign policy and the relationship with Saudi Arabia.
It also marked the collapse of the Trump administration’s effort in the Senate to contain fallout from the gruesome killing.
But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that while the administration respects the view of the Senate it will not change course in supporting Saudi Arabia. He said the Saudis serve as a bulwark in combating aggression from Iran that threatens the United States, and that Trump would not relent on policies aimed at protecting Americans. Pompeo noted that the U.S. has taken action against some Saudis implicated in the murder, banning them from traveling to the U.S.
(* A P)
Trump team defends Saudi ties after Senate rebuke on Yemen
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday again defended US ties with Saudi Arabia on national security grounds after the Senate voted to end support to the kingdom's war in Yemen
"We certainly have great respect for what the legislative branch does and we're in constant contact with members on Capitol Hill so we understand their concerns," Pompeo told reporters.
He said the administration was trying "our level best to articulate why our policies are what they are and how we can ensure the right policy for the United States of America and to keep our country safe."
He said there was a "real risk to the United States of America" from Iran, which is allied with Huthi rebels who control Yemen's capital Sanaa.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, joining Pompeo in the joint news conference with their Canadian counterparts, noted that the Senate vote came amid progress in Yemen peace talks.
Mattis said the US -- which has called on but not forced the Saudis to halt their air campaign -- contributed to the diplomatic effort in "ending that war that has gone on too long."
(* B P)
Senate Fingers Saudi Bin Salman as Murderer, Demands End of Yemen War
First, Joint Resolution 69 asked for a diplomatic solution to the Yemen war, given that "nearly 12,000,000 people are suffering from "severe hunger," according to the United Nations' World Food Programme."
The Senators let Riyadh have it over the erratic and outrageous behavior of crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman:
The Senate therefore said that it..
(1) believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi;
(2) acknowledges the United States Government has sanctioned 17 Saudi individuals under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) for their roles in the murder;
(3) calls for the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to ensure appropriate accountability for all those responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder...
In other words, King Salman should have his own son, Mohammed Bin Salman, arrested and tried for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi!
These passages make for an absolutely astonishing and unprecedented document! They have played Perry Mason and convicted the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman, of premeditated murder!
With regard to getting the US military out of Yemen, the Senators passed a separate measure: The full resolution, S. J. Res. 54 of Dec. 13, 2018, is here.
Just so Trump and his Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, get the message right off the bat, the resolution is entitled "To direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress."
Still, maybe, despite their symbolic character, these resolutions are a turning point for the Yemen War, and for US diplomacy in general – by Juan Cole
and this is the full text of Res. 69: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/69/text
(* B P)
Comment: The only way the White House would willingly change tack on Riyadh is if the president thinks he looks bad
If Congress wants to seriously change US policy towards Saudi Arabia, it has to take the Trump adminstration to war in the arena that the president understands best: public relations.
Chairman Corker understood this point well when he offered S.J. Res. 69 as a possible vehicle for both shaming MbS and for furthering along an end to the fighting in Yemen.
S.J. Res. 69 says a lot of things, but most notably it says that Congress believes that MbS "is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi".
If it were to pass the House, President Trump would have to decide whether to sign it, making it a law saying that the US Congress thinks the ruler-to-be of a strategic partner had a journalist murdered in cold blood, or he would have to veto it and explain why.
If he signs it, all the better, but if he vetoes it then the real PR battle begins.
He will likely dress his veto decision up in terms of how Congress cannot dictate how the US handles affairs with security partners as that is left to the president. But, any social media-savvy member of Congress could, and should make the argument that the president looks weak and is doing the bidding of MbS.
President Trump understands branding and I'm sure he would hate to be branded the junior partner in the US-Saudi relationship.
This is just one example of the approach Congress should take, but the underlying strategy remains that, if US policy towards Saudi Arabia is really going to change, it is going to have to come from within the Executive Branch
That said, the only way that the White House would willingly change tack on Riyadh is if the president thinks he looks bad maintaining the status quo.
So, Congress can continue trying to pass bills and joint resolutions like the War Powers Resolution or S.J. Res. 69 and dare the president veto them
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2018/12/14/convincing-trump-to-break-up-with-saudi-arabia
(* B P)
The Senate Acts on Yemen
Meanwhile, there is an ongoing debate—even with Young’s amendment—as to whether the definition of “hostilities” used in S.J. Res. 54 reaches current U.S. activities in Yemen. If it does not, as the Trump administration maintains, then it’s not clear that S.J. Res. 54 would require changes in U.S. policy even if enacted.
To account for this possibility, several supporters of S.J. Res. 54 have introduced additional legislation limiting U.S. support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen that does not link itself to the WPR’s concept of hostilities.
The difficulty is that such legislation does not qualify for the expedited procedures provided by the WPR. This leaves it vulnerable to filibusters and other methods of obstruction—especially if opposed by McConnell, which seems likely. And even if the legislation makes it through the House and Senate, it will once again be subject to the president’s veto.
Whatever its ultimate legal effect, the political significance of the Senate’s action on the Yemen resolutions should not be underestimated
The question is whether the credible threat of such legislation will itself prove sufficient to change the mind of Trump—or King Salman of Saudi Arabia, whose D.C.-based diplomats closely follow U.S. politics. Their more prudent advisors will no doubt urge them to work towards moderating their policies so as to make adjustments on their own terms, not those of Congress, and thereby preserve the broader bilateral relationship.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/senate-acts-yemen
(* A P)
After Senate's Passage of War Powers Resolution, Sanders Tees Up Pressure on House to End US Involvement in Yemen
"My hope is that if we can put enough pressure on Paul Ryan and the Republicans in Congress, something can change," Vermont senator says
Pleading for a swift end to the nation's complicity "in the worst humanitarian disaster on Earth," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday urged people to put pressure on House Speaker Paul Ryan and his fellow Republicans to pass the resolution to end U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia's years-long assault on Yemen.
"Here is the truth: by continuing to back Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen with weapons, aerial refueling, and targeting assistance," Sanders writes, "the United States has been complicit in the worst humanitarian disaster on Earth—a war which no one can seriously claim is actually making us safer."
But there's barrier to getting the bill to President Donald Trump to sign, Sanders notes.
(* B K P)
Jamal Khashoggi's unlikely legacy could be an end to the catastrophe in Yemen
Whether the venerable U.S.-Saudi alliance can survive intact with MBS at the de facto helm in Riyadh remains to be seen, given the blood so evident on his hands. Powerful voices on national security such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., insist that MBS has “got to go.” The United States has a dismal track record, however, of trying to designate preferred leaders in foreign nations, let alone ones with such byzantine succession machinations as the House of Saud.
With the Senate having rediscovered its voice on foreign policy, however, it seems certain that the relationship will be back on a more institutional foundation. That likely sounds a death knell for the unusual back-channel “bromance” between MBS and Jared Kushner. The foundation of the Trump administration’s entire Middle East strategy is thus shaking as a result of Thursday’s Senate vote.
That too is part Jamal Khashoggi’s legacy. “The issue for the Saudis now is not only what happens next on Capitol Hill, but whether or not they can count on U.S. support for the next 10, 20 or 30 years. If they can’t, the Saudis are in trouble because they don’t have a plan B,” Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at CSIS, said in an interview. “The U.S. Senate and powerful American politicians have just cast a vote of ‘no confidence’ in the Saudi leadership. That is a very big deal.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jamal-khashoggis-unlikely-legacy-end-catastrophe-yemen-175532869.html
(* B P)
Yemen Is Dying. We’re Killing It
U.S. senators only pretend to care
First, it is rare that the top political leadership of the world’s foremost war-maker — the United States — takes action against ongoing military conflict. Second, U.S. media reported the vote as an unprecedented rebuke of Saudi Arabia.
It’s here that we get to the point that the media are slow to admit — the resolution is also meaningless theater, and senators feel free to support it precisely because it won’t do anything. The vote has far more to do with domestic politics — assuaging the hypocritical outrage of the political class over Kashhoggi while sending a message to Donald Trump, who certainly doesn’t get it or care — than it does with defense of any sort of human rights.
We can be certain that if it actually undermined Saudi power or even the war in Yemen they would not take this action. That’s because the Yemen war is a strategic linchpin for the U.S. world order. This isn’t readily apparent to mainstream observers because it defies categorization into the bins normal commentary sorts wars into.
It’s Saudi propaganda that has mostly driven the narrative that the Houthis — a political movement rooted in the demands of Zaydi Muslims for greater autonomy — are Iranian proxies. They picked this line up from the former president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who made the claim in a bid for U.S. support in his struggles against the group.
Wikileaks released cables from that era that demonstrated strong skepticism by U.S. diplomats over the claims, which were never substantiated in any way.
The alleged proxy war in Yemen is a lazy shorthand for cable news, members of Congress and Saudi propaganda.
Yemen’s actual value is its location. Yemen is a strategic “pinch point” at the southern end of the Red Sea
Riyadh either can tolerate a government that owes it nothing and doesn’t particularly like it, undermining its dominance of the region and therefore its very value to the global ruling order, or it can wage a war that it has little to no chance of winning. Saudi Arabia can only defeat the Houthis by taking their territory, which means a ground war in the mountains.
Of course this is great news for U.S. arms-makers … for now.
There will be a clear loser in all of this. The Yemeni people.
https://warisboring.com/yemen-is-dying-were-killing-it/
(* B P)
Film: Senate Votes to End US Support for Saudi Mass Murder in Yemen
In a historic vote, the Senate voted 56-41 to withdraw military support for the US-Saudi war on Yemen. Yemeni-American community organizer Rabyaah Althaibani, whose family has been divided, says she could not be happier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=LzSc1WLPkZ0
(* B P)
What the Senate’s Rare Bipartisan Rebuke to Trump Means for Yemen — and U.S. Policy
The bipartisan consensus on Middle East policy is fading fast.
The fight to end U.S. involvement in Yemen isn’t going away — and neither is the war.
Transpartisanship — or the politics of strange bedfellows — may be on the rise.
Congress may finally have a real debate about where and how the U.S. uses force.
This debate can very quickly get bogged down in the finer points of constitutional law. What counts as “use of military force”? Who are the successors to Al Qaeda? How much say should Congress have over the use of small numbers of troops, or of drones? And then there’s politics to consider: Who takes the blame if an operation goes wrong or, as in the run-up to 9/11, if an emerging threat is ignored?
(B P)
Senate Votes to End US Support for Saudi War on Yemen: What Next?
The bill includes a prohibition on refuelling Saudi warplanes, as both the Trump administration and opponents argue that doesn’t count as war! The political class in Washington claims the success of this challenge is historic. Indeed, it would be if:
1- The sound minds on the Capitol Hill wouldn’t allow the Republican leadership to challenge or derail the new vote
Those who have the final say on the Senate’s S.J. Resolution 54, therefore, should take note.
It is not, then, an overstatement to say that the official class on the Capitol Hill will have Yemeni blood on their hands: (a) if they don’t challenge the unauthorized US involvement in the Saudi-led atrocities; (b) if they don’t require the US government to cease its criminal involvement in the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth today; (c) and if they don’t pass a complementary bill in the House that includes a prohibition on refuelling Saudi warplanes. The world is watching the House and history will judge them harshly.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970923000760
Remark: from Iran.
(* B P)
Yemen Shows How Quickly Foreign Policy Consensus Can Change
Indeed the speed at which opinion in Washington shifted on the oft-ignored war in Yemen has caught allies of largely unconditional U.S. backing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia somewhat by surprise; they see a United States poised to forfeit vital national interests in region in a pique of piety.
“Yesterday’s vote was a bipartisan exercise in virtue signaling and abdication of strategic concern for American interests,” David Reaboi of the administration-friendly Security Studies Group told me Friday morning.
Not only the White House, but the Trump State Department, National Security Council and Pentagon are all now plainly on the defensive on Yemen.
But opponents of a tight-as-a-glove alliance with Riyadh have not let a good crisis go to waste.
“With this vote, Saudi Arabia just lost the support of Congress for their disastrous war in Yemen,” Murphy said Thursday.
Personnel is policy, and though Washington may be on the verge of pulling back from Yemen, it’s seemingly lunging into other theaters, notably Iran and China.
My comment: More US aggression in other places? This would be bad news in good news.
(* B P)
The Senate Strikes Back: Checking Trump’s Foreign Policy
Putting the Saudi Arabia Resolutions in perspective
Though the Senate vote on cessation of military assistance will have no practical effect – the House of Representatives will not take up the matter before the end of this legislative session – it is significant for at least three reasons.
First, the vote represents an attempt by the Senate to engage in meaningful oversight of U.S. participation in military actions ordered by the President without any initial congressional approval. President Barack Obama initially authorized U.S. involvement in the conflict in Yemen, as in so many other instances of military engagement in recent years, without first seeking to persuade members of Congress of the necessity of supporting Saudi Arabia’s position.
Second, the vote shows that the Senate is both able and willing to take on the responsibility of articulating approaches to foreign policy independent of the executive branch.
Third, the Senate vote shows that, notwithstanding the reluctance of the majority party in Congress to take on the President when it comes to domestic policy, its members are willing to join with their Democratic colleagues where foreign policy is involved
Americans who disagree with this administration’s positions on a wide swath of domestic issues have despaired at congressional unwillingness to engage in meaningful oversight.
https://www.justsecurity.org/61867/senate-strikes-back-checking-trumps-foreign-policy/
(* A P)
USA begrüßen Jemen-Bemühungen - und senden Signale nach Riad
https://www.sn.at/politik/weltpolitik/usabegruessen-jemen-bemuehungen-und-senden-signale-nach-riad-62503315
(* A P)
Film: Senat verabschiedet Jemen-Resolution
Der US-Senat hat sich gegen die Beteiligung der USA am Jemenkrieg ausgesprochen. Damit stellt sich die Kammer klar gegen die Haltung von US-Präsident Donald Trump.
https://www.zeit.de/video/2018-12/5978998639001/usa-senat-verabschiedet-jemen-resolotion
(* B P)
US Senate’s Yemen move is a message to Saudi royals
One wonders why it took Jamal Khashoggi’s murder to make the lawmakers realize that the US has been backing Saudi Arabia in killing thousands of civilians in Yemen.
Perhaps this can be seen as a signal to the Saudi kingdom that the US is ready to hold Mohammad bin Salman responsible for Khashoggi’s killing.
This anger within the US from civil society and human-rights organizations compelled the senators to adopt a bipartisan resolution for immediately halting the assistance to Saudi royals and holding the crown prince responsible for the murder of Khashoggi. Donald Trump will definitely try to save the House of Saud because of his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s cordial ties with them, but it seems that the honeymoon is over, and Khashoggi’s murder played a vital role in ending this decades-old romance that has resulted in chaos and bloodshed in the Muslim world.
Saudi Arabia has always controlled the Muslim world with the support of the US.
Khashoggi’s murder has only provided a glimpse of the atrocities of the Saudi monarchs and their role in pushing the Muslim civilization to the brink of destruction through religious and economic exploitation, something never before highlighted in the US Congress.
If sanctions can be imposed on Iran for its inhuman treatment of its own citizens and for waging proxy battles in the Muslim world, why not make the Saudi royals face sanctions for being responsible for the demise of the Muslim civilization and giving birth to the concepts of extremism and jihad in order to assert their power?
http://www.atimes.com/us-senates-yemen-move-is-a-message-to-saudi-royals/
(A P)
MARCO RUBIO, CHAMPION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, VOTED AGAINST ENDING U.S. SUPPORT FOR WAR IN YEMEN
Despite his tough rhetoric on human rights, Republican Senator Marco Rubio voted on Thursday against ending U.S. support for the war in Yemen.
My comment: He is no “champion of human rights” – he just misuses human rights rhetoric to promote US intervention and imperialism policy.
(* B P)
The Yemen Policy Debate Heats Up
The October killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has shifted U.S. congressional opinion sharply against Saudi Arabia’s de-facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Congress is seeking to compel the Trump administration to cease all logistical support for the Saudi-led coalition battling Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Despite congressional opposition, President Donald Trump is maintaining U.S. cooperation with the Saudi leadership, including in Yemen.
Congressional sentiment has caused Mohammad Bin Salman and his allies to signal a flexibility to find a solution to the Yemen conflict for the first time since the war began.
The resolution is unlikely to become law, as the House of Representatives is might not pass it and, even if it does, there is not enough support in both chambers of Congress to override a certain veto by President Trump. But, the Senate action signals how sharply congressional sentiment has shifted against a stalwart U.S. ally since the October killing of a U.S.-based Saudi journalist at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Congressional efforts to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen contradict the consistent congressional hard line against Iran, the main backer of the Houthis.
Even though President Trump has opposed altering U.S.-Saudi relations as a consequence of the Khashoggi killing, and most U.S. support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen continues, the damage to the Saudi reputation in the United States has been severe
http://www.soufangroup.com/intelbrief-the-yemen-policy-debate-heats-up/ = https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column/soufan-center/the-yemen-policy-debate-heats-up
(* B P)
The Senate’s Yemen Vote Proves A More Democratic Foreign Policy Is Possible
Public outrage over U.S-Saudi relations may put an end to war—and serve as an important lesson for progressives.
Even the most hawkish members of the establishment felt personally betrayed by their Saudi partners.
The effect of the affair on U.S.-Saudi relations serves as an important directive for a left foreign policy: By increasing democratic input into the way the United States acts abroad, we might constrain our worst impulses.
Foreign policy is, by constitutional design, walled off from mass organizing and public input. We don’t hold national referendums on whether to enter into trade deals, form strategic alliances, or recognize other countries. Even in areas where our elected representatives are meant to give the public some say, such as going to war, Congress has abdicated authority.
In the perpetual state of emergency of the post-September 11 era, a blanket of secrecy has spread over U.S. military action abroad. It’s become impossible for the average American to assess where or how many troops we have deployed, the support we provide to some of our most abusive allies, or the strategic rationale behind either. The sense of crisis that accompanies the “war on terror” has only exacerbated the tendency for Congress to throw up its hands in deference, giving rise to seemingly indefinite and unchecked conflicts around the world.
So what if a well-informed public knew better?
The unprecedented outpouring of anger over Khashoggi’s murder suggests that they do.
This tells us that while the average American might know little about Saudi-Iranian proxy wars, the Houthi rebels, or the extent of U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, ordinary people clearly understand a journalist’s murder to be an outrageous crime—and further, can connect that crime to the repressive nature of the Saudi regime and the morally compromising U.S-Saudi relationship.
My comment: And this tells us that the media by not having adaequately reported on the Yemen war and the Yemen humanitarian crisis for more than three years have blocked “the average American” from “outpouring of anger” on this war have helped to prolong it. This is the blood on the media’s hands.
(* B P)
The Senate Thinks It Can Change the U.S.-Saudi Relationship
It was a historic challenge not only to the president, but also to the nature of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, which has spanned some seven decades.
Except that it won’t actually get the U.S. out of the war. So what was the point?
In short, it was more about politics than policy—and the political shift has been rapid and significant ever since Khashoggi’s death in October. Suddenly, even traditional stalwarts of the Saudi alliance in the Senate, such as the South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, were lining up to condemn what they called the Kingdom’s recklessness, demanding a change in its behavior. Lawmakers who declined to even debate the same Yemen measure earlier this year were now castigating the Saudi leadership from the Senate floor, citing Khashoggi and Yemen in the same speeches as symptoms of a young Saudi leader out of control.
And in the face of an administration that has repeatedly defended Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, from allegations that he was responsible for Khashoggi’s death, it was a rare moment of a Republican-held Senate trying to flex authority over two of the most important aspects of U.S. foreign policy: the nature of alliances and the decision to wage war.
The Senate can’t do it alone, however. The measure would still have to pass the House.
What it is unlikely to do in the short term, however, is fundamentally alter the U.S.-Saudi relationship, even if it marks a step in a slow decline. The relationship has survived other crises, including the revelation that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudi. There is still no substitute for the U.S. partnership to help guarantee Saudi security. For their part, the Saudis are likely to swallow this bitter pill from Congress, assured for the moment of White House support.
Yet the fact that the war in Yemen is the subject of vigorous debate after so many years means something significant has changed in American politics. When that happens, sooner or later, American policy tends to catch up – by Kathy Gilsinan
and also https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-vote-impact-us-military-mission-yemen/story?id=59797535
Commernt by Haykal Bafana: The U.S. Senate just voted to cease all American military support - the actual extent of which the U.S. Senate does not know anything about till now - for the Saudi war in Yemen. Uninformed resolution, and non-binding, of course.
It seems to me the U.S. Senate is trying very hard to purposely close its eyes in order not to see exactly how America itself is waging war in Yemen on Yemenis.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1073494887843147776
(* A P)
The Historic Antiwar Resolution on Yemen
The Senate’s passage of S.J.Res. 54 today was historic in several respects. It was the first time the Senate used the War Powers resolution to oppose ongoing U.S. involvement in a foreign war, and it was the first time in decades that the Senate repudiated a war involving the U.S. against the wishes of the sitting president. U.S. support for the war on Yemen has been a bipartisan policy that spans two administrations, but it is such a despicable and outrageous policy that it mobilized a bipartisan coalition to vote to end it.
The WSJ is scoffing at the resolution, but I suspect they are actually terrified of what it portends for the future of Congress’ role in matters of war and the prospects for the success of war opponents in the next Congress. The Trump administration and the Pentagon trotted out all of the usual nonsense arguments in favor of continued U.S. involvement and the Saudi relationship, and the Senate dismissed their pathetic excuses.
Corker’s resolution was fine as far as it went, but it was not all that useful. It was a non-binding “sense of the Senate” resolution with no consequences for the Saudi government. I have no problem with the Senate pointing the finger at the obviously guilty crown prince for Khashoggi’s murder, but absent any meaningful action it is also just so much play-acting on the part of Republican hawks. They held Mohammed bin Salman to be responsible for the crime, but saying it and doing something about it are two very different things.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-historic-antiwar-resolution-on-yemen/
(A P)
The IRC applauds US Senate for historic vote on War Powers Resolution in Yemen
Win Without War: The End Of The Saudi-UAE War in Yemen Is Only A Matter Of Time
http://winwithoutwar.org/end-of-the-saudi-uae-war-in-yemen-is-only-a-matter-of-time/
(* B P)
Film: Shireen al-Adeimi on Senate Voting to Withdraw US Support for War in Yemen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBTrY84MMM
(A P)
Films by Bernie Sanders: Today we have brought Republicans and Democrats together in a very historic moment to take back the Congress' constitutional responsibility on matters of war.
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1073353894808469504
HISTORIC VICTORY: The Senate has voted to stop U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. This is the first time ever that the Senate has voted to end an unauthorized war.
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1073313602587770882
(A P)
Film by Sen. Chris Murphy: This is a big deal. The Senate just approved my resolution with @SenSanders & @SenMikeLee to end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen. Here's why that matters, and what has to happen next.
https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1073315714247876608
(* A P)
US senate defies Trump to vote to end support for Saudi-led war in Yemen – video
(** A P)
Senate rebukes Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi, Yemen war
Senators voted Thursday to recommend that the U.S. end its assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen and put the blame for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi squarely on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a direct challenge to both the longtime Middle East ally and President Donald Trump's handling of the relationship.
Senators made clear where they put the blame. The resolution, passed by unanimous agreement, says the Senate believes the crown prince is "responsible for the murder" and calls for the Saudi Arabian government to "ensure appropriate accountability."
Senators voted 56-41 to recommend that the U.S. stop supporting the war in Yemen, a direct affront to the administration's war powers abilities.
The floor action brought an unusual show of bipartisan resolve in the Senate over U.S foreign policy, even amid an uncertain outcome as the measures move to the House.
Frustration with the crown prince and the White House prompted several Republicans to support the Yemen resolution as a way to rebuke the longtime ally. Seven Republicans and all Democrats voted for it. Some already had concerns about the war, which human rights groups say is wreaking havoc on the country and subjecting civilians, many of them children, to deadly disease and indiscriminate bombing.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who co-sponsored the Yemen resolution with Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, called the vote a "historic moment."
Lee said Khashoggi's death focused attention "on the fact that we have been led into this civil war in Yemen half a world away" and "we've done so following the lead" of Saudi Arabia.
"What the Khashoggi event did was to demonstrate, hey, maybe this isn't a regime that we should just be following that eagerly into battle," Lee said.
and also NYT article: cp1
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/13/senate-defies-trump-in-saudi-arabia-vote-1062972
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/12/senate-vote-end-involvement-yemen-war.html
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-senate-resolution-yemen-passes-long-road-lies-ahead-347379987
(* A P)
Senate War Powers Vote a “Firm Rebuke of US Military Participation in a Genocidal War” CEPR Co-Director Says
Contrary to some analysis and commentary, and despite the passage of a rule attached to the House Farm Bill to block a vote on the WPR in reference to Yemen, the Senate vote demonstrates momentum toward Congress eventually ending US involvement in the Yemen war, Weisbrot said.
“This has gone far beyond responding to the Saudis’ murder of Khashoggi,” Weisbrot said. “This is the US Congress using its constitutional authority to end unauthorized US military participation in a war where the side America is supporting is using mass starvation as a weapon.”
Weisbrot noted that the Republicans’ use of the Rules Committee on Wednesday to block a debate and vote on a similar measure in the House was probably illegal, and won’t stop that resolution from passing.
“The incoming House leadership is supportive of invoking the WPR and getting the US out of this war, so it’s just a matter of time. Unfortunately, for many Yemenis, time is something they do not have. Thousands of people will die because of this delay, including more than 3,000 children before the new House of Representatives is sworn in.”
(* A P)
Senate Flexes Congress’ War Powers Authority, For First Time Ever
The vote was widely viewed as a proxy vote to rebuke Saudi Arabia, whose war against Yemen has led to a humanitarian crisis there, and whose culpability in the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi this year has roiled Congress. It was also viewed as a rebuke of President Donald Trump, who has stood by the Saudis.
Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., who sponsored the resolution with Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, said the vote showed the magnitude of people fed up with Saudi Arabia’s conduct.
“With this vote, Saudi Arabia just lost the support of Congress for their disastrous war in Yemen. A bipartisan majority spoke with one voice that the status quo is over and we will no longer accept the war crimes being committed in our name,” said Murphy. “The momentum is on one side, and it’s only growing. Congress has woken up to the reality that the Saudi-led Coalition is using U.S. military support to kill thousands of civilians, bomb hospitals, block humanitarian aid, and arm radical militias. The Saudis are important partners, but they need to realize that our partnership is not a blank check for them to fund extremists and murder civilians.”
http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/senate-flexes-war-powers-for-first-time-ever
(A P)
SEN. TOM COTTON IS TRYING TO CRIPPLE A BILL TO END U.S. SUPPORT FOR THE WAR IN YEMEN
WITH THE SENATE set to vote Thursday afternoon on a resolution that could end U.S. support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen, hawkish Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced two last-minute amendments that would have largely undermined it.
Cotton’s first proposed amendment, which was defeated by a voice vote, would have allowed the U.S. to give Saudi Arabia “materials and advice” as long as they were “intended to reduce civilian casualties or further enable adherence to the Law of Armed Conflict.” That would essentially have meant business as usual
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/13/yemen-war-senate-vote-saudi-arabia/
(A P)
Film by Sen. Dick Durbin: Not only was the war in Yemen never authorized by the elected representatives of the American people – it is a humanitarian disaster. An estimated 85,000 children have already died of malnutrition. And in a country of 28 million, nearly half are facing famine.
https://twitter.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1073323291673313280
(A P)
Film, Sen. Menendez in Senate
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said an end of U.S. weaponry to Saudi Arabia and other sanctions are needed to “send a global message that just because you’re our ally, you cannot kill with impunity and believe you can get away with it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=K4bjHbBXwy4
(* B K P)
Selling Murder in Yemen: The Be-All and End-All of US Foreign Policy
The US State Department continues to push against a Senate resolution that might put an end to the US support for the war, with Deputy Assistant Secretary for Persian Gulf Affairs Timothy Lenderking saying they believe it “sends a wrong message” to the world, and that the Saudis need to be supported – basically what they call “customer support for Saudi customers who bought all those US-made weapons for the war”.
President Trump has also been clear that continuing Saudi arms sales is the top priority, which is reflected in the desire to support the illegal war and condemning more civilians to die horrible deaths - in the name of creating “American jobs” and shoring up future campaign contributions from the arms industry and pro-Saudi lobbyists.
Then again, even if the resolution passes in the Senate, there likely won’t be any concurrent resolutions in the House until next year, as the House leadership has once again made a last second rule change in an unrelated bill to block any challenges to the Yemen war. In other words, this pure aggression, offensive in nature, and not waged due to any foreign invasion will continue apace, disguised as patriotism, nationalism, or containing Iran and support for Saudis, with false justifications purposely embedded into the minds of Christian-Zionist politicians on the Capitol Hill, all under the guise of idiotic politically correct ideologies.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970922001026
Remark: from Iran.
(* A B P)
Film: Bernie Sanders: Saudi War In Yemen Is Worst Humanitarian Disaster On The Planet
Sen. Bernie Sanders joins FNC's Bret Baier to discuss the effort in the Senate to bring U.S. involvement in the Saudi war in Yemen to an end.
"Sen. Mike Lee (conservatives) and progressives have been making this point," Sanders said. "For decades, under Republican presidents and Democratic presidents, Republicans Congresses and Democratic Congresses, the Congress of the United States has abdicated its constitutional responsibility for war-making. It is not the president who has the responsibility under the Constitution to send our young men and women to war, it is the Congress. And we have got to take it back."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=AAOKXTYZak8
(* B P)
Interview With Fox & Friends
Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State
SECRETARY POMPEO: So we’re going to say to the House what we’ve said to the American people. President Trump’s made very clear: The murder of Jamal Khashoggi was a tragic incident; it was heinous. It’s not something that America approves of. We’ve already held a number of individuals accountable by putting sanctions on them, those that we have evidence were directly involved. We’ll continue to develop the facts, but America has an important ally in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They work with us on issues that provide security for America and for Israel. It is an important relationship with the kingdom and we intend to continue to protect the American people in the way that voters back two years ago demanded.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decides who’s running the country. I think this is what the President said yesterday. We are working closely with the kingdom to make sure that America is protected. That’s our interest there
Well, we – the Saudis have already paid the price. There are the folks who actually committed the murder we’ve held accountable. We will continue to do that. No one underestimates how horrible this murder was, but remember, Iran is running rampant throughout the Middle East. The death of any one individual is awful. The death of hundreds of thousands of people in Europe or the Middle East or the United States matters an awful lot, and President Trump is committed to protecting America.
https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2018/12/288044.htm
My comment: US anti-Iranian paranoia as justification to ally with a horrible dictatorship and to overlook its crimes.
(* B P)
What Exactly Is Our Problem With Saudi Arabia?
Since all these measures, with the exception of Graham’s, would require action from both chambers and have to overcome a Trump veto, they’re all long shots. But the forthcoming debate over them should be instructive. Namely, members of Congress have to articulate exactly what their problem is with Saudi Arabia.
You can make a logical argument that while Khashoggi’s killing was inexcusable, the fight against the Houthis in Yemen is a key U.S. interest, and the importance of the strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia to combat Iran outweighs the negatives. This is more or less the argument made by outgoing Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in an interview with NBC on Wednesday.
You can also make the argument that U.S. involvement in the Yemen war has been morally unacceptable and strategically dubious from the start and that the larger U.S.-Saudi relationship needs to be rethought. This position has gotten more popular with Democrats since Trump became president, but a few senators in a both parties took this stance under Obama as well.
Likewise, there’s been a dramatic shift from a few months ago, when MBS was widely viewed in Washington as a promising reformer, to the prevailing view today that he’s, as Corker put it, “out of control.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/congress-saudi-arabia-yemen.html
(A P)
Film. US Senate rebukes Saudi Arabia for Yemen War, Khashoggi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSSo4oxfFtc
(A P)
Film: Sen. Elizabeth Warren: It's time to hold our allies & ourselves accountable for the devastation in Yemen. Today, we're 1 step closer. The Senate just passed S.J. Res 54, which I proudly co-sponsored, to end US support for Saudi Arabia's war.
https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1073327179591749632
(A P)
Film: Rep. Chris Murphy on what's at stake with vote on Yemen
The Senate is on track to pass a historic resolution that would not only end the United States military involvement in Saudi Arabia's ongoing war in Yemen, but also serve as an unprecedented rebuke to both Saudi Arabia and the Trump administration.
(* A P)
Murphy’s Yemen measure advances as lawmakers seek tougher sanctions on Saudi Arabia
(*A P)
Defying Trump, U.S. Senate advances measure to end support for Saudis in Yemen
In a rare break with President Donald Trump, the Senate voted on Wednesday to move ahead with a resolution to end U.S. military support for the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in the war in Yemen and lawmakers vowed to push for sanctions against the kingdom in the new year.
Eleven of Trump’s fellow Republicans joined Democrats to provide the 60 votes needed to advance the war powers resolution in the Republican-led chamber. The vote paved the way for debate and a vote on U.S. involvement in a conflict that has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, many of them young children and left millions more at risk of starvation and death by disease.
The nearly unprecedented break the 11 Republicans made from Trump was largely symbolic because the House of Representatives is not expected to take the matter up this year. Trump has threatened a veto.
But backers of the resolution said it sent an important message that lawmakers are unhappy with the humanitarian disaster in Yemen, and angry about the lack of a strong U.S. response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
(* A P)
US Senate moves ahead with Yemen motion, while House blocks similar effort
Motion to halt US aid to Saudi-led coalition in Yemen clears second hurdle in Senate, while House of Representatives blocks similar measure
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-senate-house-yemen-resolutions-1957391011
and also https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/republicans-move-stall-house-yemen-181212202356088.html
https://thinkprogress.org/senate-vote-saudi-arabia-yemen-d2e29de74d01/
film, complete debate (2 h 35 min): https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1143869619154605/
(* A P)
US Senate Delays Vote on Resolution on Saudi Campaign in Yemen
The U.S. Senate adjourned late Wednesday, delaying its vote on a resolution to end American support for Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen’s civil war.
The Senate will reconvene Thursday at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 UTC) and resume consideration of the resolution.
A vote is planned at 1:45 p.m. EST (1845 UTC). A handful of Republican senators are expected to join Democrats in ultimately passing the resolution.
(* A P)
Ahead of Historic War Powers Vote to End US Complicity in Yemen, 'Tell Your Senators You'll Be Watching'
"We must finally end U.S. involvement in this humanitarian and strategic disaster," declared Sen. Bernie Sanders
(* A P)
US Senate Advances Resolution on Saudi Campaign in Yemen
The U.S. Senate was poised late Wednesday to deal a historic rebuke to Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally, advancing a resolution to end American support for the kingdom's military intervention in Yemen's civil war.
The Republican-led chamber voted 60-39 to begin debate on the measure, acting in defiance of the Trump administration, which had strenuously argued against a rupture of cooperation between Washington and Riyadh.
Floor debate continued into the evening Wednesday ahead of a final vote. A handful of Republican senators were expected to join Democrats in ultimately passing the resolution.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/421141-gop-controlled-senate-breaks-with-trump-on-saudi-vote
(* A P)
Senate set to vote on competing Saudi Arabia measures; McConnell urges restraint
The Republican-controlled Senate is on the verge of handing President Trump a symbolic but pointed rebuke on foreign policy, with a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers poised to buck the White House and approve a resolution demanding an end to any further U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 60 to 39 to open debate on the resolution, with a handful of Republicans joining the chamber’s Democrats. A final vote on the measure, a direct response to outrage generated by the October killing of U.S.-based dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, is expected before the end of the week.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/12/senate-set-vote-competing-saudi-arabia-measures/
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Senate set to buck Trump on Saudi Arabia
A bipartisan majority is expected to vote to withdraw U.S. support for Saudi forces in Yemen’s civil war.
The Senate is on the verge of passing a resolution to withdraw U.S support for Saudi-backed forces at war in Yemen, with senators predicting that at least a narrow majority will ultimately defy the Trump administration on the matter.
The resolution, led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), cites Congress’ authority under the War Powers Resolution and was first introduced in February. But it quickly picked up momentum as senators from both parties voiced outrage over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and President Donald Trump’s reluctance to blame Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/12/senate-trump-saudi-arabia-yemen-vote-1059243
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Bernie Sanders used this image of a Yemeni child as the debate on ending US involvement in the Saudi-led war intensifies
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday displayed a giant photo of an emaciated child impacted by the Saudi-led war in Yemen as the Senate voted overwhelmingly to advance a resolution to end US involvement in the bloody conflict.
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McConnell urges opposition to bill ending US support for Saudi war
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that the Senate should reject an effort to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen and instead back a resolution to name Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "responsible" for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's slaying.
McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, said members have "legitimate concerns" about Yemen and share "grave concerns" about Khashoggi's death.
"[But] we also want to preserve the 70-year partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia and we want to ensure it continues to serve American interests and stabilizes a dangerous and critical region," McConnell said.
My comment: The Sanders bill would have some real consequences, the other bill just would be empty words to calm down critics.
(* A P)
'This Is Why People Hate Congress': With Buried Provision in Must-Pass Farm Bill, House GOP Uses Last Days in Power to Block Yemen Vote
"Speaker Ryan is not allowing a vote on my resolution to stop the war in Yemen because many Republicans will vote with us and he will lose the vote," responded Rep. Ro Khanna. "As a result, more Yemeni children will die."
House Republicans in their last days in power moved to undermine efforts to end U.S. complicity in the assault that's dragged on for more than three years in the impoverished country.
The House Rules Committee advanced the Farm Bill to a floor debate Tuesday evening, with progressives celebrating the absence of work requirements for low-income families who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—but hidden in the annual agricultural bill was a provision keeping lawmakers from forcing a vote on any legislation invoking War Powers resolutions for the rest of the year.
and
(* A P)
House GOP blocks lawmakers from forcing Yemen war votes for rest of year
House Republicans have officially blocked lawmakers from forcing a vote on all resolutions for the remainder of the year that attempt to use the War Powers Act to cut off U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
The move came during a vote on a rule for floor debate of the farm bill. The rule passed on a largely party-line 206-203 vote.
Five Democrats voted with Republicans to approve the rule, while 18 Republicans voted against the rule.
Tucked into the bottom of the rule is provision that says privilege “shall not apply during the remainder of the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress to a concurrent resolution introduced pursuant to … the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544) with respect to Yemen."
https://reason.com/blog/2018/12/12/yemen-war-vote-snuck-in-farm-bill
and look at document in image https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1072797861182619648
My comment: They blocked this resolution by a dirty trick; War Powers Act does not have anything to do with US farms.
And
(* A B P)
Don’t Use the Farm Bill to Starve People
By attaching a provision that enables Saudi atrocities in Yemen, House Republicans have done just that.
“Speaker Ryan is not allowing a vote on my resolution to stop the war in Yemen because many Republicans will vote with us and he will lose the vote,” thunderedDemocratic Congressman Ro Khanna on the House floor Wednesday.
“He is disgracing Article 1 of the Constitution,” Khanna said. “As a result, more Yemeni children will die.”
Khanna was blasting what he called Republican leaders’ “parliamentary tricks” to bypass congressional war powers in regard to U.S. support for Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday night, Speaker Ryan and GOP leadership snuck a provision into the farm bill that would have protected current U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia. Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie countered the move with a resolution of their own, which eventually did receive a vote, yet still failed 206 to 203.
The farm bill, with its Great Depression originsof subsidizing farmers and Great Society legacyof promulgating food stamps, was hijacked this week to try to ensure that a policy that has resulted in disease and death for thousands will continue.
At this point it’s worth asking—what does “America First” truly mean?
If the U.S. was to intervene everywhere there was a crisis—as American hawks have insisted we should do for many decades—we would find ourselves mired in countless conflicts around the globe.
But this isn’t a case where we are restraining ourselves from intervening in a bad situation. Our government is acting as the primary enabler of what the United Nations calls theworld’s worst humanitarian crisis, quite a different matter.
It’s not “America First” to actively starve people at taxpayer expense – by Jack Hunter
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/dont-use-the-farm-bill-to-starve-people/
And
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The Last Act of Paul Ryan's Speakership Is a Suitable Disgrace
Republicans have ensured continued U.S. collaboration in the human rights calamity in Yemen—and they put it in the farm bill.
But it is not often that Congress is both cruel and useless. Wednesday was one of those days.
This is one of the last acts of Paul Ryan's speakership, and he richly deserves the contempt that will be heaped on him for playing legislative monkey-mischief with starving children. And in a farm bill. God, what a fake the man is.
Consider what Ryan and his majority did today. They made it impossible for the United States to swiftly extricate itself from accessorial conduct in a horrible ongoing crime-by-famine, and they did it by sabotaging a bill that helps get food to people in this country.
That's the rule added to the Farm Bill. That's how Paul Ryan will leave Congress, complicit in the death by starvation of children he doesn't even know. That's the smoking gun in his hand.
and film by MSNBC: https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/paul-ryan-s-cowardly-act-on-yemen-1396586563917 = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuMoO9subPc
and
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What the Hell Is Wrong With Paul Ryan?
It is outrageous that the House Speaker continues to block action to end US support for Saudi atrocities against Yemen.
What the hell is wrong with Paul Ryan? At a point when the whole world is demanding urgent action to end the Saudi-led bombardment and starvation of Yemen, the Speaker of the House has been scheming to prevent congressional debate on a resolution to get the United States out of a humanitarian crisis.
This is not about partisanship or ideology. As Ryan was blocking action in the House Wednesday, 11 Senate Republicans—including some of the chamber’s most conservative members—voted with Democrats to open the Senate debate on ending US military support for the Saudi Arabia’s assault on Yemen.
https://www.thenation.com/article/paul-ryan-yemen-saudi-arabia-vote/ = https://www.opednews.com/articles/What-the-Hell-Is-Wrong-Wit-by-John-Nichols-Children_Famine_Hell-On-Earth_Paul-Ryan-181216-394.html
And
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The Yemen Vote Is a New Low for the Democratic Party
Why are people disillusioned with politics?
There are, of course, many answers to that question. But if you only need one, look no further than yesterday’s vote to keep the US government fueling the genocidal war in Yemen.
But the GOP doesn’t deserve all the blame for yesterday’s outcome, because the Yemen resolution wouldn’t have passed (by a mere three votes) had it not been for the support of a handful of centrist Democrats and the absence on the floor of several antiwar Democrats.
Let’s have a closer look at the five Democrats who voted for the resolution.
There are no shades of gray in the Saudi-led war on Yemen. There are no moral complexities. The details of its horrors are now finally unignorable. It was monstrous when Barack Obama was giving it the green light, and it remains a perverse monument to the depths of human cruelty and indifference nearly four years later. What else is there to say anymore? We expect this kind of thing from the likes of Paul Ryan; but even for this Democratic Party, this is a new low.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/12/yemen-saudi-war-house-resolution-democrats
and
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The bizarre story of Democrats helping Republicans stall action on Yemen
Everyone had the same question: Why didn’t House Democratic leadership fight harder to prevent this from happening?
US farmers versus Yemeni kids
According to two of the Democrats who joined Republicans on the procedural vote that blocked action on Yemen, they did so to “save” the farm bill.
“[W]e’ve worked for two years on this farm bill, and I’ll be damned if I let anyone screw it up,” Peterson said in an interview with the Washington Post’s Jeff Stein. He added that the Yemen issue was the Democratic Party getting “off on tangents” and that he didn’t know a “damn thing” about Yemen.
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger was more knowledgeable about Yemen, but he said Peterson had urged him to vote with Republicans, warning him that the farm bill was at risk if he didn’t. Democrats could have tried to stop this — they just didn’t
Democratic leaders in the House, all of which have publicly supported the resolution to end US support for the war in Yemen, could have fought for their party to stay in line.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/15/18138308/democrat-yemen-resolution-house-saudi
and
(* A P)
5 Democrats Bail Out Paul Ryan And Protect Saudi Arabia
Reps. Jim Costa, Al Lawson, Collin Peterson, Dutch Ruppersberger and David Scott helped the GOP ensure the House won’t consider a companion bill to anti-Saudi legislation soon expected to pass the Senate.
Five Democrats saved House Republicans from an embarrassing floor defeat Wednesday, voting with the GOP on a farm bill rule that controversially included language blocking a vote on U.S. involvement in Yemen.
The rule ― which set up consideration for the farm bill ― waived a War Powers Resolution–based measure that could have given Democrats a floor vote on ending U.S. assistance to the Saudi-led coalition blamed for thousands of deaths and widespread starvation in Yemen.
GOP leadership sneaked the Yemen provision into the farm bill rule on Tuesday night, enraging many Democrats and some Republicans critical of U.S. support for the Saudis. It appeared to be a pre-emptive move to protect the Trump administration’s Yemen policy because the Democratic-backed measure held privileged status, which meant it had to be considered, and its advocates were seeking to bring it up soon after expected passage of a similar bill in the Senate as a way to send an even stronger rebuke of the kingdom and a military campaign held largely responsible for the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
And
(A P)
FIVE DEMOCRATS VOTE WITH REPUBLICANS TO BLOCK VOTE ON SAUDI ARABIA'S WAR IN YEMEN
Five Democrats joined Republicans on Wednesday to block lawmakers in the House of Representatives from forcing a vote on any resolutions for the rest of 2018 that aim to use the War Powers Act to end Washington’s support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
and
(A P)
'What a Despicable Sham': MSNBC's Chris Hayes Denounces Five House Democrats as 'Cowards' for Helping GOP to Block Yemen Vote
"What the hell is the point of Congress? Why are we starving children?" asked the outraged cable news anchor. "Someone make some affirmative argument for the policy, if you think it's so important to continue killing children. But to kill the possibility of a vote in the rules committee? Cowards."
and
(A P)
Films, Transcript: Politicians Are Totally Cool With Saudi Arabia’s Slaughter In Yemen
They’re totally okay with the fact that Saudi Arabia is using weapons that they’re buying from us. Weapons Manufacturers, specifically targeting school buses filled with children. They’re okay with that. They’re okay with the bombs that were sending, hitting civilian areas. They’re okay with that.
https://trofire.com/2018/12/13/politicians-are-totally-cool-with-saudi-arabias-slaughter-in-yemen/ and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcVvfFgrFRA
and
(A P)
Democrat On Why He Voted to Prolong Yemen War: ‘I Don’t Know a Damn Thing About It’
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/colin-peterson-yemen-rule-farm-bill-saudi-war.html
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Films by Rep. Ro Khanna: Once again the GOP is using parliamentary tricks to block our effort to end the devastating war in Yemen. Every 10 minutes a Yemeni child is dying.
https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna/status/1072913132643909632
14 million people are on the brink of famine in Yemen. 85k children have already died from cholera and starvation. Our Yemen War Powers Resolution can’t wait until 2019. We must pass it now to save lives.
https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna/status/1072870985265831942
(A P)
Film by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman: .@RepRoKhanna introduced a resolution (that got bipartisan support in the Senate) to end US involvement in Yemen. To avoid having to take a hard vote (at odds with the President) the GOP slipped a clause in the Farm Bill to prevent a vote until 2019.
https://twitter.com/RepBonnie/status/1072914275268726785
(* B P)
Military panel’s top Dem: War Powers Resolution won’t move White House on Yemen
The incoming chairman of the powerful House committee that oversees the U.S. military said Wednesday that Congress’ plan to stop President Donald Trump’s military action in Yemen is unlikely to actually influence White House policy.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, who will soon become the chair of the Armed Services Committee, said the War Powers Resolution in the House and Senate “doesn’t change the equation” practically or legally. The resolution aims to severely limit U.S. military intervention in Yemen without congressional approval.
But Smith, speaking at a defense writers breakfast in Washington, D.C., said presidents are able to circumvent the War Powers rule quite easily.
“At the end of the day, the president, going back to Thomas Jefferson, has always been able to do with the military what they want to do with the military, until Congress completely cuts off the money,” Smith said.
https://www.islandpacket.com/news/politics-government/article222995600.html
(* B P)
Conflict in Yemen must end now
Yemen Peace Project Director Will Picard told Al Jazeera that the Trump administration is claiming Iranian support for the Houthis to justify US backing for the war. The administration "has not blindly bought into Riyadh's narrative about an Iranian threat in Yemen, rather, it helped to create this narrative", he stated. "There is a powerful faction within the US establishment that is dead set on starting a war with Iran, and [its members] understand that continuing to back the coalition in Yemen is one way to make that happen."
Among Trump’s appointees who belong to the anti-Iran clique are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Iran envoy Brian Hook. Soon after taking office, former CIA chief Pompeo convinced Donald Trump to carry out his pledge to his voters to pull out from the 2015 deal
Bolton has been in government since Ronald Reagan was president (1981-1989) and was involved in the Iran-Contra Affair, a scandal involving the sale of arms to Iran during the Iran-Iraq wa
Since his recent elevation, Brian Hook has adopted a tough line on Iran, and has been exerting pressure on European and Asian powers to end the purchase of oil from Iran and cut business deals with Iran. Hook had been a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the research arm of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, the official Israeli lobby, and had worked on Iran sanctions with Bolton during the George W. Bush administration.
http://jordantimes.com/opinion/michael-jansen/conflict-yemen-must-end-now
(* A P)
Dec. 12: Exclusive: Trump says standing by Saudi crown prince despite pleas from Senate
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he stood by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince despite a CIA assessment that he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and pleas from U.S. senators for Trump to condemn the kingdom’s de facto ruler.
Trump refused to comment on whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was complicit in the murder, but he provided perhaps his most explicit show of support for the prince since Khashoggi’s death more than two months ago.
“He’s the leader of Saudi Arabia. They’ve been a very good ally,” Trump said in an interview in the Oval Office.
Asked by Reuters if standing by the kingdom meant standing by the prince, known as MbS, Trump responded: “Well, at this moment, it certainly does.”
Some members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family are agitating to prevent MbS from becoming king, sources close to the royal court have told Reuters, and believe that the United States and Trump could play a determining role.
“I just haven’t heard that,” Trump said. “Honestly, I can’t comment on it because I had not heard that at all. In fact, if anything, I’ve heard that he’s very strongly in power.”
(* A K P)
US to bill Saudi Arabia, UAE $331M for Yemen refueling
The Pentagon announced it will bill Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates $331 million after undercharging the two countries for U.S. aerial refueling of their aircraft in the Yemen civil war.
The news came in the wake of news the Senate passed one resolution to end U.S. military aid to the Saudi-led coalition and another to condemn Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"U.S. Central Command reviewed its records and found errors in accounting where we failed to charge the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates adequately for fuel and refueling services,” Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said in a statement Thursday.
and
(* A K P)
US military sends $331 million bill to Saudis, UAE after refueling 'accounting error'
The US military is seeking a $331 million reimbursement from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after discovering it failed to properly charge the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen for aerial refueling services due to an "accounting error," the Pentagon said Thursday.
Specifically, the US is working to recoup approximately $36.8 million for fuel and $294.3 million for flight hours, according to Pentagon spokesperson Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, who noted that partners have been individually notified about how much they owe.
https://us.cnn.com/2018/12/13/politics/pentagon-saudi-aerial-refueling-costs/index.html
(* B K P)
The Great Saudi Rip-Off
Samuel Oakford and Ryan Goodman discovered that the U.S. failed to charge the Saudis and Emiratis properly for refueling their planes, so in addition to aiding in their war crimes the U.S. has been subsidizing them as well.
Given the president’s endless complaints about being ripped off by other countries, it is fitting that he presided over almost two years of letting the U.S. get ripped off by the Saudis and Emiratis at the same time that he has kept the U.S. involved in a disgraceful war.
The military then claimed that they weren’t tracking what the refueled planes went on to do. Secretary Mattis also insisted that ending refueling operations would lead to higher civilian casualties, which never made any sense in light of the coalition’s repeated and increasing attacks on civilian targets. Despite Mattis’ assertions, the military didn’t know how their refueling support was being used, and they weren’t inclined to find out. Now it turns out that there has effectively been no formal agreement with the Saudis the entire time that the refueling was going on.
The military failed to meets its obligations under two different administrations, and Congress failed until very recently to do the necessary oversight that they should have been doing all along. The U.S. has not only been enabling Saudi coalition war crimes in an unauthorized war for more than three and a half years, but American taxpayers have also been paying far more for the war than we knew.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-great-saudi-rip-off/
(B P)
Google which accurately tags many stations as government-funded on its #youtube platform still refuse to tag #Saudi Govt funded @AlArabiya_Eng as such even it attacked members of congress
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1073437710210252800
(* B K P)
A USAF C-17 Flew A Secretive Mission Into Yemen To Rescue Wounded Emirati Troops In 2017
Congress may be debating pulling the plug on U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in the country, but America's own shadowy war will continue.
In 2017, a C-17A Globemaster III airlifter landed in Yemen in order to collect six wounded members of the United Arab Emirates’ military and deliver them to safety. As Congress continues to debate whether or not to keep supporting the Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, this mission is a good reminder that U.S. military will almost certainly remain engaged in its own murky operations against Al Qaeda- and ISIS-affiliated groups in the country regardless.
The Air Force Association revealed the existence of the aeromedical evacuation mission, which a crew from the 62nd Airlift Wing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State had carried out
“The crew of Reach 865 executed an aeromedical evacuation of six Emirati soldiers from Yemen,” the announcer explained during the presentation. “They overcame a denial of air traffic services and degraded communications, deconflicted themselves from other American assets, and mitigated rapidly changing patient status to safely deliver the patients.”
We don’t know the exact date of the operation took place or where the C-17 landed in Yemen, how dangerous that location might have been, and where it subsequently delivered the wounded Emirati troops.
My comment: “murky operations“, this is a correct labeling. – What the hell this is up to the US??
Comment: More American skeletons spill out of the closet. CENTCOM ones.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1073456874807353345
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(A P)
Foreign sec. Jeremy Hunt. Thanks @savechildrenuk: your report on the number of children dying from starvation in Yemen shook the world - and the participants - into action.
https://twitter.com/Jeremy_Hunt/status/1073568414751444992
Comment by Donatella Rovera, AI: Does @Jeremy_Hunt have no shame? His government keeps selling #weapons to #SaudiArabia whose bombardments and blockade have killed so many #Children and other civilians in #Yemen
https://twitter.com/DRovera/status/1073600965494927360
(A P)
Foreign Secretary statement on Yemen Peace Talks
Following his visit to Stockholm, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:
Today’s agreement in Stockholm between the Yemeni Government and the Houthis is an important step towards ending the conflict in Yemen - the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.
We have been working with the United Nations to bring the two sides in this terrible conflict together for the first time in years, including through constructive talks with key Saudis and Emiratis during my recent visits, and regular discussions with Oman.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-statement-on-yemen-peace-talks--2
My comment: This is hypocrisy. Why? Read the following:
(* B K P)
Christian Aid slams British 'double standards' over war in Yemen
Christian Aid has accused the UK government of 'double standards' in its engagement on war and peace and demanded that it stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia among other states.
Its new report, Resourcing war and peace: time to address the UK Government's double standards highlights the fact that the UK spends around £37 billion on its military, around three times what it spends on aid.
The report was released as the organisation's poll undertaken by ComRes found that three in five (61 per cent) British adults think the UK government should stop selling military equipment to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a bombing campaign in Yemen.
Christian Aid supporters are sending Christmas cards to the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, echoing the demand that the UK immediately ceases to sell arms to the Saudi-led coalition.
and
(* B K P)
The UK Must End Its Complicity In Fuelling War In Yemen
At a time when we are reconsidering our role on the global stage, let’s choose not to put our own perceived national security and domestic interests ahead of the lives of people living in conflict areas
Britain’s inaction is glaring in contrast.
This is exactly what we at Christian Aid are calling for in our report Resourcing War and Peace: Time to Address the UK Government’s double standards, which is published today. We want the UK government to address its own double standards in its engagement on war and peace, stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia and other states that are violating international law. We find it difficult to understand how the UK can deliberately allocate at least 50% of its development spending to conflict-affected states and regions, yet more than 50% of its arms exports are now sold to countries within those same regions that are using their militaries to wage war abroad or repress their own people. How can poverty ever be addressed in this context?
It seems the majority of British adults are with us on this. Our poll undertaken by ComRes found that three in five (61%) of British adults think the UK government should stop selling military equipment to Saudi Arabia.
Now is the time for us to rethink this. The UK – led by the foreign secretary - should stop arms sales to all repressive regimes. At a time when we are reconsidering our role on the global stage, let’s choose not to put our own perceived national security and domestic interests ahead of the lives of people living in conflict areas who are, after all, human beings just like us – by Christine Allen, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Christian Aid
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/yemen-civil-war_uk_5c139a36e4b0539b3213d142
and
(* B K P)
For Yemen’s sake, stop selling arms
Time to address the UK’s double standards on war and peace.
As the report highlights, while there is much to celebrate about the UK’s role in aid, development and peacebuilding, undermining these efforts are areas of double standards and complicity.
Of particular concern is the UK’s willingness to sell arms to Saudi Arabia despite these being used to wage war in Yemen – a direct violation of the UK’s international commitments to regulate its arms exports to states acting illegally and repressively.
The UK is on track to be one of the world’s biggest arms dealers. Over the past five years, it has sold over two-thirds of its major arms exports to Arab states in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia accounts for 49% of all such exports.
But selling arms into a war zone is an unpopular policy. A ComRes survey commissioned by Christian Aid found that 61% of the British public think the UK Government should stop selling military equipment to Saudi Arabia.
The report points out other double standards. Given the link between poverty and conflict, the UK allocates at least 50% of its development spending to conflict-affected states and regions. Yet more than 50% of its arms exports are now sold to countries in these same regions, which use their armed forces to wage war abroad or repress their own people.
Additionally, the UK is part of a global trend of increasing militarisation. It spends about £37 billion on its military, or nearly £600 per person per year – three times the amount that it spends on aid.
Our report highlights the urgent need for a renewed focus on peacebuilding globally. It calls on the UK Government to address its foreign policy double standards and lead as a peacemaker.
As part of our Christmas appeal, we’re inviting people to stand together with these frontline peacemakers. In light of our report findings, we’re extending this call to the UK Government.
Christian Aid supporters have already started sending Christmas cards to the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. These cards call on him to be a peacemaker by suspending UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia immediately, and work with all parties to cease hostilities in Yemen.
https://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/resourcing-war-and-peace-report-launch
and film, Dr. Rowan Williams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRijlumMoC0 = https://twitter.com/christian_aid/status/1073481142865670144
and
(* B K P)
Britain’s direct complicity in the war in Yemen must end
A report published today by the charity Christian Aid on the UK government’s double standards highlights the painful tension between our words and actions about building peace and the volume of arms-related British exports we continue to take for granted. About half of our development spending goes to states and regions affected by chronic violent conflict, and about half of our arms exports go to states where military force is used against its citizens or vulnerable neighbours. It’s as if we are creating, or at least helping to maintain, the very conflicts whose terrible effects we then spend money on mitigating.
This is both economic and moral nonsense
So we are calling for an immediate review of UK sales of arms to states that are actively infringing international law and human rights by pursuing murderous campaigns against their own citizens or their close neighbours.
referring to report
(* B K P)
Report: Resourcing war and peace
While there is much to celebrate about the UK’s role in aid, development and peacebuilding, undermining these efforts are areas of double standards and complicity.
Christian Aid's report, 'Resourcing war and peace: time to address the UK Government’s double standards' highlights the urgent need for a renewed focus on peacebuilding globally.
It calls on the UK Government to address its foreign policy double standards and lead as a peacemaker.
https://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/about-us/report-resourcing-war-and-peace
The role of the UK Government
This is a crucial moment for the UK as it looks to redefine its relationship with the EU and the wider world. The UK Government, as one of the world’s largest aid donors, largest arms exporters and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), is a global leader on war and peace. There is much to celebrate about the UK’s role in aid and development, in responding to climate change, upholding principles of multilateralism, supporting the UN Peacebuilding Fund, and committing to 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) for aid.
Yet undermining these peacebuilding efforts are some stark double standards fuelling war instead. Such as the fact the UK is currently on track to become one of the world’s biggest arms dealers, exporting the majority of its arms to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If the UK Government is really committed to peace, Christian Aid calls on them to address these stark double standards and champion international law and peace in its foreign and aid policies.
Double standards: selling arms
Arms exports are considered a fundamental part of the UK’s strategy to increase its own prosperity and security. Yet in pursuit of this, the UK Government is undermining its foreign aid agenda. The UK deliberately allocates at least 50% of its development spending to conflict-affected states and regions, yet more than 50% of its arms exports are now sold to countries within these same regions using their militaries to wage war abroad or repress their own people.
The double standards are most stark in relation to the UK’s complicity in the conflict in Yemen. On one hand, the UK is leading calls in the UN for a peace agreement, and is the leading financial supporter of humanitarian aid to Yemenis and the UN Special Envoy’s peace-making endeavours. On the other, it is promoting significant new arms sales to the government of Saudi Arabia and actively supporting military operations of the Saudiled coalition in Yemen. This has included attacks that may amount to war crimes.
UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia since it began operations in Yemen are reported to have contributed £4.6 billion to the UK’s economy.7 Yet these arms sales are in direct violation of the Arms Trade Treaty and standards such as the EU’s consolidated criteria, to which the UK is a signatory. Any economic gain from arms sales for the UK has significant and devastating consequences for Yemen.
Double standards: militarisation instead of funding peace
Peacekeeping, defence and security forces can and do play a vital role in sustaining peace. However, over-reliance on the use of force as the principal means of conflict resolution may, itself, create and perpetuate a cycle of violence.
The world spends nearly 10 times more on its military than it does on official development aid (ODA). While this ratio of peace and development is better than it has been in recent decades, there is still significantly more military spending.
The significance of this global trend is that it provides a major business opportunity. The government of Saudi Arabia spends the equivalent of $12,000 per Saudi Arabian household on the country’s military.10 This has not gone unnoticed by armsproducing states. Saudi Arabia is now the UK’s biggest customer.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(* B K P)
Rüstungsexporte: Deutschland liefert über Umwege weiter nach Saudi-Arabien
Nach der Ermordung des Journalisten Khashoggi wollte die Bundesregierung alle Rüstungsexporte nach Saudi-Arabien stoppen. Bei Kampfflugzeugen wie dem Eurofighter aber macht Berlin eine Ausnahme.
Die Bundesregierung will trotz des Lieferstopps für Rüstungsgüter nach Saudi-Arabien andere europäische Nationen nicht am Export von Waffensystemen hindern, an deren Entwicklung Deutschland beteiligt ist. So plant Berlin nach SPIEGEL-Informationen kein Veto einzulegen, wenn Großbritannien in den nächsten Jahren den gemeinsam entwickelten Kampfjet Eurofighter nach Saudi-Arabien verkauft.
Das geht aus einem Bericht an den Wirtschaftsausschuss des Bundestages hervor, in dem die Bundesregierung ihr weiteres Vorgehen mit Blick auf den Lieferstopp nach Saudi-Arabien erläutert. Der Bericht liegt dem SPIEGEL vor.
(* B H)
Audio: Aenne Rappel, Vorsitzende Jemenhilfe Deutschland. Das Gespräch zum Nachhören
Sie erlebte im Zweiten Weltkrieg selbst Bombenanschläge. Heute hilft Aenne Rappel Menschen, die Ähnliches im Jemenkrieg durchmachen. Im November 2011 feierte die Aichacher Jemenhilfe, die Rappel gründete, 20-jähriges Jubiläum.
https://www.br.de/radio/bayern2/sendungen/eins-zu-eins-der-talk/aenne-rappel-eins-zu-eins-der-talk-100.html = https://www.br.de/mediathek/podcast/eins-zu-eins-der-talk/aenne-rappel-vorsitzende-jemenhilfe-deutschland/1356254
und
(* B H)
Aichacher Jemenhilfe feiert Jubiläum
Der Jemen liegt über 6.000 Kilometer von Schwaben entfernt. Trotzdem beschäftigt die Aichacherin Aenne Rappel das drittärmste Land der Welt schon seit den 1990er Jahren. Um den Notleidenden dort zu helfen, gründete sie einen Verein.
Entstanden ist der „Förderverein Aktion Jemenhilfe“ mit seinen 200 Mitgliedern durch einen Zufall: Bei einem Urlaubsunfall wurde Aenne Rappel 1996 mit den aus westlicher Sicht unvorstellbaren humanitären Zuständen im Jemen konfrontiert. Zwei Jahre später, am 11.11.1998, legte sie den Grundstein für das Krankenhaus in Al Mihlaf, einer kleinen Siedlung im Südwesten des völlig verarmten Landes.
Zuhause für 80 Kinder
Bis heute ist die Klinik eine der wenigen Einrichtungen in dem vom Bürgerkrieg völlig verwüsteten Land, die überhaupt noch funktioniert. Daneben betreibt die von Rappel gegründete Jemenhilfe ein Kinderheim in der belagerten Großstadt Taizz. Einst für fünf gedacht, leben dort aktuell 80 Kinder.
Spendenkonto: Förderverein Aktion Jemenhilfe e.V., Augusta Bank Aichach, IBAN: DE23 7209 0000 0005 5821 05, BIC: GENODEF1AUB
https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/aichacher-jemenhilfe-feiert-jubilaeum,R8sgmeD
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
Siehe / Look at cp13a
(A P)
Chief of Zionists Enemy Army Staff Visits UAE
The Zionist Broadcasting Corporation "Makan" revealed that the chief of staff of the Zionists enemy army, General Gadi Eisenkot., visited the UAE in secret, and met the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed.
"Makan "reports siting the Chairman American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Mort Friedman, saying: Eisenkot visited the UAE twice last November.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4368&cat_id=2
(* B P)
When Art and Heritage Collide: Artistic Responses to National Narratives in the UAE
What does art have to do with heritage? In the UAE, quite a lot. The country has recently seen a so-called heritage boom, in which the country’s history and identity have been marketised to both national and international audiences. At the same time that cultural initiatives have been solidifying notions of Emirati heritage and identity, an art scene has been developing alongside, and cultural authorities have been strategically using art to disseminate narratives about the country’s national identity. These narratives tell a past characterised by a Bedouin lifestyle, built upon coping with life in the desert, and the traditions and practices developed during that time. Although the UAE’s art scene might be predominantly engineered in a top-down fashion, artists carve out space for themselves to insert their own interpretations and perspective on current heritage narratives idealised by the state. To understand how young and critical UAE residents and citizens think about current heritage efforts, we need to investigate the discourses around contemporary art production and heritage more closely.
(A P)
Korea: Jeju grants refugee status to 2 former journalists out of 85 Yemeni asylum applicants
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/874467.html
(A P)
Iranian Foreign Minister Reiterates Tehran Never Sent Arms to Houthis in Yemen
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has once again refuted allegations that Iran provides weapons to the Houthi movement in Yemen to support its struggle against the government.
"We've never provided weapons to Houthis. The Houthis use the weapons provided to them by Saudi Arabia… with Saudi money buying weapons from Russia, buying weapons from China, and buying weapons from North Korea… You are looking at the wrong address if you ask Iran", Zarif said at the Doha Forum in Qatar.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812151070719834-iran-yemen-saudis-weapons/
(A P)
Sayyed Khamenei: True Picture of US and Its Ugly Clients Is Reflected in Yemen
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Sayyed Ali Khamene'i, condemned the continuing US-Saudi crimes against the Yemeni People, expressing them as the true face of the United States.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4314&cat_id=2
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(* B K P)
Diamond Aircraft and SNCA announce purchase agreement of 60 aircraft
The Saudi National Company of Aviation (SNCA), a CAE Authorized Training Center, has selected Diamond Aircraft twin DA42-VI and single DA40 NG for its training center. The agreement will compromise 60 airplanes over a five-year period. Delivery of the first 12 aircraft will start February 2019. The DA40 NG and the DA42-VI represent the newest versions of Diamond’s technology leading piston aircraft fleet.
Remark: This is an Austrian company: https://www.diamondaircraft.com/
And
(B K P)
The new flight academy is stationed at @KFIAirport and has already begun its operation in the Foundation Year program with an excess of 400 students. Delivery of the first 12 #Diamond aircraft will start February 2019.
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/1073118025312821250
(* B K P)
Documents reveal Australia's secret arms deals with nations fighting Yemen's bloody war
The Australian Government has approved the export of dozens of shipments of military items to Middle Eastern countries embroiled in the bloody Yemen war, a conflict dogged by accusations of war crimes and indiscriminate civilian killings.
Internal Defence Department documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) and from parliamentary hearings reveal since the beginning of 2016, Canberra has granted at least 37 export permits for military-related items to the United Arab Emirates, and 20 to Saudi Arabia.
Australia's burgeoning exports to the UAE and Saudi Arabia may be connected to a plan announced by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in January to drastically increase defence sales over the next decade.
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
Siehe / Look at cp1
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
(A E P)
The Central Bank of Yemen announced on December 14 that it expects two billion U.S. dollars in deposits from the UAE and one billion U.S. dollars in deposits from Kuwait in an effort to halt the decline of the Yemeni rial. The UN announced on December 4 that the Hadi government would need billions of dollars to fund its 2019 budget and avoid a currency collapse. Saudi Arabia announced a deposit of two billion U.S. dollars in January 2018 and granted 200 million U.S. dollars in early October.[2]
and
(A E P)
Yemen central bank expects $3 bn deposits from Gulf donors
Yemen's central bank expects a $3 billion cash injection from Gulf allies Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, an official said Thursday, as the war-battered country seeks to prop up its sagging economy.
The deposits, if confirmed, would follow a $2.2 billion infusion by Saudi Arabia to stem a slide in the Yemeni riyal as the country reels from an economic downturn.
"The central bank governor Mohamed Zemam has spoken of additional deposits worth $3 billion after talks with sisterly donor countries," deputy central bank chief Shokeib Hobeishy told reporters in the port city of Aden.
"I believe two (billion) will come from the UAE... and another billion from Kuwait."
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
King Salman Humanitarian Aid center helps bolster Yemen’s agro sector
Among its projects to improve the livelihoods of Yemenis, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) on Saturday distributed wheat seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to farmers in the war-torn country.
Mohammed Awad Hadi, a Yemeni official, lauded the Kingdom’s efforts to help Yemeni farmers and other segments of society.
KSRelief recently dispatched additional medical aid for Yemen to ensure an uninterrupted supply of medicines for kidney patients under treatment in various hospitals across the country.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1421351/saudi-arabia
(A P)
Any UNSCR should have strong reassurances on port demilitarization & strong language so Houthis understand they will be viewed as an obstacle to peace, unworthy of int'l protection, is they fail to fully live up to their commitments - just as the coalition must live up to theirs
https://twitter.com/Mikeknightsiraq/status/1073589272735858693
My comment: Knights claims that the UN must be (even still more than it already is) biased in Yemen. A peace broker NEVER should be biased if he really wants to achieve peace. This is an appeal to achieve failure.
(A P)
Yemen's representative in UN calls on the Security Council to implement its previous resolutions
Yemen's representative to the United Nations Abdullah Ali Fadl al-Saadi called on members of the UN Security Council to implement previous resolutions on Yemen and the "commitment" of vigilance over the implementation of the Stockholm accords by the Houthis.
"We must be cautious as a result of our past experiences and the failure of Houthi militias to abide by the agreements that have been signed with them, which they overturned at any time," al-Saadi said during a meeting of the Security Council held at the permanent headquarters of the United nation in New York.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/162154
My comment: Spreading the well-known propaganda tales in the UN (look at cp7 for this UN SC session).
(A P)
The @UN can explain us why a Consultant to Saudi Arabia embassy is declaring that the Yemen Peace Talks in #Sweden are just focusing on Houthis and their use of force and not on Saudi led coalition?! (images9
https://twitter.com/2flamesburning1/status/1073542110802980864
My comment: UN must not explain this – this simply is odd Saudi propaganda.
(A P)
UAE Press: Positive news from Sweden on Yemen
Right from the beginning, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition’s sole intent has been to spread justice and uphold the legitimacy in Yemen, said The Gulf Today in an editorial on Saturday.
"The sustained military pressure against the Houthi militants along the Red Sea Coast and surrounding areas in Hodeidah has paid off. The coup by the Houthi militias against the people of Yemen, and the manner in which they grabbed power with the help of external powers achieved nothing. Instead, it has left the nation on the edge of mass starvation.
"Cornered, the Houthis are realising that the negotiation table, and not brutal violence, is the way forward," it added.
The Coalition has kept its commitment to maintain the flow of humanitarian assistance and avoid damaging the port, the paper continued
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302727163
(A P)
Peace In Yemen: The First Steps – OpEd
The basis must be UN Resolution 2216, which aims to establish democracy in a federally united Yemen. This new effort will have to be backed by a UN peace-keeping force. Through whatever means would be most effective – new sanctions if necessary – Iran must be prevented from assisting the Houthis and supplying them with military hardware. Humanitarian aid must be given unfettered access to all parts of Yemen. A lasting political deal would of course involve the end of the Saudi-led military operation, and probably a major financial commitment by Saudi Arabia to fund the rebuilding of the country.
Finally the Houthis must be given the opportunity to choose. Do they wish to remain an outlawed militia permanently, or would they prefer to become a legitimate political party, able to contest parliamentary and presidential elections and participate in government?
http://www.eurasiareview.com/15122018-peace-in-yemen-the-first-steps-oped/
My comment: No, this resolution 2216 cannot be any basis; it is totally biased and intends to whip the Houthis totally from the table; thus they never could agree to it, and war would last for ever. – “Iran must be prevented from assisting the Houthis and supplying them with military hardware”: If they really supply the Houthis with arms, it’s on a minor scale due to the Saudi blockade. Whay not mention that The US and its allies “must be prevented from assisting the Saudis and the UAE and supplying them with military hardware”, as this supply certainly is 100,000 times more than the Iranian supply for the Houthis? – The Houthis not just are an “outlawed militia”, or this label must be given to 90 % of all Yemeni anti-Houthi fighters as well. There is a government at Sanaa, backed by the greater part of the legal Yemeni army.
(A P)
Senate Vote on War in Yemen Risks Undermining US and Yemeni Interests, While Boosting Iran’s
The Yemen war resolution is a blunt instrument that could inflict severe collateral damage on a range of U.S. national interests in the Middle East. It would punish not just Saudi Arabia, but the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries fighting against the Houthis in the Saudi-led coalition.
An end to U.S. support could also benefit Iran, the Houthis’ chief source of support. Iran has sought to transform the Houthi Ansar Allah movement into the “Hezbollah of Yemen”—a permanent threat to regional stability and security that directly conflicts with U.S. interests.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has warned: “While the Saudis must answer for Khashoggi’s murder, congressional efforts to limit or end U.S. cooperation with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen risks emboldening Iran and increasing the suffering of the Yemeni people.”
Clifford May, the president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, has observed: “To punish Saudi royals by rewarding Iranian ayatollahs makes no sense.”
Before taking further action on the war in Yemen, Congress should seek satisfactory answers to these questions:
Would cutting off U.S. support for Saudi Arabia and other allies fighting in Yemen assist or set back efforts to reach a political settlement that would end the war and ease humanitarian suffering?
Would abandoning U.S. allies fighting to defend what they see as vital national interests serve to advance the long-term national interests of the United States, or benefit Iran’s long-term interests?
How can Congress hold Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggi’s death without demolishing bilateral Saudi-American security ties that advance American interests? – by James Phillips, senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation
https://www.heritage.org/middle-east/commentary/senate-vote-war-yemen-risks-undermining-us-and-yemeni-interests-while = https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/12/14/senate-vote-on-war-in-yemen-risks-undermining-us-and-yemeni-interests-while-boosting-irans/
My comment: The three questions all must be answered in a way the author would not like. Question 1: Yes, and this even is a necessary precondition for reaching apolitical settlement Question 2: There are NO VITAL US NATIONAL INTERESTS anywhere on this planet more than 6,000 miles away from any US territory. Such a claim just is apretense for imperialist interventionism. And: US anti-Iranian paranoia cannot be fought for in Yemen. 3. US-Saudi ties do not “advance American interests”: Saudi Arabia is a source of insecurity for the US (and it’s not only about 9/11).
(A P)
Saudi FM Hails Crown Prince’s Role in Success of Yemen Consultations
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir hailed on Friday the role played by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, in ensuring the success of the Yemen peace consultations that were held in Sweden.
He tweeted that the Crown Prince exerted “great personal efforts” in guaranteeing the success of the peace negotiations between the legitimate Yemeni government and Iran-backed Houthi militias.
My comment: Arsonist hailed as firefighter.
(A P)
US Support in Yemen Support is Critical to Ensuring Iran Doesn’t Fill the Power Void
Clearly, Senators are fed up with Saudi behavior, which has admittedly reflected a stunning disregard for modern international standards. But I still believe the Saudi relationship is too important to throw away wholesale.
The resolution is going nowhere; the House has already taken steps to ensure it won’t pass.
Hopefully, the Senate’s action will serve as a wake-up call for MBS and his crew. The U.S. needs Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia needs the U.S. The people of Yemen need both of us. In Iran, the ayatollahs are wringing their hands, waiting for the U.S.-Saudi relationship to crumble so they can step-in to fill the power void.
No sane person wants to see Iran become the preeminent power in the Middle East. Yemen is the first line of defense against that. The U.S. must not walk away now.
My comment: What we are told: We are insane by anti-Iranian paranoia, and therefor nothing should change.
(A P)
“Stockholm Talks” .. disregards the References and Security Council Resolutions
Houthis usually intend to discuss the issues raised after their coup such as humanitarian and relief issues, economics, opening airports… etc with disregard to the original issue which is the coup itself, and they avoid to talk about the three references that represent the basis for resolving the Yemeni crisis, particularly the Gulf initiative, the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference and the UN resolution 2216, which in its core ends the coup and as a result will automatically resolve the outcomes that resulted from it.
Houthis strategy is distracting the ongoing consultations or any future dialogues by concentrating on the side issues and not to discuss the political solution
The UN envoy, no longer speaks about Security Council resolution, nor he refers to it and he is only talking about what he called "confidence-building measures.
It seems that UN has no will to end the coup, and its efforts are focused on managing the Yemeni crisis, not ending it.
The current consultations in Sweden undermine the provisions of UN resolution 2216.since the UN resolution deals with Houthis as the coup party, obliges them to withdraw from the cities, hand over weapons and end all manifestations of the coup, while the consultations seek their legitimacy and deal with them as if they were an essential partner.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/162119
My comment: A quite odd pro-Hadi government propaganda, blaming the Sweden talks. – The “We are legitimate, the others must leave” narrative (all our preconditions must be 100 % accepted, this is the only solution) hardly ever works.
(A P)
The Senate on the Saudis
A phony gesture on War Powers but a useful statement on Khashoggi.
But all 49 Democrats voted for it, as did seven Republicans. They had the political luxury of knowing the bill is going nowhere in the House this year. There’s nothing more senatorial than voting for something you know won’t pass and calling it an “historic victory,” as Mr. Sanders did.
The more useful effort was a resolution sponsored by Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker that condemned the Saudi murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and held Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible.
The President who is so often criticized for wanting to retreat from the world and not standing by allies was rebuked for refusing to abandon an ally in a proxy war with Iran.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-senate-on-the-saudis-11544746915
Accusations of retreat against Trump are ridiculous precisely because he is embracing the Saudis and Emiratis and making every excuse possible to continue U.S. support for their disgraceful war. Of all the “allies” in the world that Trump chooses to defend to the bitter end, he has chosen the worst, most useless client states and their indefensible war.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-historic-antiwar-resolution-on-yemen/
(A P)
Forgotten war
Some US politicians are rounding on Saudi Arabia, pointing to Yemen, while ignoring the toll of wars the US pursued
Wars are not a picnic. They are the most extreme form of the clash between right and wrong. The Saudi-led Arab coalition only embarked on the war in Yemen in order to help its Arab Yemeni brothers and to restore the legitimate government to the people. The coalition did not intervene in some remote country. It intervened in the south west corner of the Arabian Peninsula where there loomed a threat to Saudi national security. When the coalition forces took action in Yemen, they took with them caravans of relief aid for the peoples of the liberated territories while the political leadership continually strove to reach political solutions.
Perhaps concerned members of the US Congress should study their country’s war in Afghanistan, in which the numbers of dead, wounded and displaced persons are higher than the toll in the US Civil War.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/26062.aspx
My comment: It’s certainly true that the US largely ignore its own wars. – But, this article is odd propaganda pointing at US wars to simply deflect from the Yemen War and Saudi coalition crimes.
(A P)
JIAT issues statement refuting allegations on Coalition Air Force wrong use of power in Sa’dah
Official spokesman of the Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) Legal Counselor Mansour Al-Turki defended the performance of the Coalition to restore legitimacy to Yemen, citing its verification of the occurrence of the alleged incident, the claimant, linking it with military operations in Yemen, the principles on which the international law was based and their conformity with Geneva conventions..
In a press conference at Riyadh-based Saudi army officers club, Al-Turk said four allegations were submitted by international agencies on alleged mistakes committed by the coalition forces to restore legitimacy in Yemen during military operations inside Yemen, confirming the correctness of the coalition forces measures followed, according to engagement bases .
He cited the case No. 108, in which Amnesty International stated on its (October 2015) report that
As a result, JIAT finds that the Coalition Forces DID NOT target the outside of (Sa’dah) (gas station and vehicle) mentioned in the allegation. JIAT also confirms the validity of the Coalition Air Force procedures in targeting a (radar and missile launchers), and that they were carried out in accordance with the Customary International Humanitarian Law.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1852729
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/12829
My comment: Saudi coalition’s own “investigations” of own war crimes are a scam; the only purpose is whitewashing.
(B P)
Punishing the Saudi prince
Ceding Yemen to Iran’s ruling ayatollahs is not the way to do it.
Look at the map again. Locate the Bab-el-Mandeb, another strategic strait. It separates Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula from Africa, and guards the entrance to the Red Sea at the northern end of which is the Suez Canal, also a vital chokepoint. Iran’s rulers covet the Bab-el-Mandeb as well.
Their maritime goals support their hegemonic ambitions. The last thing American leaders should do is help them. Yet a bipartisan majority of senators is working on a resolution that would do exactly that by withdrawing U.S. military assistance to the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Anyone with a lick of sense understands why preventing the Islamic State from establishing a Middle Eastern caliphate is in the American national interest. How many licks does it take to grasp that it’s no less imperative to prevent the Islamic Republic from achieving the same objective (though the preferable Shia term would be imamate)?
The royal families who rule the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain harbor no illusions about the threat Tehran poses to them – by Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2018/12/12/punishing-the-saudi-prince/ = https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/11/punishing-the-saudi-prince/
My comment: An odd piece of propaganda, based on US anti-Iranian paranoia. A stop of arms sales to Saudi Arabia would be “Ceding Yemen to Iran’s ruling ayatollahs”? How this can be? Is the author on drugs? And, seen from another side: How the US should have any right to “cede” any foreign country to whom ever?? – For the author, look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_May, for this lobby tank, look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_Defense_of_Democracies
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids day by day
Dec. 14: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1544870452./1199487523534944/
Dec. 13: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1544870452./1199487070201656/
Dec. 12: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1544870452./1199486693535027/
(A K pH)
Woman killed in 3 Saudi-led airstrikes on Raymah
A woman was killed when the warplanes of US-backed Saudi-led coalition on Saturday waged three airstrikes on Raymah province
The air strikes hit Kulaba area of Blad-Taam district.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518972.htm
a girl not a woman:
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGmGJkq6JZQ
(A K pH)
Citizen killed in blast of cluster bomb dropped earlier by coalition in western coast
A citizen was killed on Saturday in a cluster bomb blast in Hodeidah provinc
The cluster bomb, which is dropped earlier by the US-backed saudi-led aggression coalition, exploded in Tuhayta district,
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518970.htm
(* A K pH)
Saudi-led aggression escalates air, ground attacks during the first hours of the conclusion of the consultations: Spokesman
The army spokesman Brigadier General Yahia Sarie, said on Friday US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition on Friday targeted air raids , artillery shelling and attempts to infiltrate mercenaries in the western coast in the 24 past hours during the first hours of the conclusion of the consultations.
In a statement, Sarie affirmed the fighter jets waged 21 strikes in conjunction with heavy artillery shelling and infiltration attempts by mercenaries especially in the western coast.
"The air raids and artillery shells on especially Yemeni western coast, Najran and the capital Sanaa" Said Sarie.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518938.htm
(A K pH)
In Hodiedah, 3children were injured by bombing a cluster bomb in Al-Jarahi district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4357&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
Film: Air raids on the province of Hodeidah and Directorate of Nihm 12-12-2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhUpVaWFu-A
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
Dec. 15:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518987.htm and http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518975.htm Saada p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518955.htm Hodeidah p.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4376&cat_id=1 Mahwit p. and others
Dec. 14:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518897.htm Sanaa p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518887.htm Mahwit p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518911.htm and http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518895.htm Hodeidah p.
Dec. 13:
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4345&cat_id=1 Mahwit p., Hodeidah p.
Dec. 12:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518744.htm Sanaa p.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4313&cat_id=1 Sanaa p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K pH)
Civilian wounded in saudi-led mercenaries' shelling on border areas of Saada
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518947.htm
(A K pH)
Woman killed in saudi-led mercenaries’ shelling in Taiz
A woman was killed on Friday when the mercenaries of US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition fired an artillery on a citizen’s house in Taiz province, a security official told Saba.
The attack target the house located in Al-Selw district
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518886.htm
(A K pH)
Civilian Killed, 2 Injured in mercenaries' shelling on Saada's border areas
The artillery and rocketry forces of the mercenaries of US-backed Saudi-led coalition on Friday shelled several border districts in Saada province, a security official said.
The shelling targeted citizens’ farms in Ghaferah area of Dhaher district and caused damages among citizens’ properties
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518917.htm
(* A B P)
Yemen ceasefire: hope gives way to worry about whether deal will stick
Situation on ground in Hodeidah will test UN-brokered deal, say analysts
Initial hope after a breakthrough round of peace talks on Yemen in Swedenhas quickly given way to worries over how the agreed measures will be implemented.
Whether the wider goals set out in the UN communiques can be achieved will be tested on the ground in the next few days in Hodeidah, where the coalition launched an offensive last month to retake the city from the Houthis.
“Hodeidah is the litmus test for the Sweden talks,” said the analyst Hisham al-Omeisy. “The parties have agreed to withdraw to the city limits and for a reorganisation of military units and local security forces. But this is Yemen and nothing is that simple.
“For example, the Houthis have recruited a lot of locals in the city. Are they supposed to vacate their homes now? The wording of the agreements has been purposefully vague to get the parties to agree, but it’s going to be very hard to gauge what success will be like as a result.”
The Houthis are unlikely to give up full control of the port – the movement’s most important income source – without assurances their revenue streams will be protected.
The Yemeni economic committee is scheduled to meet in Amman in Jordan next week for consultations on rescuing the ailing Yemeni rial and ensuring public workers’ salaries are paid.
Despite sporadic gunfire and shelling on the city’s northern and eastern outskirts overnight on Thursday, Hodeidah was largely calm by Friday morning, residents said.
“It’s been quieter the last few days and now the weekend has started absolutely nothing,” Ibrahim Seif said. “We have to wait and see if it will stay this way. God knows we need it.”
(A K pS)
Two women killed in IED blast planted by Houthis west of Taiz
Two women were killed Thursday when an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by the Houthis exploded in a house in the Maqbana district in the southwest of Taiz province in and precisely at the village of Qalat Haraz Maqbana.
According to our source, during the past days, Houthis planted mines in the streets and improvised explosive devices in the homes of the citizens of Maqbana, west of Taiz.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/162141
(* A K pS)
Landmine kills five persons in al-Dhala’a
A landmine planted by the Houthis killed on Wednesday a man, his wife and three of his children in the area of Murais, al-Dhala’a governorate.
Local sources told Alsahwa Net that the landmine exploded on the car of this family, pointing out that the landmine was planted by the Houthis before they were forced to get out last month from the area. (photo)
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-26023
(A K pS)
A number of passengers were dead or wounded when the #Houthi militia targeted the bus, on which they were travelling, on the road between Qaniah and Afaar in the central province of al-Bayda. The area was liberated but still within the militia's fire-range (photos)
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1073267027824001024
(A K)
Saudi-led coalition air defense systems intercepted two al Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Marib governorate, central Yemen on December 13.[4]
(B K pS)
Film: Watch how the #Houthi militia fighters plant networks of mines and explosive devices in houses, farms and even streets in the district of Baqim in Saada; with the aim of detaining the Army Forces' advancements, and causing civilian causalities.
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1072901974708887552
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition shelling recorded on:
Dec. 15:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518983.htm Saada p.
Dec. 13:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518846.htm Saada p.
Dec. 12:
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4313&cat_id=1 Saada p.
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(* C)
A Christmas in Yemen: In a long-ago era, good people took me in
The climate then was more peaceful but always uncertain. They were concerned for me. We should return the favor.
Reading about war and famine in today’s Yemen, I recall my time in Yemen’s capital city, Sana’a, as a Catholic Relief Services health educator. It was 1979, and my first sight of women covered completely in black, and men with curved daggers jammed into their waistbands, gave me a jolt. I feared sudden, unpredictable violence, but what I got instead was sudden, unpredictable warmth and acceptance.
Water was scarce, electricity was unreliable and phones were antiquated. There were no libraries or movie theaters, and I couldn’t go jogging without wild dogs giving chase.
But faithful to ancient traditions of hospitality, Yemeni neighbors pulled me into their homes daily, offering super-sweet tea, savory salta, a meaty stew and choice TV-watching seats. Upon meeting me, our nursing trainees, young and veiled, proclaimed me “very good” and vied to sit as close as possible to me when we drove to clinic visits. Other expatriates experienced similar hospitality.
http://www.startribune.com/a-christmas-in-yemen-in-a-long-ago-era-good-people-took-me-in/502820802/
(-)
Film: Song and dance break at a ceremony at Aden Free Zone. Despite everything, Yemen endures.
https://twitter.com/adammbaron/status/1073319484633550849 = https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10216715431414395&id=1119915664
(* B P)
Photos: Yemeni Women wearing traditional Taizi cloths. Yemeni culture is all about diversity and colors. Black is not our color & it will never be! Politics imposed it in our communities, and it will take it away as well, one day!
https://twitter.com/HanaalShowafi/status/1073156304955420672
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-490-yemen-war-mosaic-490
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-490 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-490:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
und alle Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
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