My Take | Yemen victim of bloody brothers in arms
Thanks to US weapons sales, Saudi Arabia and its allies have killed thousands in the impoverished country, which now faces its worst famine in 100 years with 12 million people at risk
“Yemen on verge of worst famine in 100 years as civil war rages on”, screams the international headline. According to the World Food Programme, a United Nations agency, 12 million people are at risk.
The country is already in the middle of a famine, thanks to a civil war fuelled by an anti-Iranian air-bombing campaign waged by Saudi Arabia and a war on terror by the United States.
The Saudis drop the bombs sold to them by the Americans, who also provide technical and logistical support, share intelligence and deploy special forces. Thousands, mostly civilians, have died in the impoverished country.
At the moment, though, Washington is more preoccupied by the disappearance and possible murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. There is nothing US President Donald Trump wants more than to get Riyadh off the hook over Khashoggi.
In its dealings with Riyadh, how does Washington weigh its priorities when it comes to the life of one man and the lives of millions at stake? Well, the two allies have a US$110 billion arms deal, and Yemen partly explains why it’s so important to both sides.
Bombs dropped by the Saudi air force that were responsible for hundreds of Yemeni deaths have been traced back to American arms giants such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon.