Letters | What binds Donald Trump, the Saudis, and Yemen’s starving children
- The Saudi war on Yemen, which has already killed 10,000 civilians, has escalated under Trump’s watch
In a recent article, Democrat Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote: “For three years, the United States has supported a coalition led by Saudi Arabia that is waging war inside Yemen, trying to oust a rebel government made up of members of the Houthi tribe. Our role in the coalition is significant – we sell bombs and weapons to the Saudis, we help them pick targets inside Yemen, and until recently, we refuelled their planes in the sky … it’s clear that the US is engaged in a war in Yemen. And yet this war has not been authorised or debated by Congress”. He went on to say how US involvement started quietly under Barack Obama, and increased under Donald Trump, with more than 10,000 civilians killed in the Saudi-led bombing campaign since the beginning of the civil war. “Targets have included schools, hospitals, weddings, a funeral party and recently a school bus carrying 38 children to a field trip”, he wrote.
George Cassidy Payne, Rochester, NY