Issues Under Fire: US, Saudis Only Give Lip Service to Diplomatic Solutions in Yemen

Issues Under Fire: US, Saudis Only Give Lip Service to Diplomatic Solutions in Yemen 

As U.S. supported Saudi-led coalition partners continue pounding the hell out of Yemen in order to restore a "friendly" to Yemen's presidency, the humanitarian crisis continues to grow. Shelling and air strikes are ongoing and widespread now. Considering, little if any attention is being paid to civilian populations, as shelling of indiscriminate targets are now claiming the lives of women and children by the hundreds, this civil war is beginning to look like so many others supported by the United States. 

Caught between Houthi rebels fighting Al-Qaeda, while dodging coalition air strikes and street battles with militias loyal to exiled president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the general population of Yemen is finding a hard time just staying out of the way. Most, have been literally trapped in an expanding war zone. Food, medical supplies and safe spaces to shelter are all at critical levels.  

Since international assistance had been prevented by Saudi-led forces during the early stages of its air campaign, by the time UNICEF and the Red Cross could enter Yemen, conditions had gone from dire for many to deadly for many more. Reports from the World Health Organization put the death toll at 1,090 since March 19 with thousand more wounded. Hospitals have been damaged in the fighting and can no longer meet the exploding demand for medical care. 

According to Nabeel Khoury, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, " It's a rather cruel way of  doing it, but from a war point of view, that's what the Saudis goal is: to make sure the Houthis get nothing. "In Yemen, they're clearly willing to go to extremes to prevent the Houthis, with Iran backing them, from taking over." And it is for that reason among others, that has the United States is giving Saudi Arabia carte blanche to crush the Houthis by any means necessary. 

When Tehran's humanitarian aid flotilla was turned away by U.S. warships, after being accused of attempting to delivering weapons to Houthi rebels, the Yemeni people were essentially cutoff from life support. Without offering to assist those suffering the most, the United States has turned a blind eye to what their regional allies are doing. 

Bottom line: Presumably to remain in the good graces of Gulf states feeling threatened by Tehran, it appears the Obama administration is willing to accept levels of loss of life the international community has already deemed to be excessive. While one can only speculate as to how much longer the White House will spin events in Yemen to cover for Saudi Arabia's brutal and relentless air attacks, from this observers perspective, time is running out. Podcast Below!