Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent call for a cease fire in Yemen is as late arriving as it is likely disingenuous. The world has been asking for accountability for our support of the criminal assault on the Yemeni civilian population conducted by Saudi Arabia for nearly four years. Providing munitions, tactical support, and clandestine special operations on behalf of the Saudi war effort has rendered us complicit in the ongoing war crime of deliberately targeting civilians while also aiding in the blockade of the Port of Hodeidah, which has halted the flow of humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni people and materially contributed to widespread disease and famine throughout the country.
Together with the revelations related to the likely Saudi murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the continuing bombardment of one of the poorest countries on the face of the globe, we finally have been brought to the precipice of some sort of reckoning with regard to our role in allying with perhaps the most brutal and undemocratic regime in the world. I think George W Bush said it best: 'when one gives aid and comfort to those engaged in terrorism, he then becomes a terrorist'. In a rare statement by a mainstream journalist, MSNBC's Chris Hayes suggested yesterday that it is now long overdue for the United States to actively disengage from our association with Saudi Arabia and its war in Yemen. In so doing, perhaps we might begin to rebuild our international standing in a world that increasingly no longer looks to us for moral leadership.
No comments:
Post a Comment