Yemen Archives - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

The Military-Industrial Complex Wants Endless War No Matter Which Party Leads The Country

A U.S. Army soldier watches as members of the Afghan National Army set up a traffic check point in a desolate valley in Afghanistan. (Flickr / U.S. Army / Sgt. Ken Scar)

February 8, 2017

Kit

The Military-Industrial Complex Wants Endless War No Matter Which Party Leads The Country

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

Although President Donald Trump faces criticism for a recent botched raid on Yemen, it would be more accurate to blame the military-industrial complex and the Wall Street investors who support the endless profitable expansion of U.S. warfare.

The Jan. 28 raid, the first military action carried out under the Trump administration, left one Navy SEAL and 15 women and children dead, according to Yemeni sources. The Pentagon claims the attack, carried out with the help of Emirati military forces, killed 14 militants, but the soldiers failed to capture or kill their main target, al-Qaida leader Qassim al-Rimi.

Among the dead was 8-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki, the daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen accused of working as an al-Qaida propagandist. The elder al-Awlaki had the dubious distinction of being the first U.S. citizen killed by a U.S. drone strike, back in September 2011.

US: Let Saudi Arabia Investigate Its Own War Crimes, Russia Requires Int’l Investigation

5 August 2015, Sa'ada, Yemen: Members of a U.N. humanitarian delegation examine the ruins of a marketplace. (Flickr / OCHA / Philippe Kropf)

October 13, 2016

Kit

US: Let Saudi Arabia Investigate Its Own War Crimes, Russia Requires Int’l Investigation

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

A State Department spokesperson called for Saudi Arabia to be allowed to investigate itself over airstrikes on a funeral, which is a potential war crime, while simultaneously advocating for an international investigation into Russia’s actions in Syria.

On Saturday, the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen bombed a funeral in the capital city of Sanaa. At least 140 people were killed and over 500 others were injured in the airstrike, which human rights experts warned likely constitutes a war crime. Some reports even suggest the Saudi coalition targeted the funeral repeatedly, so as to injure or kill rescuers coming to the aid of the victims of the first airstrike.

Speaking at the United Nations on Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry called on Russia and Syria to face a formal investigation over possible war crimes committed in the Syrian civil war. No similar investigation into Saudi Arabia’s actions in Yemen will be forthcoming, however, according to State Department spokesperson John Kirby, who addressed the issue during a press briefing on Tuesday.

From Drone Killings To Hospital Bombings: 15 Years Of Civilian Deaths In The Global War On Terror

People stand near the rubble of Abs Hospital in northwestern Yemen, bombed by a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition on August 15, 2016. (Doctors Without Borders)

August 25, 2016

Kit

From Drone Killings To Hospital Bombings: 15 Years Of Civilian Deaths In The Global War On Terror

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The recent bombing of a hospital in northwestern Yemen has drawn international outrage and new criticism of the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed forces fighting there, but it’s just the latest in a slew of war crimes committed over the past 15 years in the name of the U.S.-backed global war on terror.

Nineteen people were killed and 24 were injured in the Aug. 15 bombing, which struck Abs Hospital in northwestern Yemen. Among the dead was Abdul Kareem al Hakeemi, a staff member of Doctors Without Borders (frequently referred to by its French name, Médecins sans Frontières, or MSF).

It was the fourth and deadliest bombing of an MSF-supported hospital since the attacks on Yemen began in early 2015, leading the NGO to evacuate its six hospitals in the region three days later.