The Houthis say their attacks in the Red Sea will continue until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. In response to Israel’s assault on the people of Gaza in early October, Yemen’s Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, began mounting attacks on commercial ships in and around the Red Sea. The Houthis said the attacks were aimed… Read more »
Tag: yemen
Public Pressure Could Halt US Support of Yemen War
US tax dollars are supporting Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, which has already claimed the lives of some 85,000 children, and 12 million more people are likely on the brink of starvation. As Nicholas Kristof wrote in The New York Times, “the starvation does not seem to be an accidental byproduct of war, but rather… Read more »
Khashoggi’s Murder and Saudi War Crimes in Yemen Were Facilitated by US
The alleged torture, dismemberment and killing of Saudi citizen and US permanent resident Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul has triggered justifiable outrage throughout the United States and around the world. But amid the outcry over Khashoggi’s death, many media and public figures still fail to acknowledge the war crimes Saudi Arabia is… Read more »
US Leaders Aid and Abet War Crimes in Yemen
US leaders who provided military support to the Saudi-led coalition that bombed civilians in Yemen this August could be charged with aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes under customary international law, which is part of US law. The 500-pound laser-guided MK 82 bomb, which the coalition dropped on August 9, killed 51 people,… Read more »
Courts Must Hold Executive Branch Accountable for Drone Strikes
In 2012, the bin Ali Jaber family gathered in Khashamir, Yemen, for a wedding celebration. Ahmed Salem bin Ali Jaber (Salem) was asked to deliver a guest sermon, which challenged al Qaeda to justify its attacks on civilians. In response to his sermon, three strange men arrived to see Salem. Fearing trouble, Salem asked Waleed bin Ali Jaber (Waleed), a police officer, to accompany… Read more »
Donald Trump’s War Crimes
Just two and a half months into his presidency, Donald Trump has already distinguished himself as a war criminal. His administration is killing unusually large numbers of civilians, in violation of US and international law. Killing Civilians in Record Numbers The Trump administration began to kill civilians over inaugural weekend, with two drone strikes in… Read more »
Trump Challenges the Limits of Executive Power
When Donald Trump learned that a federal district court had refused to reinstate his Muslim ban last week, he tweeted in all caps, “SEE YOU IN COURT!” Aside from this strange reaction to a court decision, Trump’s angry outburst raises the question: Is the president allowed to have whatever he wants? To better understand the… Read more »
Toxic Policies of ‘President Agent Orange’
Rapper Busta Rhymes pegged it at the Grammy Awards when he referred to Donald Trump as “President Agent Orange.” While performing with A Tribe Called Quest and Anderson Paak, Rhymes used the opportunity to call out Trump for his Muslim ban and “all of the evil” Trump has perpetrated since assuming the presidency three weeks… Read more »
A Year of US Militarism
One of the most alarming developments in US foreign policy in 2016 was the ratcheting up of the new iteration of the Cold War. Looking back at US foreign policy in this last year of Barack Obama’s presidential tenure, other weighty developments include the ongoing proxy war in Syria, the US-supported Saudi-led bombing in Yemen,… Read more »
US Targeted Killing Rules Conflate Legality and Politics
In January 2013, President Barack Obama promised to make the rules for the United States’ targeted killing program “more transparent to the American people and the world” because “in our democracy, no one should just take my word for it that we’re doing things the right way.” Three and a half years later, a Freedom… Read more »