US Secretary of State Pompeio defended US participation in Yemen war

After US President Trump vetoed a Congress bill that challenged US involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has defended US participation before the veto is dealt with by the US Senate.

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The Trump veto

In a statement Trump claimed: "This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future."

International Rescue Committee president David Milliband said that Trump vetoing the bill in effect gave a green light for a war strategy that has created the world's worst humanitarian situation to continue. Milliband said: "Yemen is at a breaking point with 10 million people on the brink of famine. There are as many as 100 civilian casualties per week, and Yemenis are more likely to be killed at home than in any other structure."

As well as substantial arms sales to the Saudis, the US has provided refueling, intelligence, and logistics support for the war. The fact that Saudi killed the journalist Khashoggi and recently held a mass execution of 37 people some with confessions obtained by torture makes no difference.

Pompeio says support for the Saudis is in the US best interests

Pompeio's argument made reference to Houthi rebel missile attacks that hit an airport in Ryadh where there are some Americans: “Airplanes flying through King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh are at risk, and the United States has an obligation to protect our citizens. So the support we’re providing to the Saudis as they attempt to engage these dangerous missiles systems is in America’s best interest.”

A recent article criticizes Pompeo's argument: "The US is obviously not obliged to assist governments that start a war against their neighbor just because retaliatory strikes could potentially put Americans at risk. If the danger is so great, the responsible thing would be to advise US citizens to avoid those countries if at all possible. The more important point is that Pompeo’s argument is circular: he insists that we should keep backing a war that actually creates the threat that he claims to be guarding against. If not for the Saudi coalition bombing campaign against Yemen’s cities and villages, there would be no missile attacks on Riyadh or anywhere else."

The Iran factor

While Iran does support the Houthi rebels while the Saudis support the former government, the war is basically a civil war with the Houthis taking control of the capital and much of the north while the head of the former government was forced into exile in Saudi Arabia. He gained support for bombing and the establishment of the Hadi regime in the south again. The US and Saudi Arabia share hatred of Iran and the US is happy to help the Saudis try to win against the Houthis.

The huge US arms deal with the Saudis

In 2017 the US signed a humongous arms deal with the Saudis: "On May 20, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud signed a series of letters of intent for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to purchase arms from the United States totaling US$110 billion immediately,[1][2] and $350 billion over 10 years.[3][4] The intended purchases include tanks, combat ships, missile defense systems, as well as radar, communications and cybersecurity technology. The transfer was widely seen as a counterbalance against the influence of Iran in the region[5][6] and a "significant" and "historic" expansion of United States relations with Saudi Arabia."

Saudi Arabia is one of the key countries that can assure that the US military industrial complex continues to enjoy large sales and profits during the coming years.

As Trump put it, he does not want to lose them as they buy a lot from the US. $450 billion according to Trump.

Previously published in h

One Navy Seal killed 3 wounded in first Trump commando attack in Yemen

Just a few days after the first drone attacks in Yemen under the Trump presidency took place, Trump authorized a commando attack on an Al Qaeda headquarters in the province of Al-Bayda

The raid was aimed at gathering intelligence about Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP). A US military statement claimed that the raid found "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."A US military official said American forces did not seize any militants or take any prisoners from the site. However, they cl;aimed to have killed 14 AQAP members; including the senior leader Abdul Raouf al-Dhahab. One of the military aircraft was said to have experienced a hard landing and was said to have been intentionally destroyed where it landed. Possibly this description is meant to avoid any suggestion that it could have been shot down.

Medics attending the scene claimed that thirty people were killed including 10 women and 3 children. An anonymous resident near the house that was targeted said:"The operation began at dawn when a drone bombed the home of Abdulraoof al-Dhahab and then helicopters flew up and unloaded paratroopers at his house and killed everyone inside. Next, the gunmen opened fire at the US soldiers who left the area, and the helicopters bombed the gunmen and a number of homes and led to a large number of casualties."A Yemeni security officer and a local corroborated that account. A local resident Fahd said several bodies remained under debris and houses and the local mosque were damaged in the attack. In a message AQAP mourned the death of al-Dhahab and that of other fighters, confirming his death but the message did not say how many Al-Qaeda militants were killed.

According to the grandfather of the 8-year old daughter of former US citizen and Al Qaeda ideologue Anwar Al-Awlaki she was among the children killed in the raid. Nasser al-Awlaki said: "She was hit with a bullet in her neck and suffered for two hours. Why kill children? This is the new administration - it's very sad, a big crime." The last special operations carried out in Yemen were in December of 2014 over 2 years ago. US special forces attempted to rescue an American and a South African captured by Al Qaeda. The two captives were killed in the resulting firefight.

Trump may be trying to show that he will aggressively fight against AQAP. AQAP organized the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris in 2015 and has unsuccessfully tried to mount terror attacks against US airliners.

The drone attacks have been protested constantly in Yemen with many criticizing the civilian deaths. The killing of many women and children in this attack will only add to the furor. Back in August 2013 an article noted:Since 2002, US drone strikes in Yemen have claimed the lives of up to 860 people, according to the British Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Most of the strikes were carried out under President Obama. It could not be verified how many of those killed were in fact Al-Qaeda militants.

Even then, critics also argued that the attacks could boost support for AQAP: Yahya Qasseb bin Sahl, a law professor at Aden University, told Reuters that he believes the drone strikes “channel the Yemeni street’s feelings in favor of Al-Qaeda.”

According to one source, locals said that 41 AQAP militants were killed and 16 civilians. The highest death toll provided by locals was 57, including 8 women and children. There were three alleged militant leaders among those killed.

The US is already involved in the civil war between the Houthis who occupy much of the north and the government of President Hadi which is headquartered in Aden after returning from exile in Saudi Arabia. The US provides the Saudi coalition with targeting intelligence and refueling for Saudi and coalition airplanes. US drone strikes make Hadi unpopular as he has consistently supported them in spite of many protests against them. Trump appears to be following the same drone policy as Obama and perhaps will act even more aggressively with more commando raids.

In a statement on the raid, Trump said: "Americans are saddened this morning with news that a life of a heroic service member has been taken in our fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism. The sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces, and the families they leave behind, are the backbone of the liberty we hold so dear as Americans, united in our pursuit of a safer nation and a freer world." A US official told Fox News that the raid had been in the planning stage before Trump took office but had not been given the green light to go ahead. The Yemeni parliament voted against drone strikes ages ago back in December 2013 as shown on the appended video. Now news articles will be unlikely to refer back to the ethics of drone strikes or consider that they might even constitute war crimes.