two decades of regular US attacks on Yemen — failed to dislodge the Houthis from power
The Signal fiasco is obscuring an essential question: why are we bombing Yemen?
Amid outrage over Trump cabinet members sharing military details, we’re forgetting to scrutinize decades of failed US policy
The Guardian's Marina Hyde said,
Quote
It’s war and peace with Donald and Pete – and the worst group chat the world has ever seen
In the widespread outrage over the sharing of military information on a Signal chat, one essential question is getting lost: Why is Trump bombing Yemen in the first place?
Five consecutive US presidents and administrations have ordered military attacks on Yemen, which is the poorest country in the Middle East — because Houthis takes ALL the money
1. George W Bush 2. Barack Obama 3. the first Trump administration 4. Joe Biden 5. the second Trump administration
Collectively, these leaders have continued more than two decades of failed US policies toward Yemen 1. centered on repeated bombings 2. counter-terrorism operations 3. and support for a dictator who ruled the country for decades
Trump, who portrayed himself throughout the last presidential campaign as “the candidate of peace” appears almost eager to repeat past US mistakes in Yemen
During Yemen’s long civil war, years of intense bombing by two US allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates failed to dislodge the Houthis from power
By the end of 2021 the United Nations estimated that the Yemen conflict had killed 377,000 people — nearly 60% of whom died not in fighting but from indirect causes, including famine, cholera outbreaks and destruction of the health system
Quote
And while Yemeni civilians suffered, the Houthis emerged stronger after each military confrontation
