Under Obama, Trump, and now Biden, U.S. arms deals with Saudi Arabia have perpetuated a humanitarian crisis.
'On February 4, the U.S. State Department approved new proposed weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. If the deals aren't blocked by Congress, the three nations will receive fighter jets, guided missile tail kits, and reinforcements for missile defense systems, among other spare parts and munitions. The UAE transfer, the Pentagon said, "will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States."'
...
'In October 2016, the Saudi-led coalition carried out an airstrike on a funeral ceremony in Sana'a, killing at least 100 people and wounding over 500. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that U.S.-produced weapons were used in this attack and in an April 2016 strike on a market that killed at least 97 civilians, including 25 kids. HRW wrote two years later that American arms were found at the sites of dozens of "other unlawful coalition attacks in Yemen." All the while, arms deals funneled money into the pockets of American defense firms like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.'
...
'According to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimate, the conflict led to 377,000 deaths by the end of 2021. Nearly 60 percent of those stemmed from unreliable access to food, water, and health care. Airstrikes only added to the death toll—in September 2021, a U.N. panel estimated that at least 18,000 Yemeni civilians had been killed or wounded by airstrikes since 2015. U.N. experts informed the Human Rights Council that Yemenis had endured roughly 10 airstrikes per day since March 2015, amounting to over 23,000 total attacks.
A devastating cholera outbreak infected over 1 million Yemenis and killed 3,000 between 2016 and 2021, and COVID-19 has ripped through the largely unvaccinated population, killing thousands. Due to the ravaged medical system, it is extremely difficult to ascertain infection rates and death tolls with any precision.
The worst of the war has disproportionately landed on Yemen's most vulnerable. Early last year, the U.N. projected that "half of children under five in Yemen" could suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, with 400,000 expected to endure severe acute malnutrition. Minimal access to routine immunization and health services, malnourished breastfeeding mothers, and unstable sanitation systems all put Yemeni kids in danger. In 2021, a child under the age of five died every nine minutes in Yemen due to the ongoing war. These factors combined have made Yemen "one of the most dangerous places in the world for children to grow up," per the U.N.'
https://reason.com/2022/02/17/bidens-hidden-war-is-destroying-yemen/
'On February 4, the U.S. State Department approved new proposed weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. If the deals aren't blocked by Congress, the three nations will receive fighter jets, guided missile tail kits, and reinforcements for missile defense systems, among other spare parts and munitions. The UAE transfer, the Pentagon said, "will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States."'
...
'In October 2016, the Saudi-led coalition carried out an airstrike on a funeral ceremony in Sana'a, killing at least 100 people and wounding over 500. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that U.S.-produced weapons were used in this attack and in an April 2016 strike on a market that killed at least 97 civilians, including 25 kids. HRW wrote two years later that American arms were found at the sites of dozens of "other unlawful coalition attacks in Yemen." All the while, arms deals funneled money into the pockets of American defense firms like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.'
...
'According to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimate, the conflict led to 377,000 deaths by the end of 2021. Nearly 60 percent of those stemmed from unreliable access to food, water, and health care. Airstrikes only added to the death toll—in September 2021, a U.N. panel estimated that at least 18,000 Yemeni civilians had been killed or wounded by airstrikes since 2015. U.N. experts informed the Human Rights Council that Yemenis had endured roughly 10 airstrikes per day since March 2015, amounting to over 23,000 total attacks.
A devastating cholera outbreak infected over 1 million Yemenis and killed 3,000 between 2016 and 2021, and COVID-19 has ripped through the largely unvaccinated population, killing thousands. Due to the ravaged medical system, it is extremely difficult to ascertain infection rates and death tolls with any precision.
The worst of the war has disproportionately landed on Yemen's most vulnerable. Early last year, the U.N. projected that "half of children under five in Yemen" could suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, with 400,000 expected to endure severe acute malnutrition. Minimal access to routine immunization and health services, malnourished breastfeeding mothers, and unstable sanitation systems all put Yemeni kids in danger. In 2021, a child under the age of five died every nine minutes in Yemen due to the ongoing war. These factors combined have made Yemen "one of the most dangerous places in the world for children to grow up," per the U.N.'
https://reason.com/2022/02/17/bidens-hidden-war-is-destroying-yemen/