U.S. support for Saudi-led operations in Yemen

During Barack Obama's presidency, the United States began providing Saudi Arabia with critical support to "sustain" its war in Yemen,[1] which was expanded during the Donald Trump presidency.[2] This support included logistical and intelligence aid. Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill in 2019 aimed at stopping U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. In 2021, Joe Biden vowed to halt U.S. support for the war, though U.S. arms sales to the coalition have continued.

From 2015 to 2019, Saudi Arabia was reportedly the largest importer of U.S. arms. According to the Human Rights Watch 2016 assessment, U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war "may make U.S. forces jointly responsible for laws-of-war violations by coalition forces."[3]

Timeline

Obama adminstration

President Barack Obama said in March 2015 that he has authorized U.S. soldiers to give logistical and intelligence aid to the Saudis in their military action in Yemen, launching a "Joint Planning Cell" with Saudi Arabia.[4] This support involves aerial refueling, which allows coalition aircraft to spend more time over Yemen, and allowing some coalition members to home base aircraft instead of transferring them to Saudi Arabia.[5]

Trump adminstration
The US Navy has actively participated in the Saudi-led naval blockade,[6] which humanitarian organizations argue has been the main contributing factor to the outbreak of famine in Yemen.[7]

U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition was expanded during the presidency of Donald Trump, who "announced plans to increase training for the Saudi air force," and according to a 2020 report, "authorized $27.4bn in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia during his first three years in office." Trump's administrator's deal with Saudi Arabia included precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the upgrade of its F-15 aircraft, which U.S supplies..[2]

Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill in April 2019 that sought to stop US backing for the Saudi-led military involvement[8] and the United States Senate failed to overturn the veto with 53 votes instead of the 67 required.[9]

Biden adminstration

On February 4, 2021, the U.S. President Joe Biden declared a halt to U.S. backing for Saudi-led operations in Yemen.[10] Biden called in his first address as the U.S. president for the Yemen war to end,[11] saying that the war has "created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe." Nonetheless, the humanitarian situation in Yemen has worsened in many ways since Biden took office, according to The Intercept.[1]

Secretary of State Antony Blinken withdrew the Houthis from a terror list issued by his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, in his final days, which the U.N. and many relief organizations had warned would have significant consequences for the almost 24 million Yemeni people who are living in Houthi-held territory. The Biden administration said that the lifting of the designation was primarily meant to "alleviate or at least not worsen the suffering of the Yemeni civilians who live under Houthi control," which was not effective according to the field visit by David Beasley, Executive Director of World Food Program, who "sounded the alarm" adding that one of the most serious consequences of the fuel shortage was widespread power outages at hospitals. When asked in January 2022 if he would consider the UAE's request that the U.S. re-designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization, Biden indicated the move was "under consideration."[1]

Analysis

Saudi Arabia has reportedly remained the world's largest importer of U.S. arms since the war in Yemen began, with major imports increasing by 130 percent from 2015 to 2019 compared to the previous five-year period.[2]

According to a Al Jazeera report, a motive for U.S. aid could be the diplomatic logic of lowering S.A.'s opposition to the Iranian nuclear deal by supporting them.[12] Another viewpoint held by certain U.S. military officers is that confronting Iran takes strategic priority over fighting Al-Qaeda and ISIL. According to press reports, many individuals in the US SOCOM embrace the Houthis because they have proven effective in combating al-Qaeda and ISIL, recently, "something that hundreds of U.S. drone strikes and large numbers of advisers to Yemen's military had failed to accomplish".[12]

According to the Brookings Institution, Biden's approach is "fatally flawed," considering that little has changed since Biden's promise to end U.S. support for the offensive operation in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia. Another flaw in Biden's approach stems from the fact that "he did not call for an immediate end to the Saudi blockade of Yemen." Brookings added that Biden not only did contribute to the humanitarian disaster, but he also "signaled" that the blockade was an acceptable condition for negotiation.[11]

Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Aljazeera that "the United States provides spare parts, munitions, technical assistance, all kinds of things to the Saudi military, which enable its offensive operations."[2]

Human rights records

Joe Biden has described the U.S. support for Saudi-led coalition as "Donald Trump’s ‘blank check’ for Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses at home and abroad."[1] According to a March 2016 Human Rights Watch assessment, the US involvement in certain military actions, including as target selection and aerial refueling during Saudi air raids "may make US forces jointly responsible for laws-of-war violations by coalition forces".[3] According to the Guardian reporting in September, one in every three bombing raids targeted civilian targets.[13]

Mohamad Bazzi contended in "The Nation" that Michael Mulroy's defense of U.S. backing as necessary to limit civilian casualties was untrue and that "Saudi leaders and their allies have ignored American entreaties to minimize civilian casualties since the war's early days".[14]

On 13 October 2016, the USS Nitze fired Tomahawk missiles against Houthi-controlled radar installations "in the Dhubab district of Taiz province, a remote area overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Straight known for fishing and smuggling."[15]

According to the Office of Inspector General report issued in August 2020, the State Department watchdog found that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared an emergency to facilitate the sale of arms worth billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, in accordance with legal requirements. However, the report also found that the threats to civilian life in Yemen associated with the weaponry sale were not fully reviewed when the emergency was declared. Additionally, the study stated that the State Department's frequent authorization of arms sales to the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, exceeded the limits of AECA.[16]

References
  1. Almosawa, Shuaib (16 March 2022). "As U.S. Focuses on Ukraine, Yemen Starves". The Intercept. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  2. Stepansky, Joseph (7 Feb 2021). "US ending aid to Saudi-led forces in Yemen, but questions persist". Aljazeera. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  3. "Yemen: Embargo Arms to Saudi Arabia". Human Rights Watch. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  4. "Saudi Arabia launches air attacks in Yemen". The Washington Post. 25 March 2015.
  5. Akbar Shahid Ahmed (10 August 2016). "Obama Could End The Slaughter in Yemen Within Hours". HuffPost. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  6. "U.S. carrier moving off the coast of Yemen to block Iranian arms shipments". USA Today. 20 April 2015.
  7. McKernan, Bethan (7 November 2018). "Battle rages in Yemen's vital port as showdown looms". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2018. The port has been blockaded by the Saudi-led coalition for the past three years, a decision aid organizations say has been the main contributing factor to the famine that threatens to engulf half of Yemen's 28 million population.
  8. Pilkington, Ed (April 17, 2019). "Dismay as Trump vetoes bill to end US support for war in Yemen". The Guardian. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  9. Demirjian, Karoun; Ryan, Missy (May 2, 2019). "Senate fails to override Trump's veto of resolution demanding end to U.S. involvement in Yemen war". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  10. "Biden announces end to US support for Saudi-led offensive in Yemen". The Guardian. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  11. R. Sheline, Riedel; Riedel, Bruce (16 September 2021). "Biden's broken promise on Yemen". Brookings. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  12. Mark Perry (17 April 2015). "US generals: Saudi intervention in Yemen 'a bad idea'". Al Jazeera.
  13. "One in three Saudi air raids on Yemen hit civilian sites, data shows". the Guardian. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  14. Bazzi, Mohamad (17 May 2019). "Both Saudi Arabia and the United States Are Probably Guilty of War Crimes in Yemen" – via www.thenation.com. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  15. Stewart, Phil (13 October 2016). "U.S. military strikes Yemen after missile attacks on U.S. Navy ship". Reuters. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  16. "Review of the Department of State's Role in Arms Transfers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates" (PDF). Office of Inspector General. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.