My dude this war in Yemen has been going on for like 10 years. If the idea of bombing Yemen sounds out of left field to you, then you are woefully uninformed.
I had the opportunity to live in Berlin for a year. I made friends with a group of Yemen students. All of these people had friends, family or relatives bombed to death. Over the course of 2 weeks, one person lost 3 relatives to the bombings…
These people were sent to Germany to study and be as far away as possible from the horrors at home. Away from friends, family, everyone.
I was told that after flying to somewhere near Yemen, it would have taken another 16 hours to travel by road to get home. Their parents refused them coming to visit because it was just too dangerous.
I don’t know how they managed to hold their shit together and carry on even as their families were getting bombed back home.
It broke my heart and I felt powerless to even attempt to comfort them. I’m sure they felt a sense of powerlessness that’s beyond anything I could understand at that time.
It’s crazy when you realize, “oh, shit, they’re just people.” I don’t mean it in an insulting way. I had that experience, too. Travel certainly helps. It’s not even necessarily that you don’t believe that before, just maybe that you didn’t know or hadn’t even thought about it, because who can know everything. But then what was previously vague/unfamiliar words in sporadic headlines in the background is suddenly very real and personal, standing in front of you. It’s a gut punch.
Because they “didn’t vote for that”. They voted for lesser evil, which includes bombing Yemen for a decade. The spoiler effect is obvious to fellow voters, but incomprehensively arcane to lawyers.
For the record, in 2014 Yemen began a civil war and the Obama administration backed the GCC intervention into Yemen, fighting against the Houthi revolutionaries, in 2015 alongside the UN Security Council issuing an Arms Embargo on the Houthis. The US support was logistical and intelligence. This has unfortunately continued to this day, although the previous Biden Administration did publicly announce a withdrawal of that support, but continues sale of armaments to Saudi Arabia who leads the GCC due to condemnation of their strikes on civilians. (The Houthis also strike civilians, mind you).
TBH I think maybe a more forceful approach, a direct intervention to establish a governance complete with minimal casualties and to provide welfare, to the situation at the end of Obama’s term or the start of the Trump term might have been better than just pussyfooting around and letting Saudi’s commit the warcrimes instead. Either that or doing nothing at all and allowing them to kill each other all on their lonesome so as to keep our own hands clean.
Another thing I’m not taking into account with this retelling is the whole proxy-war angle wherein Houthis and Saudis gaining support from various outside influences impacts their own allegiances in economic policy and that by not participating it would leave a gap for another world power to establish a different governance in the region that explicitly supports said world power. The whole region is an important economic position for oil and gas as well as shipping between Europe and Asia.
Also, the Houthis are being armed by Iran who is financially supported by China in exchange for oil, and I hate China so that’s another negative in my book.
My dude this war in Yemen has been going on for like 10 years. If the idea of bombing Yemen sounds out of left field to you, then you are woefully uninformed.
I had the opportunity to live in Berlin for a year. I made friends with a group of Yemen students. All of these people had friends, family or relatives bombed to death. Over the course of 2 weeks, one person lost 3 relatives to the bombings…
These people were sent to Germany to study and be as far away as possible from the horrors at home. Away from friends, family, everyone.
I was told that after flying to somewhere near Yemen, it would have taken another 16 hours to travel by road to get home. Their parents refused them coming to visit because it was just too dangerous.
I don’t know how they managed to hold their shit together and carry on even as their families were getting bombed back home.
It broke my heart and I felt powerless to even attempt to comfort them. I’m sure they felt a sense of powerlessness that’s beyond anything I could understand at that time.
It’s crazy when you realize, “oh, shit, they’re just people.” I don’t mean it in an insulting way. I had that experience, too. Travel certainly helps. It’s not even necessarily that you don’t believe that before, just maybe that you didn’t know or hadn’t even thought about it, because who can know everything. But then what was previously vague/unfamiliar words in sporadic headlines in the background is suddenly very real and personal, standing in front of you. It’s a gut punch.
I love living in a multicultural place. I think I’ve personally met someone from almost every country on earth.
I realized I very much do, too, as I got older and had more say in the matter, but I didn’t grow up like that.
Me neither. Makes me appreciate it more, I think.
To think, we can have all that right here in the US of A.
Thanks MAGA!
Sounds par for the course in the USA.
People are literally surprised when somebody reads out actual policy which was signed into law and who voted for it.
Because they “didn’t vote for that”. They voted for lesser evil, which includes bombing Yemen for a decade. The spoiler effect is obvious to fellow voters, but incomprehensively arcane to lawyers.
God I fucking wish we voted for the lesser evil.
For the record, in 2014 Yemen began a civil war and the Obama administration backed the GCC intervention into Yemen, fighting against the Houthi revolutionaries, in 2015 alongside the UN Security Council issuing an Arms Embargo on the Houthis. The US support was logistical and intelligence. This has unfortunately continued to this day, although the previous Biden Administration did publicly announce a withdrawal of that support, but continues sale of armaments to Saudi Arabia who leads the GCC due to condemnation of their strikes on civilians. (The Houthis also strike civilians, mind you).
TBH I think maybe a more forceful approach, a direct intervention to establish a governance complete with minimal casualties and to provide welfare, to the situation at the end of Obama’s term or the start of the Trump term might have been better than just pussyfooting around and letting Saudi’s commit the warcrimes instead. Either that or doing nothing at all and allowing them to kill each other all on their lonesome so as to keep our own hands clean.
Another thing I’m not taking into account with this retelling is the whole proxy-war angle wherein Houthis and Saudis gaining support from various outside influences impacts their own allegiances in economic policy and that by not participating it would leave a gap for another world power to establish a different governance in the region that explicitly supports said world power. The whole region is an important economic position for oil and gas as well as shipping between Europe and Asia.
Specifically the war stats when The Houthi Militia pulls out of a coalition government and attacks the capital.
The Houthi Militia are not the innocents in this war. They started it.
Also, the Houthis are being armed by Iran who is financially supported by China in exchange for oil, and I hate China so that’s another negative in my book.
10 years? since 90s more like
What’s your point? The 90s were only 10 years or so ago…
It restarts in 2014. There was a coalition government that the Houthis withdrew from. They started the civil war.
I thought it was like surplus bomb housing country for old USA bombs to retire?
/s