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In reply to the discussion: Saudi Arabia fatally bombs ANOTHER Yemeni hospital + 18 Billion in US weapons + Bowie [View all]EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)"The sales reflect President Barack Obama's pledge to bolster U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia and other Sunni allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council after his administration brokered a nuclear deal with their Shiite rival Iran."
http://www.voanews.com/content/sources-say-us-approves-sale-of-smart-bombs-to-saudi-arabia/3060071.html
Obama, Saudi King Pledge to Strengthen Ties
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-saudi-king-pledge-to-strengthen-ties-1441386435
U.S. Support for Saudi Strikes in Yemen Raises War Crime Concerns
Obama didnt even mention Yemen in his U.N. speech, which faulted Russias military intervention in Syria on behalf of a government that stands accused of killing the vast majority of the more than 200,000 people who have died in Syrias civil war.
U.S. support for a military campaign that is inflicting extreme hardship on civilians in one of the Mideasts poorest countries provides an awkward counterpoint to the Obama administrations stated commitment to stand up for the regions oppressed people. At the dawn of the Arab Spring, Obama vowed to oppose the use of violence and repression against the people of the region and to support the legitimate aspirations of ordinary people.
Behind closed doors, the United States has sought to limit international scrutiny of rights abuses in Yemen. Last Friday, the United States blocked a proposal in a U.N. Security Council sanctions committee to have the committees chair, Lithuanian U.N. Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite, approach all relevant parties to the conflict and stress their responsibility to respect and uphold international humanitarian law and human rights law, according to Security Council diplomats. The committee also recommended that Murmokaite ask the key players to cooperate with its investigations into potential human rights abuses in Yemen.
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen has received too little attention, and it directly, or indirectly, implicates us, said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who noted that the airstrikes may violate legislation he authored barring the United States from providing security assistance to countries responsible for gross human rights abuses. The reports of civilian casualties from Saudi air attacks in densely populated areas compel us to ask if these operations, supported by the United States, violate that law, Leahy told Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/15/u-s-support-for-saudi-strikes-in-yemen-raises-war-crime-concerns/