Stop bombing children in Yemen!

Today I took part in a demo at the LA Federal Building, sponsored by Code Pink and ICUJP. We called on our elected officials to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia until they cease bombing children and other civilians in Yemen,

Please let your elected officials know where you stand. Here's what I wrote to my elected officials today:

The U.S. government is supposed to follow the Arms Export Control Act, which requires that U.S. arms transfers be used only for self-defense, internal security, and in United Nations sanctioned operations; the Foreign Assistance Act, which bars military aid and arms sales to countries with poor human rights records; and the Export Administration Act, which regulates the sale of items with both civilian and military uses.

Clearly the Saudis are in violation of these Acts and weapon sales should be curtailed until they are in compliance. 

Call your Congressperson (202-224-3121) urging them to invoke War Powers Act to force congressional vote ending US participation in Saudi war crimes in Yemen

Opinion

Why Are U.S. Bombs Killing Civilians in Yemen?

The United States, by providing weapons and support to the Saudi-led coalition waging indiscriminate war in Yemen, shares in the blame.

By The Editorial Board

The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

• Aug. 28, 2018
• •  

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CreditCreditIllustration by Alex Merto; photograph by Fayez Nureldine/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The top American air commander in the Middle East voiced frustration in an interview last week over the murderously incompetent Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen. Though welcome, his sentiment was far too mild. It should have been more like horror — and shame over American complicity in what a new United Nations report views as criminal carnage.

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies intervened in Yemen more than three years ago to rout Iran-backed Shiite rebels who had driven the internationally recognized government out of the capital and into Saudi exile. As the conflict has dragged on, the rebels have also been accused of atrocities, but the United Nations body and human rights groups say it is the Saudi-led air war that has done the most to turn an already impoverished country into a humanitarian nightmare and an indiscriminate killing field.

Again and again, Saudi-led airstrikes have struck civilian targets, slaughtering innumerable innocents. Last Friday, the United Nations said the coalition killed at least 22 children and four women as they fled a battle zone. Two weeks earlier, on Aug. 9, a coalition air assault struck a school bus, killing dozens of children. Countless more civilians have been killed by bombs at markets, weddings, funerals — more than 6,500 by the official count, but certainly many, many more. Millions more civilians are suffering from shortages of food and medical care.