No Maybe About US, UK, French War Crimes in Yemen

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

The same goes for other US coalition partners.

Afghanistan and Yemen are the longest-running US wars of aggression in modern times — both begun within weeks of each other in October 2001.

Britain, France, other NATO countries, Israel, and other nations are involved in US war coalitions of the willing — formed to give Washington the appearance of legitimacy.

Preemptive wars of aggression have none, the highest of high crimes, flagrantly violating the  UN Charter, other international laws, and the US Constitution.

Both wings of the US war party operate by their own rules exclusively, ignoring international, constitutional and US statute laws, pretending otherwise, fooling no one paying attention.

On Tuesday, a UN report by a Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen said the following: 

Yemenis have been victimized by "a host of possible war crimes committed by various parties to the conflict over the past five years, including through airstrikes, indiscriminate shelling, snipers, landmines, as well as arbitrary killings and detention, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and the impeding of access to humanitarian aid in the midst of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world."

There's no maybe about years of horrendous war crimes in Yemen — launched the US, other nations partnering in its aggression.

Washington continues orchestrating war in Yemen, providing the Saudis and UAE with arms and munitions, intelligence, logistics aid, and mid-air refueling of their warplanes, along with target selection.

They include residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, marketplaces, mosques, electric power plants, and other vital infrastructure – virtually everything in the country vulnerable to terror-bombing.

Years of war caused the world's gravest humanitarian crisis – official death toll numbers suppressed by nations directly or indirectly involved in the conflict — including Israel, partnered in all ongoing US wars of aggression.

Since war began nearly 18 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, mostly civilians, perished from war, related violence, untreated diseases, malnutrition, starvation, and overall deprivation.

An earlier UNICEF report said at least one Yemeni child under age-five dies every 10 minutes from starvation alone. 

Annualized that's 52,560 deaths – plus countless thousands of older children and adults.

The Saudis were involved in the war earlier, more heavily since March 2015. Their aim is gaining full control of the Arabian peninsula — including Yemen's modest amounts of oil and gas.

The country's strategic location makes it important to the US — near the Horn of Africa on Saudi Arabia's southern border, the Red Sea, its Bab el-Mandeb strait (a key chokepoint separating Yemen from Eritrea through which millions barrels of oil pass daily), and the Gulf of Aden connection to the Indian Ocean.

The US calls the shots in Yemen. As long as its policymakers want endless war, it'll continue — regardless of the human toll, never a consideration when conflicting with their imperial aims.

The UN report calling for "immediate cessation of all acts of violence committed against civilians in violation of applicable international human rights and international humanitarian law, and demands that the parties take action to protect civilians and ensure justice for all victims" falls on deaf ears in Washington and capitals of coalition countries.

Continuing endless wars, not resolving them, is what US rage for global dominance is all about — blaming others for its own high crimes.

UN Group of Experts on Yemen Kamel Jendoubi said "years into the conflict, violations against Yemeni civilians continue unabated, with total disregard for the plight of the people and a lack of international action to hold parties to the conflict accountable."

Since foundered post-WW II, the UN never held the US or its coalition partners accountable for their crimes of war, against humanity and genocide — just their victims.

Based on over 600 Yemeni interviews, the Group of Experts "found reasonable grounds to believe that the conduct of hostilities by the parties to the conflict…may amount to serious violations of international humanitarian law (and) war crimes."

There's no ambiguity about years of high crimes in all US war theaters. The self-styled indispensable state and its imperial allies demand their victims be held accountable for crimes committed against them — not the other way around.

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