Yemen plunges into the abyss

Former Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed today.

Yemen’s Houthis said they killed former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, days after he appeared to abandon them in favor of a Saudi-led coalition that has battled the rebels for nearly three years.
...Saleh’s death, days after he called on Yemenis to rise up against the Houthis, may alter the course of a civil war that has also become a proxy battle in a broader regional struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs the Houthis. Saleh’s “towering” position in Yemeni politics mean that “the gloves are off” for the Saudi-led coalition, according to Peter Salisbury, senior research fellow at the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House in London.
“The Saudis have been working towards a deal with Saleh, and with him that was their best chance to take the Houthis out of commission,” Salisbury said, adding that Saleh was the one person who could have allied various factions. “They will do everything possible now to destroy the Houthis.”

I can't imagine what "the gloves coming off" would mean considering what the Saudis have done to Yemen already. Saudis unleashed a huge bombing campaign on the Yemeni capital right before Saleh was killed.
Remaining Saleh supporters are led by his nephew Tareq Moahmmed Saleh, the former head of Yemen's special forces.

The Saudi-led blockade and bombing campaign has created a humanitarian catastrophe of biblical proportions.

In Yemen seven million people could starve to death in the coming months. 21 million, fully 70% of the country’s population, cannot feed themselves without humanitarian assistance. A Yemeni child dies of a preventable disease every ten minutes.
This is not the result of a drought or a crop failure. This famine is manufactured by America’s close ally, Saudi Arabia, with bombs and blockade. For three years our country has contributed to this outrage by selling arms to the Saudis and their allies, by refueling their jets, by protecting them from UN inquiries.

The latest news is that Saudi "eased" the blockade, but the reality is that the Saudi agenda of starving an entire country into submission is still in place. However, now they are adding the weapon of thirst.

A Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemeni rebels eased an air, land, and sea blockade of Yemen a week ago, but it is still keeping commercial ships with food and fuel from docking and unloading their cargo in the country, putting millions at risk of starving, the United Nations said this weekend.
...“Urban water networks in seven cities have run out of fuel and now depend on humanitarian organizations to fill in the gap,” the officials said. “Other cities will shortly be in a similar situation if the blockade is not lifted, which would leave 11 million people without safe water.”
A lack of commercial imports coming through Yemen’s Red Sea ports could push three million more people into starvation, they said.

Imagine how the news media would react if, say, a thousand Israelis were in danger of starving. Now consider that millions of Yemeni children are starving in silence, and we are helping.

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EdMass's picture

Crap.

I am the Voice of the future.
Bring me your Peace.
Bring me your Peace.
And my wounds, they will heal.

Gotta love the Irish.

God save Yemen, because I guess we cannot.

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

dervish's picture

Never again.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

snoopydawg's picture

@dervish

the never again seems to have happened many times since this was said. And our country has usually been involved in it.

Here's another thing that we didn't learn in school. There were quite a few people that worked to arm Hitler's military.
Prescott Bush, Henry Ford and other rich were involved in this. I'm not sure if it was before or after they failed to overthrow FDR. Of course they weren't prosecuted for it. The rich protect themselves.

Wall Street's Failed Coup

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.