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IN THE PAST week, the international media focus has been on Syria’s crumbling city of Aleppo, the destruction left behind in Haiti, and more recently the fight for Iraq’s Mosul.
In the wake of the worldwide destruction, little attention has been paid to what is going on in Yemen, where a civil war has been going on between President Hadi’s government forces and Huthi rebels.
Britain and the US have backed government forces in the siege, and are helping Hadi hold his position as leader of the country.
But over the past week, claims were made that the US bombed Yemen – their first bombing in the campaign since they entered the conflict in 2015.
So what exactly is going on?
It started last week when the US Navy said two missiles were fired at their ships from a territory in Yemen controlled by the Huthi rebels. They responded by firing at the rebels in America’s first direct attack in the civil war.
Here’s a quick timeline of what happened:
Sunday 9 October
Two missiles were fired from a rebel-held territory in Yemen and fell short of the USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, and the USS Ponce, an amphibious warfare ship based in the Red Sea.
The missiles, which were fired within an hour of each other, fell short of their targets and fell into the sea.
The incident came just days after a warship from the United Arab Emirates, a Saudi ally, was hit by rocket fire in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon has said it was willing to retaliate for the attacks.
Tuesday 11 October
Two days after the attack, the United States threatened to retaliate for the missile attack in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.
“Counterstrike, retaliatory strike: I can tell you that those things are things that we are looking at,” said Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a defence department spokesman.
“We want very much to get to the bottom of what happened,” said Davis. “We’re going to find out who did this and we will take action accordingly.”
“We will make sure that anybody who interferes with freedom of navigation and puts US Navy ship at risk understands they do so at their own peril,” he said.
Thursday 13 October
The US military directly targeted Yemen’s Huthi rebels for the first time – authorised by President Obama.
The US Navy launched Tomahawk missiles at three coastal radar sites, destroying targets associated with missile attacks on US ships this week while warning that it would not tolerate similar actions in the future.
A defence official told the Washington Post that the radar sites were in remote areas where there was little risk of civilian casualties, but declined to say how many Tomahawks were used.
“Initial assessments show the sites were destroyed,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
Yemeni rebels denied that they had targeted a US destroyer in the Red Sea which had prompted the missile strikes.
“Those claims are baseless,” the rebel-controlled Saba news agency quoted a military official allied with the rebels as saying.
“The (rebel-allied) army and the Popular Committees (militia) have nothing to do with this action,” the official added.
Sunday 15 October
Three US warships in the Red Sea detected what may have been missiles fired at them, but none hit, the US military said, amid rising tensions with Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
US officials initially said that surface-to-surface missiles had been fired at the USS Mason, USS Nitze and USS Ponce off the coast of Yemen starting around 19.30 GMT, though it was unclear how many.
They later backtracked, saying that the ships detected what may have been missiles.
“A US Strike Group transiting international waters in the Red Sea detected possible inbound missile threats and deployed appropriate defensive measures,” a US defence official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Why are the US near Yemen?
The United States is providing logistical support to a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the rebels since last year, but last Thursday’s bombing marked the first time America has taken direct action against the Huthis.
The US military provides intelligence and refuelling for coalition aircraft. It also supplies advanced munitions and logistics support to the effort, and is Saudi Arabia’s biggest arms supplier.
The US campaign has faced increasing international criticism over civilian deaths, with critics calling on Washington to end its support for the coalition.
After a coalition air strike on a funeral in Sanaa on Saturday killed more than 140 people, the US administration announced an “immediate review” of its cooperation.
The conflict has killed more than 6,700 people – almost two-thirds of them civilians – and displaced at least three million since the coalition launched military operations, according to the United Nations.
With reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha
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I wonder will America face war crimes charges?
@Niall Donnelly: Jemen US May Be Guilty Of War Crimes For Supporting And Enabling Saudi Mass Killings.
As the US slams Russian bombing in Aleppo, accusing Putin of “crimes against humanity” and in the process sending US-Russian relations to levels not seen since the Cold War, it quietly sells billions in weapons and equipment to Saudi Arabia, a nation which as Hillary Clinton revealed in a “private setting” to the 2014 Jewish United Fund Advance & Major Gifts Dinner, has “exported more extreme ideology than any other place on earth over the course of the last 30 years.” It also happens to be one of the biggest state donors to the Clinton Foundation. Which may explain why as Reuters reported in an exclusive story today, the Obama administration went ahead with a $1.3 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia last year despite misgivings and warnings from some officials that the United States could be implicated in war crimes for supporting a Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen that has killed thousands of civilians.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-10/us-may-be-guilty-war-crimes-enabling-saudi-mass-killings-civilians?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29&utm_content=FaceBook
Thousands of refugees heading for Europe.
“US and UK-Backed Saudi war on Yemen has created almost three million asylum seekers.
The forgotten war. Saudi backed ISIS have made considerable gains in Yemen in the past few months.
In 2015, the UNHCR classified over 2,800,000 Yemenis as asylum seekers, refugees, or other vulnerable ‘people of concern,’ and 500,000 children could be at risk of starvation as a result of the Saudi-led conflict.”
@Pat O’Dwyer: Media Silent As US-Backed Saudi Forces Starve Half Million Yemeni Children
The United Nations warned that 8,000 children could suffer from severe malnutrition in 2016. And that’s just in one southern Yemeni city.
The situation was so dire nationwide that, in June, the U.N. reported “that at least six million people in Yemen are in urgent need of emergency food and life-saving assistance, a new United Nations (UN) investigation has found … 10 out of Yemen’s 22 governorates are facing an ‘emergency level’ food security situation amid the ongoing conflict, including major areas like Aden, Taiz, Saa’da and Al Baida.” In July, Oxfam reported that the number of starving people in Yemen had topped 6 million — nearly half the country’s population of 13 million. Aid workers are struggling to reach the needy, with the World Food Programme reporting that it had served 3.5 million Yemenis by August.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/213003-2/213003/
@Pat O’Dwyer:
Children wouldn’t be dying in Yemen if it wasn’t for the Houthis because the blockade introduced to stop the Houthis from getting weapons means that the arrival of food supplies has been delayed. The Houthis are terrorists.
Saudi led coalition killing civilians in the hundreds not a peep.a about war crimes. US backing Saudis in Yemen Against the rebels while in Syria Saudi are financially backing Isis. What a messed up world
@LITTLEONE:
The Saudis made a mistake based on erroneous information. They thought that Houthi leaders were in the building.
It’s nit the first time they’ve bombed Yemen, as for the reasoning for them being in that part of the world i’d hazard a guess at their trillion dollar arms industry. We might have a better idea if we had a gawk in the planes they fly through Shannon every now and then
“They later backtracked saying that the ships detected what MAY have been surface to surface missiles” but they launched tomahawk missiles at 3 radar stations in retaliation anyway and Obama gave clearance for it. Was he even asked? That guy has checked out long ago in terms of his presidential responsibilities. The pentagon made this decision imo. All this alongside a massacre of 140 people who were attending a funeral by the Saudis. The massacre that was so important it wasnt reported in mainstream media. This is really a David and Goliath situation and more evidence of Shia Sunni conflict. The real story is that Huthi rebels are gaining ground in Yemen and Saudis are being assisted by US Navy to make sure this doesnt continue.
@saoirse janneau:
Try reading the article.
The first instance which prompted a US Navy reaction was a confirmed missile strike attempt. The second incident after the initial strike was not confirmed, however there are high odds that it was a second missile strike attempt that fell far short due to the lack of guidance sites after the first US retaliation.
@Jason Culligan: Jason there were 3 rockets fired from Yemen at the USS Mason in the Red Sea. Nothing was damaged and no one was injured. These attacks came after the Saudi led coalition bombed a funeral, killing 140 and injuring 500 more. You always assume that the U.S. is there to act the peacekeeper but the real question is what the fcuk is their navy doing in the Red Sea in the first place? They’re there to destroy Houthi militants (Backed by Iran) and provide logistical support. The difference now is they’ve gone from indirect to direct support.
@thejynxeffect:
They’re in international waters off the coast of Yemen at the invitation of the President of Yemen alongside the Saudi-led coalition, much like how Russia is in Syria at the invitation of Assad and his government.
If Houthi rebels didn’t want the Americans directly bombing them then they shouldn’t have attempted to sink two US Navy warships. It’s really that simple.
It’s not like the Americans to claim they were attacked in order to ‘retaliate’ and get involved in war mongering. History always seems to repeat itself.
@Andrew English:
Three radar stations well outside of civilian areas were struck and knocked out after missiles were fired at US Navy warships. Since then the US hasn’t fired a single shot at Yemen.
They’re perfectly within their rights to retaliate with reasonable force which they did so.
@Jason Culligan: Ye they’re just providing support to the Saudi’s who bomb funerals and starve children by shutting down their ports. Good stuff Jason.
@thejynxeffect:
Yet when the same is said of the Russians doing the exact same in Syria, you’re the first one to call it baseless propaganda and deny everything.
@Jason Culligan: Jason, it is clear that Russia is in a defensive posture. They have 3 military bases outside their country. The U.S. , NATO, the western alliance in general is in an offensive one. They have hundreds of military bases and have surrounded Russia. I’m not saying Russia is perfect but they are clearly trying to prevent the toppling of yet another middle eastern leader which would destabilize the region even further (if that’s even possible at this point). You appear to have an inability to rationally judge a situation because of your dogmatic support for the West, no matter what they do, or who they kill, or countries they destroy. If Russian Navy was in the Red Sea right now blowing up funerals, i’d be critical of them, but they’re not.
@thejynxeffect:
“If Russian Navy was in the Red Sea right now blowing up funerals, i’d be critical of them, but they’re not.”
If there’s one thing that’s certainly a lie, it’s this statement. The Russians have already admitted that they’re bombing civilian positions in Syria. The line from the Russian MoD is that they’re not willing to reward rebels for using human shields so they’re bombing rebel positions anyway regardless of how close they are to civilian infrastructure. Yet you’re not critical in the slightest.
As to this nonsense that Russia is ‘on the defensive’, have you ever paused to ask the question of why countries bordering Russia are rushing to voluntarily join NATO? Ask any Eastern European who was unfortunate enough to be alive during the Soviet occupation about how Russia treats it’s neighbours. Hell ask the Ukrainians who have experienced a direct Russian invasion in the last decade.
@Jason Culligan: Jason the article is about Yemen, not Syria.
“If Russian Navy was in the Red Sea right now blowing up funerals, i’d be critical of them, but they’re not.”
This statement is a lie? Point me to where i can find information that the Russians are in the Red Sea blowing up funerals?? Like i said previously, Russia isn’t perfect. They’ve done some terrible things in Syria aswell, but clearly it is NATO who are advancing eastwards. It’s really clear who the aggressor is. I’m going to stop talking to you now. Back to Stars and Stripes magazine with you Jason.
I hope Chandler is ok
@Pauliebhoy:
That was a brilliant Waterford Whispers article.
What was?
And here was me thinking missiles where guided and always reached their target. The rebels must have the Lego versions
@Jason one would ask the question why they are there in the first place? Thousands of miles from US shores and now actively defending the Saudi and what looks like a UAE onslaught on what is one of the poorest nations in the ME. Btw id like to see the evidence that missiles were fired in the first place. The US always uses a pretext for war even if most of the time it exists only in their imagination..
@saoirse janneau:
The US vessels are there in international waters, providing non-lethal assistance to an international coalition which was requested by the President of Yemen.
@jason non lethal} im sure the people manning the radar stations that were bombed would beg to differ.
@saoirse janneau:
It’s like pulling teeth.
They were providing non-lethal support to the Saudi coalition. Rebel forces fired on warships in international waters and said non-lethal support turned into lethal support to protect US assets coming under direct fire.
Don’t shoot at the big warships in international waters if you can’t handle said warships wiping out your positions.
@Jason Culligan: Ah, the Saudis….a great bunch of lads!
Wow.. First article on the atrocities in Yemen I have seen on Journal.. Did the article ideas wheel land on Y today?
The USS Ponce?! Please tell me that isn’t a typo!
What are the American war ships doing in this area.
have your say