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A man carries his malnourished girl at a therapeutic feeding centre in a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. DPA/PA Images

17 million in Yemen need food - now hospitals and water pumps will run out of fuel in three weeks

The country is under a Saudi blockade.

THE UNITED NATIONS warned today that fuel supplies needed to run Yemen’s hospital generators and pump clean water will run out in less than three weeks unless the Saudi-led coalition lifts its blockade.

The dire forecast came as Yemen battles one of the world’s worst outbreaks of cholera, with nearly one million people infected. Some 2,200 people have died.

Adding to the woes of aid workers on the ground, stocks of diphtheria vaccines will be emptied in two weeks unless aid deliveries are once again allowed in the country, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

The Saudi-led military coalition shut down Yemen’s sea and air ports as well as borders on 6 November in response to a missile attack by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels near Riyadh.

UN aid chief Mark Lowcock warned last week that unless the blockade was lifted, Yemen will face “the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims.”

A week after hearing that dire warning, the UN Security Council appeared powerless to push the Saudi-led coalition to lift its blockade of humanitarian aid.

“There are still huge problems and there has not been any progress on the… open humanitarian access through the ports of Hodeida and airport of Sanaa,” both held by the rebels, said Olof Skoog, the Swedish ambassador to the United Nations.

Children malnutrition in Yemen A malnourished child lies in a bed at a therapeutic feeding centre in a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

Sweden, a non-permanent council member, called for a council meeting last week on the crisis, but Skoog did not indicate whether he will seek another meeting on the aid blockade.

“We are concerned that not enough has happened,” he said. “We’ll see what the next step will be on that.”

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world’s number one humanitarian crisis, with 17 million people in need of food, seven million of whom are at risk of famine.

Last week, Egypt, a non-permanent council member close to Saudi Arabia, circulated a draft statement that condemned the missile attack on Riyadh but made no mention of the aid blockade.

Diplomats criticised the proposed statement as lacking balance and said they did not expect it to be endorsed by the council.

UN aid officials meanwhile have stepped up their appeals.

“The humanitarian impact of what is happening here right now is unimaginable,” said the UN’s aid coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, this week.

The World Food Programme has warned that current stocks of rice will run out in 111 days and wheat in 97 days, while the prices of basic goods have skyrocketed.

Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to push back the Iran-backed Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa, and restore the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

© AFP 2017

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    Mute Anthony Brennan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:36 PM

    Millions without food,no shelter and hospitals about close down from lack of funding.thought the article was about Ireland there for a second

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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:38 PM

    @Anthony Brennan: Ireland 1850 + Yemen 2017 = one common denominator – British weapons of mass destruction (the latter with the aid of America and Saudi Arabia)

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    Mute Christopher Doyle
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:41 PM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: what Bob Geldof doing to help the People of Yemen , giving back his knighthood No he’s not ..

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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:52 PM

    @Christopher Doyle: Lol

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:54 PM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: Saudi buys arms of many countries . The arms industry makes the world a incredibly safe place to live . Never in the history of the world has it been a safer and peaceful place to live in . The big box in your living room gives a false perception of how violent the world is .

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    Mute Malachi
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:01 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: Selling arms to the Saudi regime does not make the world a safer place, that is just unbearable nonsense.

    By the way, the “box” as you put it is a matter of circumstance and location. If you’re in Yemen (or a persecuted minority in Saudi Arabia) then violence is certainly still rampant, these places are not “incredibly safe” due in part to the weapons deals that fund these despots.

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    Mute purple rain
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:38 PM

    @Anthony Brennan: ah sure the arab states will pull together and help them out. nice lads .

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    Mute Misanthrope
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:47 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: sure, it’s a veritable utopia out there lol

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:16 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: Disgraceful comment. The death and misery the arms used by Saudi in Yemen is unimaginable – all provided by the U.S.

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:16 PM

    @Malachi: the British brimstone missile system is a incredibly accurate missile with low risk of collateral damage . “It could kill someone sitting in a car outside a house with the only damage to the house being perhaps a couple of broken windows,” says independent defence analyst Paul Beaver.

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    Mute TheHeathen
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:37 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: ‘The arms industry makes the world an incredibly safe place to live’. Really? Do you really believe that? Are you that bloodthirsty, gullible and naive to condone the need to sell arms to evil, murderous regimes. After the murder of 140 at a funeral in an airstrike your beloved British butchers allowed the further sale of arms to an inbred regime that abuses the rights of all. War, arms and imperialist lovers like yourself are the lowest of the low.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/23/uk-arms-sales-to-saudis-continued-after-airstrike-on-yemen-funeral

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    Mute Daffy the Bear
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:39 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: get back on the meds Tommy..

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    Mute Harry Roberts
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:41 PM

    @Christopher Doyle: sir Bob the Nob. No chance. Sure isn’t he the great little forelock tugger.
    In fairness to the English even they can’t stand him.

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    Mute Harry Roberts
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:53 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: like the rabbit in your head pulling all the levers

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:56 PM
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    Mute TheHeathen
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    Nov 15th 2017, 11:03 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: I can’t believe this has to be explained to someone. Better education, better health care, improving sanitation, building proper houses, schools, wells, clinics make the world a safer place! Not the bloody arms industry you giant buffoon!

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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:36 PM

    Another fine stain of blood on the Poppy.

    The Irish Famine of 1740 that wiped out 40% of our population.

    The Great Famine of 1845-52 that killed 1 million Irish people.

    The Persian Famine of 1917-19 that killed 10 million people.

    The Bengal Famine of 1943 that killed more than 2 million people.

    Now this.

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:45 PM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: so what your saying is if the British empire didn’t exist there would be no famines . Do famines only happen within empires .

    55
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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:51 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: Nazis can carry out famines too, don’t let the British have all the glory in that regard.

    Take Leningrad in 1941-44 for example.

    A 900 day blockade that resulted in the death of 1 million Soviet citizens.

    The British Empire and the Nazis, what a great pair.

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    Mute Malachi
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:11 PM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: Absolutely, but let’s not exclude the communist regimes of bygone years who were by far the most lethal when it came to famines.

    Mao’s Great Chinese Famine caused the death of 30-40 million alone. Soviet famines killed over ten million combined also, mostly due to the infamous Holodomor.

    It’s not a numbers game – but let’s keep some perspective. When it comes to mass murder by starvation, communism is utterly obliterating the other contending ideologies.

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:22 PM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: The British empire lasted just over three hundred yrs . It was made up of many countries that co operated and participated in its expansion and defence . The German empire lasted 5 yrs . In five yrs they started a world war that cause the lives of 50 million people . 8 million of them where Germans . 6 million of them Jews .

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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:23 PM

    @Malachi: if you want to get into a fight over which is worse in terms of murder, capitalism or communism, let’s do it.

    All the big business owners in 1930′s Germany were overwhelmingly on the side of the Nazis, especially the big newspaper publishers.

    About 80 million died in that war, including 20 million Soviets.

    Then go down the list of American wars since 1945, and they’ve killed a good few million along with that.

    And to top it off, look at Britain’s colonial history.

    Repeatedly trying to commit mass genocide on the Irish, Iranians, and Indians through “famine.” And that’s only “famine.” You could easily add up 30 million in that too.

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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:25 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: “Co-operated and participated”

    Is that what you call it when the British in the 13 colonies wiped out any trace of Native Americans on the east coast of the US?

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:40 PM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: if you believe a little country the size of Britain and its arm forces is capable of occupying and enforcing rule across one third of the world then you will believe anything . In WW1 900 thousand Hindus , 400 thousand muslims fought in Europe to stop the German advance . How many Muslims would come to our defence today .

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    Mute Misanthrope
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:48 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: industrial scale famines no

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:20 PM

    @Malachi: Communists are not providing lethal weapons to enable mass murder in Yemen by Saudi Arabia. They are bring provided by the U.S.

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    Mute Malachi
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:45 PM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: I actually don’t really want to get into the numbers game because it’s not that interesting.

    But we were talking about famine deaths and you brought up war deaths. I don’t really understand why you tried to sidetrack, I wasn’t doing the ‘capitalism vs communism’ thing, you just seemed to throw it in for no reason.

    Imperialists/Nazis have cost untold millions of deaths from war, but in terms of famine deaths (which we were talking about) communism has been far more historically devaststing.

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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 15th 2017, 11:32 PM

    @Malachi: “I don’t want to get into the numbers game because it’s not that interesting.”

    Kinda weird saying that, since you brought up numbers in your last post lol.

    And a nice way of glossing over the sins of capitalism, sub-categorizing them as “imperialists,” haha.

    You’re right about Holodomor though, 3.9 million dead, that was disgusting.

    The re-organization of the economy with Stalin had some horrific side effects.

    But the weird thing is, the mass and rapid industrialization of the Soviet economy in the 1920′s and 1930′s was what saved them in their fight against Nazi Germany.

    And what ultimately saw us prevail over fascism in WW2.

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    Mute Malachi
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    Nov 16th 2017, 12:16 AM

    @Franklin Roosevelt: ‘Saved’ them at the expense of millions of innocent lives, people who were intentionally deprived of food. Except I’d argue that the Soviet winter and sheer numbers were more impactful re: defeating the Nazis than the rapid industrialisation, but look.

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    Mute Franklin Roosevelt
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    Nov 16th 2017, 11:48 AM

    @Malachi: rapid industrialization was a big factor too.

    Lol, there ya go again, bringing up numbers despite not wanting to talk about numbers apparently.

    Capitalism is the far greater killing ideology than communism could ever hope to be.

    Whatever about historical famines and world wars, things every day like the helicopter that crashed off Mayo and Grenfell tower, all preventable – but done in the name of austerity for capitalism

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    Mute Christopher Doyle
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:43 PM

    Is Bob Geldof going to give back his knighthood , will wait & see if he does another PR stunt in London

    49
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    Mute Cultural Marxist
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:28 PM

    @Christopher Doyle: Or will Donald Trump return to Riyadh for a second time to do another enthusiastic ‘sword dance’ to please his masters? http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-39988492/trump-in-saudi-arabia-us-president-joins-ceremonial-sword-dance

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:23 PM

    @Cultural Marxist: He signed a deal for export of high end weapons to Saudi Arabia worth $300 Bln.

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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:26 PM

    @gregory: I know, sadly Donald Trump’s Irish supporters think that Bob Geldof signed the arms deal with the Saudis.

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    Mute Misanthrope
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:46 PM

    Another exodus coming our way courtesy of the USA.

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    Mute Honeybadger197
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:55 PM

    @Misanthrope: You mean courtesy of Sunni V Shia, as Iran and Saudi face off. They’re both determined to fund and support any faction that will extend their sphere of influence. Both want dominance on the Arabian Penninsula.

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:28 PM

    @Honeybadger197: Not possible without weapons from the U.S. bring provided to KSA

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    Mute Honeybadger197
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:38 PM

    @gregory: No doubt the US had supplied weapons to KSA. Who supplies Iran? Its handy to point at the States, but you can’t ignore the foundations of the conflict either.

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:48 PM

    @Honeybadger197: KSA has bombed hospitals, bridges, roads, buildings and wiped out sewage systems using high powered weapons provided by the U.S.

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    Mute Honeybadger197
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    Nov 15th 2017, 11:04 PM

    @gregory: I gather you’re not a fan of the US, that’s fine. Who is arming Iran, who in turn arm and train the Houthis? What is the root cause of this conflict?

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:14 PM

    Finally after such a long time the horrific suffering inflicted on Yemen by Saudi Arabia using weapons provided by the U.S. is reported. Seems like the Western media repeat the mistake of the Iraq war by not speaking out objectively.

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    Mute Michael Geraghty
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    Nov 15th 2017, 8:53 PM

    3 million refugees in Yemen

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    Mute willow moon
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    Nov 15th 2017, 9:56 PM

    Who supplied the weapons to KSA with which they attack the Yemenis. We, as humans on general, are a disgusting species. Capable of good, so many choose money/fame/power over doing the right thing.

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:30 PM

    @willow moon: Western media is biased and dishonest not in how they lie but in how they conveniently do not tell the full/true story.

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:41 PM

    UNDP reports 400000 cases of cholera and 20 million Yemenis in need of humanitarian assistance as KSA turns Yemen into a mass graveyard.
    https://www.rt.com/op-edge/400751-yemen-war-crimes-saudis/

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:36 PM

    Blockade by KSA leads to Cholera & starvation of Yemeni children

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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:36 PM
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    Mute Harry Roberts
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:56 PM

    @gregory: their ancestors are dung beetles that crawled out of the desert a few generations ago.

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    Mute gregory
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:34 PM
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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:47 PM

    @gregory: Saudi can buy weapons off any country . The buy of the Brits and yanks because they are the most accurate with low risk of collateral damage reducing the loss of life to civilians .

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    Mute TheHeathen
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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:51 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: Really? Are you that deluded?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Sana%27a_funeral_air_raid

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    Nov 15th 2017, 10:51 PM
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    Mute Malachi
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    Nov 16th 2017, 12:22 AM

    @gregory: Well written propaganda, maybe.

    You can criticise the appalling KSA and US partnership without succumbing to silly Kremlin hit-pieces.

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Nov 15th 2017, 11:10 PM
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    Mute Stephen Browner
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    Nov 16th 2017, 9:19 AM

    Because for every article about poverty in Yemen there is 30 plus articles, probably more, about the latest ‘twitter outrage’

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