A second look at Biden's plan for Yemen - TIM LOUIS

In my last blog, I commented favourably on President Biden’s announcement in regard to Washington’s new policy regarding Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen. Since then I’ve watched a video by investigative journalist, Abby Martin, on www.theAnalysis.news. The Analysis video opened my eyes and I am now much less optimistic about President Biden’s announcement.

Regarding President Biden’s steps and the future of Yemen, I want to qualify my optimism. I’m not saying positive steps have not been taken — just that in times of need, like needing to find light and positivity post-Trump, we still have to be vigilant and look at the whole picture, including things we might not want to see.

For instance, last week I wrote about how pleased I was with President Biden’s initiatives on Yemen, such as promising to end American support for the disastrous Saudi-led war; temporarily pausing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; and promising to review the controversial arms deals that Donald Trump made with those two countries.

Before I go further, let me give you some background I learned from the The Analysis video which sets the stage to understand the current situation:

For many years, Yemen’s president was a puppet of Saudi Arabia who had been sending all of Yemen’s wealth to Saudi princes. Yemeni leaders have also been imposing severe austerity measures on the Yemeni people because of structural adjustment programs. SAPs are enforced by the International Monetary Fund and/or World Bank. Governments are forced to savagely cut much needed social programs in order to service Western debt. (You can learn more about SAPs in this article called “World Bank… The Facts” from New Internationalist, a very good news source my partner, Penny, has been a fan of for years. Also, here’s a detailed analysis of how structural adjustment policies are a major cause of poverty, rather than a solution to it.)
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allied Gulf dictatorships have been bombing Yemen — the world’s poorest country — to fight the Houthi rebels, who have been trying for years to oust their country’s corrupt leaders and set up a fairer government. There have been so many tragedies because of this bombing. In one instance alone, a Lockheed Martin bomb struck a school bus in 2018, killing at least 26 children and wounding 19 more.
This US-backed war has created a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, where millions teeter on the brink of starvation from a Saudi-imposed blockade. As I mentioned last week, the UN reports that 80% of Yemen’s 30 million people are on the verge of famine.

Now let’s go to the biggest take-away from The Analysis video — that in announcing his plan about the war in Yemen, Biden stated that the US was “…ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen.” What I had missed was his use of the word “offensive.” Saudi Arabia has always described its six-year bombing campaign of innocent civilians as “defensive.” By qualifying his announcement to include the word “offensive,” President Biden has left the door wide open for Washington to continue to assist Saudi Arabia in its cruel and inhumane bombing of Yemeni citizens.

Given President Biden’s very unfortunate use of the qualifier “offensive,” it is more important than ever that ordinary citizens take action in support of the people of Yemen.

Two such recent examples are:

In the week prior to President Biden’s announcement and as part of the Global Day of Action to protest the war in Yemen, activists and members of the Yemeni community here in Vancouver held a car caravan in protest to denounce the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen. NDP MP Matthew Green has sponsored a petition to the House of Commons to end the war in Yemen, which you can sign here.
As part of the same day of action, in Hamilton, Ontario, activists, including union members, blocked trucks that were involved in shipping armoured military vehicles to Saudi Arabia.

I hope I’ve convinced you that we all need to remember to be cautious and not leap recklessly towards hope — even on the heels of dark days like the world experienced with Donald Trump. If I haven’t The Analysis video definitely will.