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Yemen War Answers
Publication date: 2015-06-08

Response to Yemen War Questions from a Yemeni Private Person

We received communications from a private Yemeni national concerning the present war in Yemen.

These communications can be viewed through the following links:

Communication 1
Communication 2
Images of the results of the war.

The Yemeni national describes the situation in Yemen resulting from the present military activities, which he sees as “genocide” and “collective punishment against innocent Yemen civilians by Saudi and their alliance countries”.

He questions the validity of the reasons for the war, saying: “So, it is not logical and unethical to take a decision of war and punish the entire country because of a few rebels [the Houthies and the supporters of the former president Saleh]”.

He raises the issue of “the ethical and human responsibility of the International Community”.

He calls for urgent relief actions by “international organizations”.

He calls for “all those who committed crimes against innocent civilians to be brought to trial”.

And he asks us: “Please do something and stop these daily massacres and genocides against Yemeni innocent civilians”.

Our responses to these communications:

Are the present actions by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its supporters “genocide”?

The real meaning of the word “genocide” is extermination of an ethnic group — that is, “wiping out a tribe, or nation from the face of the Earth”.

There is no evidence that it is the intention of the government of the KSA to exterminate all the Yemenis, or an ethnic group within Yemen, and for that reason this war is not “genocide” within the real meaning of this word.

Are the present actions by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its supporters “a criminal act” under the present state of the “International Law”?

At the present time there is no workable “International Law”. Countries attack other countries as they want or can get away with. This is proved by the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The government of the KSA followed this US example.

Is the KSA war against Yemen “logical”?

The logic of “bombing” countries, rather than “invading” is another modern pattern of waging wars established by the USA. Having found out that ground invasions result in substantial “casualties” (killings and maimings) of their own military personnel, as they have experienced in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US government started relying on bombings. The KSA have followed the same logic in the present Yemen war.

Bombings, however, do cause mass “civilian casualties” and destruction of the bombed country's infrastructure, as can be seen from the images supplied by the Yemen national.

But bombings do not result in compelling the target “enemy” to accept whatever the bombing country wants them to accept. So, it does not lead to an acknowledged “victory”.

All this has been clearly shown during the past 14 years by the US bombings of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Israeli bombings of Gaza. Then why have the government of the KSA chosen this course of action?

During the years preceding the present Yemen war, there was a determined campaign to persuade the government of the KSA and other neighbouring Arab countries, that their real enemy is not “Zionist Israel”, but “Shia Iran” which is expanding its dominance of the Middle East. So, when a local Yemen group, “the Houthies” and the supporters of president Saleh have succeeded in ousting president Hadi and taking over substantial parts of Yemen, the government of the KSA, have decided to start the bombings, hoping that the bombings will make the Houthies and president Saleh withdraw and bring back president Hadi. Which did not happen.

Why “punish innocent civilians”?

The phrase “innocent civilians” is part of the US “War on Terror” vocabulary: “terrorists kill innocent civilians, but governments carry out operations of liberation, democratization, etc”.

But in times of war people are killed or maimed, not because they are “guilty” of something, but because they happen to be on the “enemy” territory. Police kill “criminals” (people who commit crimes), soldiers kill “enemies” (people whom they are told to attack by their superiors).

In cases of war the only “guilty criminals” are those who start wars without valid reasons. But, once a war is started, the warring sides begin to kill one another, not because they are guilty or innocent, but because they are enemies. And, as today “International Law” has been replaced with “International Lawlessness”, those who start wars without valid reasons are no longer seen as “criminals”, but are part of “the International Community”.

So, whatever civilians get killed in wars, it is not because of “guilt” or “innocence”, but because they happen to be in the “war zone”.

Moral Sense

There is no “moral sense” among politicians. It has been replaced with “political convenience” and “social acceptability”.

How does the International Community see the Yemeni nationals?

There is no organizational entity called “the International Community”. The phrase “International Community” means simply the governments and international organizations of all the countries of the world. But it is used by journalists and politicians to describe the US governments and their “friends and allies” to suggest that they are “all the world” and “forces for good”, and those who are not on their side are “outcasts”, and “forces of evil”.

And in practice “the International Community” mean the US government and their allies.

How does the US government see the Yemeni nationals?

They see them as they see all other nationals of countries which they or their allies choose to attack — “collateral damage”.

The US government supported the Saudi bombings at the start. But, as they see that this bombing campaign is not leading to any satisfactory conclusion, now they started trying to negotiate some kind of peaceful settlement, in which the Houthies will have “a role to play”. But “negotiations” between politicians can last for years and decades.

As far as the government of the KSA, having started a war, they want this war to be seen a “success”. They do not want this war to be seen as a “failure”. So, they keep on bombing.

And, while the negotiations and the bombings continue, Yemen will continue to be destroyed and the Yemeni people will continue to be killed and maimed.

So the “International Community” (that is, the US government) know what is happening in Yemen, and are even trying to do “something about it”. Will these efforts bring peace to Yemen, and when, is for the future to tell.

Can we “do something and stop these daily massacres and genocides against Yemeni innocent civilians”?

We have no armies, no bombs and even no “nukes” to stop crimes committed by politicians.

We can only advise.

The government of the KSA wanted to play a more active and forceful role in the Middle East and the World.

But, they listened to wrong advice and followed wrong “role models”, and the result is not what they hoped to achieve.

Their role and position in the world has not risen, and now again it is for the US government to “sort out the mess” in Yemen. And they (the US) still have not sorted out the mess they, themselves, had created in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, the Sumal, and Palestine.

Those who govern the KSA should read (3:118) with thought and understanding, and then read it again and again a few times with understanding and reflection on the past and current history.

Today, the USA and Europe are in an advanced state of moral decay, they are no longer guarantors of peace and stability in the world. They have become a lawless, destructive, destabilizing force causing deaths and destruction around the world and especially in the Middle East.

Having created chaos in the world with their wars due to incompetence and dishonesty of their politicians, today's US government are trying to stabilize the situation, and are cautious not to create more chaos. But they are still locked in their ideologies which distort their view of the world and blind them to their own failings.

The KSA is placed to be a natural leader of the Arabs and Muslims to unite them and to raise their status in the world. But they will not be able to do it by allowing themselves to be manipulated by “strategists” who want to keep the area in a state of permanent chaos.

The bombing of Yemen was a mistake. The bombing needs to stop. The damage to the country needs to be repaired. All the Yemenis need to become equal citizens of Yemen, including all the present rival groups (the Houthies, al‐Qaida, etc). And the leaders of these rival groups will have equal positions and roles in the government of Yemen, and will jointly elect their own common leader and call him whatever they choose to call him.

The Middle East needs peace and unity, not more wars and sectarian rivalries. The “International Community” cannot do it. The united efforts of the KSA, Iran, Egypt, and the other countries and groups (IS, al‐Qaida, Hamas, Hisbulla, the Houthies, the Ikhwan, etc) of the area can. (3:103)


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