Blood On Our Hands …

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary

Jim CarreyDonald Trump has blood on his hands – the blood of at least 40 children who were killed by a bomb while riding their school bus in Yemen on August 9th.  40 children.  School bus.  Bomb.  We The People have blood on our hands for allowing this to happen, for electing a president who cares more about a feud with his predecessor than the lives of 40 children.

In March 2016, Saudi airstrikes killed 97 people in a market in Yemen using bombs supplied by the U.S.  In October 2016, Saudi strikes killed 155 people in a funeral home in Yemen … again, using bombs supplied by the U.S.  At that time, President Obama banned the sale of precision-guided military technology to Saudi Arabia over “human rights concerns.”  On 11 September 2001, 19 hijackers guided 4 airplanes in an attack on the U.S.  15 of those hijackers were citizens of Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump, in his hatred of all things related to or done by President Obama, overturned the ban just two months after taking the oath of office.  And yesterday, the Saudis struck again, this time the U.S. made bomb hitting a school bus and murdering at least 40 children.  Donald Trump rode to an electoral victory in part based on his hatred and prejudice against President Obama.  He rallied the masses by promising to undo everything that President Obama did.  And now, because of that particular bit of inanity, he has murdered children just as surely as if he personally put a knife into their backs or a gun in their faces. dead Yemeni childNot only did we supply them the tools, but helped them with their strategic planning, according to Secretary of Defense James Mattis:  “I will tell you that we do help them plan what we call, kind of targeting. We do not do dynamic targeting for them.” 

In addition to the 40 children, 11 adults were also murdered, as the bus exploded, sending chunks of burning metal into shops along the street.  And 79 were wounded, 56 of whom were children.Yemeni children injured.jpgAccording to a June article in The Guardian …

Donald Trump is quietly escalating America’s role in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, disregarding the huge humanitarian toll and voices in Congress that are trying to rein in the Pentagon’s involvement. Trump administration officials are considering a request from Saudi Arabia and its ally, the United Arab Emirates, for direct US military help to retake Yemen’s main port.

With little public attention or debate, the president has already expanded US military assistance to his Saudi and UAE allies – in ways that are prolonging the Yemen war and increasing civilian suffering. Soon after Trump took office in early 2017, his administration reversed a decision by former president Barack Obama to suspend the sale of over $500m in laser-guided bombs and other munitions to the Saudi military, over concerns about civilian deaths in Yemen. The US Senate narrowly approved that sale, in a vote of 53 to 47, almost handing Trump an embarrassing defeat.

The war has killed at least 10,000 Yemenis and left more than 22 million people –three-quarters of Yemen’s population – in need of humanitarian aid. At least 8 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine, and 1 million are infected with cholera.

The United States is not at war with Yemen, and the only reason the U.S. and Saudis remain allies is one word:  oil.  We share no ideological commonalities and the only reason for selling arms to them is $$$$$.  We assisted in the murder of those 40 children and countless other civilians for $110 billion … the value of the defense contract Trump signed in May 2017.Trump-SaudiTrump has shown a propensity for embracing authoritarian leaders. In May, on his first trip after taking office, he chose Saudi Arabia as the first stop on his itinerary. Saudi leaders gave Trump a grandiose welcome: they filled the streets of Riyadh with billboards of Trump and the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud; organized extravagant receptions and sword dances; and awarded Trump the kingdom’s highest honor, a gold medallion named after the founding monarch.  It was during this visit that Trump announced the aforementioned weapons sale, claiming that it would boost the U.S. economy, even though much of the hardware had already been built prior to Obama’s ban. Since then, Trump has offered virtually unqualified support for Saudi leaders, especially the young and ambitious crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the architect of the disastrous war in Yemen.

The intentional killing of civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law and as such, the U.S. could be implicated in war crimes and U.S. personnel could, in theory, be exposed to international prosecution.  Not that it is likely, nor am I as concerned at the moment as I am for the lives of the children being slaughtered by the Saudis with the help and consent of our own government. Most experts agree that the U.S. is making the situation worse, rather than helping.child reading grassI looked outside my windows today and I saw the sky was blue … not even a cloud, let alone smoke from bombs.  The grass was green, and children were playing happily, secure and not concerned for their lives.  When a plane flies over our neighborhood, children do not often even look up, let alone run for cover.  Can you imagine what the children in Yemen do when a plane flies overhead?Yemeni children

35 thoughts on “Blood On Our Hands …”

  7. Canada is guilty of selling tanks to Saudi Arabia and in light of that country’s abysmal human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, I hope Trudeau will reverse this policy. It was a contract signed by the previous PM, Harper, in 2014 – delivery began in 2017.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks for that info, John. I dicn’t think Justin would be making these sales. But why is he delivering on them, knowing what he now knows. So Canada reneges on a deal Harper made, I think the United Nations will forgive him. Lives matter more than international relations.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Dear Jill,

    Thanks for writing on this subject. There is blood on US hands over several human rights’ infractions by the Saudis against the peoples in Yemen.

    Here’s the reality. I place Saudi Arabia as very high in the exporting of terrorists. Peoples forget that 14 of 19 terrorists who attacked the USA on 9/11/ 2001 were from Saudi Arabia including Osama bin Laden.

    We should not be supporting Saudi Arabia in its proxy war in Yemen. This does not serve US interests.

    Hugs, Gronda

    Liked by 4 people

    • Of course it does NOT serve US PEOPLE interests, but it serves the interests of the MIC which currently does use the USA as a very lucrative and safe base of operation. Would that real American people wake up to the fact that their nation has been hi-jacked by billionaire global terrorists. Would that they had the courage to take back their country. Whistling in the wind here, not going to happen. They’ve been “consumered” into the silence of the lambs. They will acquiesce, they will collude, they will justify and die, hated and vilified by the rest of the world for the world will never forgive, nor forget, nor make a distinction between the Washington-Wall Street profiteering warmongers and America as a whole. There will be a backlash when the MIC has drained the lifeblood from the nation’s taxpayers and supporters and America’s defenses collapse. Those who enslaved and killed will become the enslaved and the dead.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Wow, Sha’Tara … you make me want to go find that cyanide capsule! If we believe that we are mere pawns in this game, which IS how it often seems, then we are doomed, for we will stop trying to matter. So, for me at least, I must keep believing that if we work at it hard enough, we can bring about change. Especially since I couldn’t find the cyanide capsule 😉

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        • As I suggested to Gronda yesterday, start taking civil action against Dickhead Towerbuilder. Destroy the machinery that allows him to make these weapons. Destroy the transportation system that allows him to deliver these weapons. Force the banks that fund his dirty works to close.
          You know better than I what will interfere with his policies. Do something about it. Make a statement with action, not words. Don’t just tell him the American people are not behind him, SHOW HIM!

          Liked by 2 people

    • You’re quite right, Gronda … it does not serve our interest in any way, and we are supporting, in my opinion, crimes against humanity. More and more I find myself ashamed, feeling a need to apologize for my country.
      Hugs!

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Jill, USA and UK and probably Canada have been sending arms to Saudi, willy nilly. Probably as they attempt to get the Saudis to spend the worthless, bankers, petro-dollars?

    Saudi and Israel seem to have little compunction about where they deliver the bombs. This is the same technology that has been used against people in Syria. The same mindless demonic actions. The bankers want Syria for Greater Israel and Yemen for Greater Saudi. It was happening under Obama and now the man/child.

    At least it’s not Hilary …? Cheers Jamie
    http://nisatapps.prio.org/armsglobe/

    Liked by 2 people

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