• gnuhaut@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    Do you think the US hadn’t already planned to do airstrikes on Yemen? Ansarallah already knew what they were up to. The ships are there to punish Yemen for daring to oppose the genocide in Israel, which they clearly can relate to, having been genocided by the US and Saudis just recently.

    Ansarallah clearly stated they would stop if there was a ceasefire in Gaza, and they attacked ships going to Israeli ports. But I guess if they try to blockade Israel, and take seriously their (and every state’s) duty under international law to stop genocide, that’s bad, but if the US blockades Yemen causing a genocidal famine, that’s just dandy?

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      The US plans for a lot of situations, as does any competent military. Are you trying to say that the US intended to make these strikes all along, rather than in retaliation for strikes against them?

      The ships are there to protect trade. Up until now, they have been focused on shooting down missiles and preventing attacks on trade ships. They’re also there to bring a bigger gun to protect Israel if anyone wants to jump into war with them. There is an element of bullshit to this, as the US is basically allowing Israel to commit genocide, but at the same time the US is supposed to protect its allies.

      Most of the ships that have been targeted by the Houthis were not going to Israeli ports and have no affiliation with Israel. When they have claimed there was some affiliation, it’s really obtuse and far fetched - like one guy in a parent company that has no real involvement with the ship or its cargo.

      I don’t know the specifics of the US’ previous blockade or the famine in Yemen. If you can point me to some information on that I’d appreciate it, right now my searches are drowned out in coverage of the latest events. However, the whole conflict in Yemen is a mess of proxy parties fighting on behalf of others, it’s a tangled web with no good parties - as usual, the only ones really winning are the people selling weapons.

      • gnuhaut@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        The US plans for a lot of situations, as does any competent military. Are you trying to say that the US intended to make these strikes all along, rather than in retaliation for strikes against them?

        Yes, obviously.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_Yemen

        The blockade has contributed to the current famine in Yemen, which the United Nations said may become the deadliest famine in decades. The World Health Organization announced in 2017, that the number of suspected persons with cholera in Yemen reached approximately 500,000 people. In 2018, Save the Children estimated that 85,000 children have died due to starvation in the three years prior.

        The U.S. has supported the Arab coalition’s intervention in the war, and the United States Navy actively participated in the naval blockade at the beginning of the intervention. In mid-2015, Washington increased its logistical and intelligence support to Saudi Arabia by creating a joint coordination planning cell with the Saudi military to help manage the war.

        • rambaroo@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Jesus Christ as an American this makes me want to vomit. The libs defending this shit are fucking unreal.

        • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          Thanks for the link. However, it says that it’s a Saudi Arabian blockade, the US participated at the beginning but was not the driving force behind it and did not stay for long.

          However, in mid-2016 and amid escalating, international concerns regarding some of the strategic initiatives undertaken by the Saudi Arabian military in the conflict, the U.S. pulled back significantly on its participation in this joint planning cell, reducing its staff commitment to only five US workers.

          US involvement since then has primarily been the supply of weapons. Like I say, the only real winners are arms dealers.

          • gnuhaut@lemmy.ml
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            10 months ago

            Supplying weapons goes a lot further than one might think. I remember reading somewhere (please don’t make me dig this up), that practically all the ground maintenance staff of the Saudi air force are US personell (maybe private contractors don’t remember). Just the pilots are Saudis really. The US supported this war and blockade in various ways all the way through. It should be obvious why Ansarallah thinks the US is their enemy.

            • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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              10 months ago

              Oh absolutely, the US are also providing intelligence. However they’re not doing the fighting or directing the military activities. But the UK are also doing much of the same, it’s just that the US are more proficient at it.

            • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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              10 months ago

              But it’s still not a war between the US and Yemen.