What about Saudi Arabia’s other victims?
Re: Turks claim evidence of slaying at consulate, Oct. 17; Reproaching Riyadh, John Robson, Oct. 17; U.S. must act if Saudis are guilty, Eli Lake, Oct. 12
Stalin’s celebrated quote that “One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic” has again been validated by the international condemnation of Saudi Arabia over the disappearance and likely death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while the prospect of the deaths of tens of thousands of Yemenis resulting from the Saudis’ brutal attacks on Yemen’s rebels generates only mild disapproval.
The Trudeau government’s dispute with Saudi Arabia over female rights while supplying the Saudis with armoured cars used to kill Yemeni civilians is even less comprehensible. Of all the Arab Spring revolts in which, with one exception, the U.S.-led West supported the rebels with disastrous results, only Yemen’s Houthis were successful. Due to the complex intertwining of Israeli, U.S., Iranian and Saudi interests the West has wrongly supported Saudi Arabia, even forcing UN approval for this unjust war.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal quest for a meaningless temporary seat on the UN Security Council now faces him with an ethical dilemma — does he fawningly pursue essential Arab votes for his council ambition or do the right thing and condemn the Saudis for its many humanrights abuses, including the Yemen war, and stop his “merchant of death” provision of the weapons of war used in killing innocents? Alexander McKay, Calgary Would it be possible for our petroleum retailers to put “Country of Origin” labels on our gasoline pumps? Jim Flatman, Edmonton