Hold Saudis accountable for Yemen famine, too

The United States must hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Washington Post columnist and American resident was (allegedly) murdered inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

The Saudis are likewise responsible for the killing of civilians in Yemen’s civil war. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been battling the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

This war has put impoverished Yemen on the brink of famine. Yemenis are starving, even resorting to eating leaves because of the food shortages. The United States has to show moral leadership and hold the Saudis accountable on this front too.

The United States must pressure Saudi Arabia to end the conflict in Yemen. This means first stopping U.S. military support of the Saudi led coalition. President Donald Trump though has failed to take action, placing

more emphasis on supporting and selling arms to the Saudis.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, DConn., says “The United States cannot be in a military partnership with a country that has this little concern for human life. The Saudis continue to claim that they aren’t targeting civilians inside Yemen, but how can we believe them when they apparently just hunted down and murdered an American resident whose only offense was writing critical articles about the Saudi royal family? This is the right time to suspend our military support for the disastrous bombing campaign in Yemen.”

Schools, hospitals and homes have been struck by bombs. Children have been killed in these attacks.

The fighting has also led to an increasing hunger crisis because of blockades of key ports for moving humanitarian supplies.

The World Food Program has been scaling up to feed about 8 million Yemenis a month, one of

its largest operations. That is equivalent to the populations of Massachusetts and New Hampshire combined. But the needs are increasing quickly as more Yemenis fall into the despair of hunger.

The WFP cannot reach all war victims in Yemen because of the continued violence. A ceasefire is desperately needed to allow WFP and other relief agencies to get those life-saving food supplies moving.

Yemeni children are in peril of deadly malnutrition. Tamer Kirolos, Yemen country director for Save the Children, pleads “Yemeni children are starving to death. This year alone we expect some 400,000 children under five to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form of extreme hunger.”

Save the Children is urging a ceasefire to end the blockades of ports and roads so life-saving supplies can move in Yemen. The United States must also increase funding for its international food

aid programs to help Yemen and other war affected nations.

The strength of the United States is found in its moral leadership as a peacemaker and humanitarian. We must not abandon those principles for the sake of arms deals or business ties with Saudi Arabia, while Yemen

lies on the brink of starvation.

The United States must pressure Saudi Arabia to end the war and starvation in Yemen.