Saudi War in Yemen Reaches 1,000 Days With No End in Sight

Pentagon Defends Involvement in Saudi Attacks

What was initially expected to be a relatively brief engagement, Saudi Arabia’s 2015 invasion of Yemen has become one of the world’s biggest humanitarian disasters, and 1,000 days into the war, there is little sign of relief coming.

There have been a few efforts at peace talks, but the Saudi-backed Hadi forces have resisted any deal that gives them anything less than absolute rule in post-war Yemen. International focus recently has been on getting humanitarian aid opened back up to Yemen’s north, and even that with mixed results.

Saudi war crimes have brought attention not just to the Saudis, but to the US and Britain, who’ve both been selling arms to the Saudis. The US in particular has been supporting the Saudi war from the beginning.

Pentagon officials defended continued US support for the Saudis, denying targeting involvement in the many civilian deaths, and claiming the mid-air refueling exercises were about protecting the Saudi border from Shi’ite Houthis.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.