President Biden delivered a foreign policy speech on Thursday and vowed to end US support for Saudi Arabia’s “offensive” operations in Yemen.
“We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales,” Biden said. Last week, the administration paused planned arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, although US officials framed the pause as a standard procedure for a new administration.
While Biden vowed to end “offensive” support, he promised to keep supporting the Saudis militarily in other ways. “At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty.”
The US often blames Iran for Houthi attacks in Saudi territory. But the reality is, these attacks wouldn’t be happening if it wasn’t for the over five-year US-backed Saudi siege on Yemen, where the coalition’s targeting of civilian infrastructure and the blockade on the country has caused widespread disease, and mass starvation.
Biden did mention the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and said USAID will work to ensure that aid is being delivered. He announced the appointment of Timothy Lenderking as the US special envoy to Yemen, a veteran diplomat who will work to end the fighting between the Saudis and the Houthis.
Biden said Lenderking will “work with the UN envoy and all parties of the conflict to push for a diplomatic resolution.”
One thing Biden did not bring up is the designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, one of the last moves from the Trump administration. The UN and international charities have warned that the designation will cause mass famine since it criminalizes doing business with the Houthis, who control territory where about 70 percent of Yemen’s population lives.
The Biden administration is allowing transactions with the Houthis until February 26th, but the UN warned the waiver is not good enough and is still calling for a full reversal of the terror designation.
Earlier on Thursday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters about Biden’s plan to end “offensive” support for the war in Yemen. He said it would not apply to the US’s war against al-Qaeda in Yemen, known as AQAP. “It does not extend to actions against AQAP,” he said. “It extends to the types of offensive operations that have perpetuated a civil war in Yemen that has led to a humanitarian crisis.”
Washington’s war against al-Qaeda in Yemen was significantly escalated in the early years of the Trump administration. In recent years, the number of US drone strikes in Yemen has dropped, but the strikes still happen on occasion. According to the monitoring group Airwars, in 2020, the US officially declared three strikes in Yemen. Fifteen other incidents were reported as alleged US airstrikes, likely secret CIA operations.
Before March 2015, when the Obama administration decided to support the Saudi intervention in Yemen, the Houthis were an intelligence-sharing partner of the US in the fight against AQAP.
Does that also mean the CIA will end all support in Yemen! And while he’s at it, get the US military out of Syria. The only thing the Americans are doing there are War Crimes and crimes against Humanity.
Why not say that US will no longer be a combatant in Yemen war, The “antiterrorism” operations are conducted on behalf of whom? Who are we fighting? Who is the state we are coordinating with? Why are we involved in food distribution to North Yemen? And what is our interest in blockade of Hodeidah?
No, this pious “end of offensive support” really will not do. US should end its secret war in Yemen by stopping all funding for the war, including paying UAE for fighting on behalf of US, stopping all funds to US mercenary contractors “on loan” to UAE, stop funding any groups as proxy forces, and withdrawing any forces involved in the blockade of Hodeidah PREVENTING any country from providing humanitarian assistance in food and medicine. This needs to end.
Stop any military funding or material support to Saudi Arabia or Yemen government. And stop any antiterrorist activity against AQAP or any other group as it makes US combatant in the civil war. Terrorism here is just defined as targeting politically undesirable forces in this war with many changing sides, and different objectives.
In about a New York minute, all Saudi strikes will start being advertised as “targeting AQAP.”
War is far more deadly than covid! Why doesn’t it have to wear a mask?
Most likely Israel has asked to be replaced by the U.S. to participate in ‘Offensive Support’ to get the Saudis to join the Abraham accord!
Biden Says He Will End ‘Offensive Support’! Houthis have already expressed their mistrust, & said they won’t be fooled.
“At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty.”
So this is the guy that talks about rejoining the JCPOA while talking the same bullshit as all the neocons he has brought on board? Maybe the Houthis are retaliating in self defense, and I mean actual self defense of where they live and not some tripe we throw out there about our “self defense” on the other side of the world where we weren’t invited.
If the US were determined to end this ugly war, it could do so in a moment.
The Saudis would absolutely not act against direct instructions from the US.
What Biden is doing is just a cheap public relations ploy to separate the US from all the terrible publicity associated with this filthy war it helped start.
It is hypocrisy. And it is the kind of dishonesty which promises no great changes for the Middle East.
Biden is, after all, a fifty-year political veteran of supporting wars and coups and death.
Nothing is over until black op money is transparent.
Likely a shell game. Support will come under another guise.
when trump was still POTUS, the house AND the senate both passed a bill which would stop military aid to the saudis, but trump vetoed it for some reason. i guess for trump, MAGA really meant “Making Arabia Great Again”.