>> THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF TROUBLE IN YEMEN.
IT STARTED
BACK IN MARCH, IT STARTED A LONG TIME AGO, BUT IN MARCH BASICALLY
WAR ERUPTED THERE WHEN HOUTHI MILITIAS KICKED OUT PRESIDENT
ABDU RABBU MANSOUR HADI.
SINCE THEN, SAUDI ARABIA AND SOME OF
THE OTHER ARAB STATES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAVE BEEN ON THE
COUNTERATTACK.
THE REASON THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT THAT IS THAT
THE HOUTHI ARE LARGELY SHIITE, AND NEIGHBORING SAUDI ARABIA IS
SUNNI, OR AT LEAST THEIR LEADERS ARE.
THE POPULATION IS LARGELY
SUNNI AS WELL, SOME SHIITE OBVIOUSLY, BUT SUNNI LEADERS DO
NOT LIKE SHIITE REBELLIONS ANYWHERE NEAR THEM, AND YEMEN
HAS A VERY LARGE BORDER WITH SAUDI ARABIA.
SO THEY GATHERED
UP ALL THE ARMIES OF THE ARAB SUNNI COUNTRIES IN THE REGION
AND DECIDED TO REALLY BOMBARD YEMEN, AND THEY SOMETIMES HIT
THE PEOPLE THEY WANT TO HIT AND SOMETIMES THEY HIT OTHER FOLKS.
THAT IS WHAT LEADS US TO THE DISASTER WE ARE IN TODAY.
THE
NEW YORK TIMES HAD AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ABOUT IT, I
WANT TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT WHAT THEY WROTE.
THEY EXPLAIN THAT
WHAT BEGAN AS A SAUDI-LED AERIAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE HOUTHIS, THE
REBEL MILITIA MOVEMENT THAT FORCED THE YEMENI GOVERNMENT FROM POWER, HAS
BECOME SO VICIOUS THAT CRITICS ACCUSE THE COALITION OF
COLLECTIVELY PUNISHING PEOPLE LIVING IN AREAS UNDER HOUTHI
CONTROL.
WHY DO THEY ACCUSE THEM OF THAT?
BECAUSE THE BOMBINGS
SEEM TO BE NEARLY INDISCRIMINATE.
SOMETIMES THEY
HIT THE INTENDED TARGETS, OFTENTIMES THEY WILL BE MILES
AND MILES AWAY FROM SO-CALLED INTENDED TARGETS.
IN ONE
PARTICULAR CASE, THEY HAD A WATER PLANT THAT WAS IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE DESERT.
THERE IS NO INDICATION THAT ANYBODY WAS
MAKING BOMBS THERE, IT KILLED 13 WORKERS WHOSE SHIFT WAS ALMOST
DONE.
THEY WERE ABOUT TO GO HOME, THEY DROP A BOMB ON THEM,
THEY ARE ALL DEAD.
MY ARGUMENT IS THAT IT IS NOT A MISTAKE.
THEY DIDN'T THINK THEY WERE MAKING BOMBS, THEY HAVE NEVER
PRESENTED ANY SUCH EVIDENCE, IT WASN'T ANYWHERE NEAR ANY REBEL
HELD AREA.
I WOULD ARGUE THAT THEY DO IT ON PURPOSE TO
INTIMIDATE THE LOCAL POPULATION.
LET'S FIND OUT MORE AND SEE WHERE
THIS LEADS US.
THEY SAY, ERRANT COALITION STRIKES HAVE RIPPED
THROUGH MARKETS, APARTMENT BUILDINGS AND REFUGEE CAMPS.
OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF CIVILIANS DIED THERE, AND THEY SAY ABOUT
HALF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED SINCE THE BOMBING BEGAN
ARE CIVILIANS.
WE HAVE HEARD A LOT OF COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE
U.S., SAY WE DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL CIVILIANS, LOOK AT THAT, MISTAKE
AFTER MISTAKE AFTER MISTAKE.
WHO COULD'VE SEEN THAT COMING?
NOW
LET'S GO TO THE NEXT PART, THEY SAY OTHER BOMBS HAVE FALLEN SO
FAR FROM ANY MILITARY TARGET -- LIKE THE ONE THAT DESTROYED MR.
RAZOOM'S FACTORY -- THAT IS THE WATER PLANT FACTORY I WAS TELLING
YOU ABOUT, THAT HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS SAY SUCH AIRSTRIKES
AMOUNT TO WAR CRIMES.
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT
COALITION FORCES HAVE MADE REPEATED SO-CALLED MISTAKES.
ALL
THE WAY BACK BEFORE AL QAEDA ATTACKED US, AND TO BE FAIR,
BEFORE THEY ATTACKED US ON 9/11, BUT AL QAEDA HAD HIT OUR
EMBASSIES BEFORE, BILL CLINTON DID A STRIKE ON WHAT TURNED OUT
TO BE A PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT IN THE SUDAN, AND SOME, LIKE NOAM
CHOMSKY, SAY NO, THEY KNEW IT WAS A PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT, OR
VERY LIKELY KNEW THAT IT WAS, AND IT WAS TO TEACH THEM A
LESSON.
DON'T SUPPORT AL QAEDA, OTHERWISE WE WILL DESTROY THE
ONE PLANT THAT MAKES MEDICINE IN YOUR COUNTRY, AND THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE WILL DIE BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE MEDICINE.
I DON'T
KNOW IF WE INTENDED THAT, BUT WE DO SEEM TO BE RATHER INDIFFERENT
OF THE RESULTS WHEN WE MAKE THE STRIKES.
SAUDI ARABIA IS ONE OF
OUR TOP ALLIES, SO IS THIS HAPPENING BY MISTAKE OR DOES IT
KEEP HAPPENING WITH US AND OUR ALLIES?
THE OTHER COUNTRY THAT
IS MAKING MISTAKES?
ISRAEL, WHEN THEY BOMB GAZA.
OOPS, DID WE
HIT A SCHOOL?
DID WE HIT A BUILDING WHERE THE U.N. WAS
KEEPING CIVILIANS THAT HAD FLED FOR SHELTER?
OOPS, DID WE HIT A
BEACH WITH FOUR YOUNG PALESTINIANS THAT WERE NOWHERE
NEAR ANY MILITIA, ANY TERRORISTS, ANY HAMAS?
A LOT OF
WHOOPSIES WITH OUR ALLIES.
I THINK SAUDI ARABIA ARE EVEN MORE
BRAZEN BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE NOT ASKING QUESTIONS, AND
THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN.
ISRAEL AND THE U.S. HAVE TO ANSWER TO
THE WORLD COMMUNITY A LOT, SAUDI ARABIA NOT SO OFTEN.
SO ALL OF A
SUDDEN THERE ARE MORE AND MORE MISTAKES.
THEY EXPLAINED IN THE
NEW YORK TIMES, MORE THAN 1000 CIVILIANS ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE
DIED IN THE STRIKES, THE TOLL RISING STEADILY WITH LITTLE
INTERNATIONAL NOTICE OR OUTRAGE.
THEY SAY, IN PARTS OF NORTHERN
YEMEN, WHICH IS POPULATED LARGELY BY SHIITE MUSLIMS,
RESIDENTS TOLD REPORTERS MAKING A RARE VISIT TO THE AREA THAT
THE BOMBING CAMPAIGN BY THE SUNNI COALITION OFTEN FEELS LIKE
A SECTARIAN PURGE.
SO IN THE AREAS THAT ARE LARGELY SHIITE,
THE BOMBING HAPPENS TO BE MORE INDISCRIMINATE.
BUT TEACH THEM A
LESSON.
THEY ARE NOT PART OF OUR SECT ANYWAY.
CERTAINLY THEIR
WORDS MIGHT NOT SAY THOSE THINGS, BUT THEIR ACTIONS
CERTAINLY SPEAK VOLUMES IN THAT DIRECTION.
THE SAUDI LED
COALITION HAS RARELY IF EVER ACKNOWLEDGED KILLING CIVILIANS
BY MISTAKE, EVEN AFTER THE DEADLY STRIKES, LIKE THE BOMBING
OF A RESIDENT COMPOUND FOR WORKERS IN MOKHA IN JULY THAT
KILLED AT LEAST 63 PEOPLE.
INSTEAD, THE COALITION BLAMES
THE HOUTHIS, ACCUSING THEM OF FIGHTING FROM POPULATED AREAS.
OLDEST TRICK IN THE BOOK, IF YOU ARE A U.S. OR A U.S. ALLY.
SADDAM HIDES BEHIND CIVILIAN SHIELDS, HAMAS HIDES BEHIND
CIVILIAN SHIELDS.
THEY ARE IN PUBLIC AREAS.
WHEN THE SAUDIS
GO TO KILL THE SHIITES IN YEMEN, THEY ARE USING CIVILIAN SHIELDS,
HIDING IN POPULATED AREAS.
WHEN YOU DO A BOMBING IN THE MIDDLE
OF A CITY, THAT IS A POPULATED AREA WITH A LOT OF CIVILIANS.
PERHAPS YOU SHOULD TAKE MORE CARE.
THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT
TAKING MORE CARE BECAUSE THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT SHIITE LIVES.
IN FACT QUITE THE OPPOSITE, THEY ARE TRYING TO INTIMIDATE THEM.
NEW YORK TIMES CONTINUES, RATHER THAN TURNING MORE YEMENIS
AGAINST THE HOUTHIS, STRIKES ARE CRYSTALLIZING ANGER IN PARTS OF
THE COUNTRY AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA AND ITS PARTNERS LIKE THE UNITED
STATES.
IDIOT PUNDITS IN AMERICA LIKE JOE SCARBOROUGH WILL SAY
ABOUT MUSLIM ANGER TOWARD THE UNITED STATES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,
THEY HATE US BECAUSE THEY HATE US.
OFTENTIMES THEY HATE US
BECAUSE THE BOMBS DROPPED ON THEIR HEADS HAD "MADE IN THE USA"
ON IT.
OFTENTIMES THEY HATE US BECAUSE WE GAVE OUR
INTELLIGENCE AND WEAPONS TO THE SAUDIS AND LET THEM KILL THE
SHIITES IN YEMEN FAIRLY INDISCRIMINATELY, THAT IS WHY THEY
HATE US.
SO TO THAT EFFECT, THE MAJORITY OF CIVILIANS HAVE BEEN
KILLED BY COALITION WARPLANES, OFTEN DROPPING AMERICAN
MUNITIONS RANGING FROM 250 TO 2,000 POUNDS.
THERE ARE NO
COMPREHENSIVE TALLIES OF THE DEATHS, BUT THE UNITED NATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER SAID ON FRIDAY THAT OF THE 1527
CIVILIANS WHO DIED BETWEEN THE START OF THE SAUDI OFFENSIVE AND
JUNE 30, AT LEAST 941 PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY AIRSTRIKES.
SO
THAT IS OUR COALITION.
SO HERE WE ARE AGAIN.
ACTIONS HAVE
CONSEQUENCES, AND UNFORTUNATELY THE KNUCKLEHEADS WHO ARE
OFTENTIMES IN OUR MILITARY, AND CERTAINLY IN OUR ALLIES'
MILITARIES, BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE A HAMMER AND EVERYTHING IS
IN THERE.
THE ONLY SOLUTION IS THE HAMMER.
WE WILL SHOW THEM,
WE WILL BOMB THEM AND SCARE THEM AND INTIMIDATE THEM.
HAS THAT
EVER WORKED?
WE DID THAT IN IRAQ AND WHAT ROSE UP?
ISIS ROSE UP.
ISRAEL HAS BEEN DOING IT IN THE CASE OF GAZA AND ALL THE
DIFFERENT INCURSIONS, LET ALONE ALL THE WARS, I'M NOT TALKING
ABOUT WHO STARTED THE WARS, THAT IS AN ENDLESS DEBATE.
BUT WITHIN
THE LATEST INCURSIONS, WE WILL SHOW THEM, RIGHT?
THEY WILL KNOW
NOT TO FIRE THOSE ROCKETS ANYMORE.
GUESS WHAT HAPPENS,
EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS THEY FIRE THE ROCKETS ANYWAY.
DO YOU HAVE
PEACE?
YOU DON'T HAVE PEACE, YOU DIDN'T SHOW THEM.
WHAT YOU DID
WAS YOU ANGERED THEM AND TURNED IT INTO A PERPETUAL WAR.
AND IN
THIS CASE, YOU THINK THE SAUDIS ARE GOING TO SHOW THE
SHIITES IN YEMEN, AND THE SHIITES WHO HATE THE SUNNIS WILL
BE LIKE, THEY SHOWED US?
OKAY, THAT WAS JUST ENOUGH VIOLENCE,
THAT'S IT, WE WILL BOW OUR HEADS AND WE WON'T COUNTER YOU AT ALL
AND WE WON'T REACT WITH EQUAL AND OPPOSITE VIOLENCE?
OF COURSE
THE HAMMER WILL LEAD TO AN ENDLESS CYCLE OF VIOLENCE WERE
THE FUNDAMENTALISTS AND MILITARY CONTRACTORS WILL
WIN, THE REST OF US WILL LOSE.
THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW,
THAT IS THE REALITY.