God Bless America, and Our Blatant Disregard for Human Rights: The United States’ Complicity in Saudi Arabia’s War Crimes Against Yemen
Under the Barack Obama administration and continuing under the Donald Trump administration, the United States sells weapons and finances the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; in turn, Saudi Arabia uses the weapons in a military campaign against Yemen, comprised of relentless airstrikes against civilians. According to the Saudi government, the purpose of the airstrikes against Yemen includes repelling Houthi rebels and the restoration of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Haid power (Haid was deposed in 2011, during the Arab Spring). The result of the airstrikes includes massive civilian death tolls and a humanitarian crisis in which Yemenis are dying from starvation. I contend continued U.S. political and financial support towards Saudi Arabia’s incursions into Yemen constitute complicity in war crimes.
In accordance to the Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal, to which the U.S. concurred, “for an individual to aid and abet a war crime, they must provide practical assistance that has a ‘substantial effect’ on the commission of a crime; and know or be aware the assistance has a ‘substantial likelihood’ on the commission of a crime.” The practical assistance of the U.S. comes from financial aid and weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, the crime, of course, is the bombing of civilian targets, and the U.S. is not blissfully unaware of the effects of the bombs on civilian populations.
Towards the conclusion of the Obama era, weapons sales and financial support for Saudi Arabia waned; however, under the Trump administration, there is a renewed enthusiasm for weapons deals with Saudi Arabia, including a $110 billion arms package (partially blocked by Congress). In August of 2017, a bomb manufactured in the U.S. was used in a coalition airstrike by Saudi Arabia, 16 civilians were killed. The sole survivor was 5-year-old Buthaina Muhammad Mansour, all of her five siblings were killed. According to Raed Jarra, of Amnesty International, “By sending arms to Saudi Arabia, knowing that they may be used to kill civilians, the U.S. government may be complicit in violations of international law, including war crimes.”
Presidents of the U.S., similar to other world leaders, should answer to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which includes eligibility for trial. If justice truly prevailed, both Obama and Trump, need to be indicted for war crimes committed in Yemen by Saudi Arabia. However, I do not think there will ever be a day in which a U.S. president is indicted and tried by the ICC, whereas leaders such as Slobodan Milosevic (former president of Serbia), Muammar Gaddafi (former president of Libya), Omar al-Bashir (former president of Sudan) have been indicted by the Court. As an alternative to trying U.S. presidents for war crimes, the U.S. must immediately pull all weapons and financial deals with Saudi Arabia, due to the continued violation of international law in the ongoing conflict with Yemen. If the U.S. represents a just country then our complicity in Saudi war crimes must end, for our guilt lies with Saudi Arabia and their guilt includes the blood of children on their hands.
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