The Yemeni War and the Rule of Impunity, Interview with Noam Chomsky

Biden vowed to stop U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia; particularly about Yemen, he claimed he would end all U.S. support for offensive operations in the Middle Eastern-torn country

As the American president now contradicts his promises, the Yemeni humanitarian catastrophe is today much worse than when Trump was in power

Chomsky, in this exclusive interview, strongly questions Biden’s “defensive weapons” trading to the Saudi while, more than ever, Yemen the stage of a Saudi-U.S. proxy war against Iran at expense of dozens of millions of innocent Yemeni civilians

June 21, 2022—As the world’s attention is mostly turned to Russia and Ukraine, and the Doomsday Clock stays at 100 seconds to midnight now, the highest level ever recorded since 1947, Yemen growingly starves and burns.

Just a few across the globe mourn the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, taking place in the Middle East’s poorest country.

Ranking 115th out of the 116 countries in the 2021 Global Hunger Index, Yemen has an alarming, unprecedented level of hunger. A direct outcome of the Saudi “humanitarian intervention”, since the beginning, in March of 2015, supported by the U.S.

The Yemeni catastrophe, labeled by many experts around the world as “a genocide,” was observed in 2020 by then U.S. presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who then vowed to “end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, and make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil from Saudi Arabia.”

And added, that once elected president, “America’s commitment to democratic values and human rights will be a priority.”

Soon after taking power, President Biden stated in February 2021 that he would end all U.S. support for “offensive operations” in the Middle Eastern-torn country.

As the world historically witnesses that whenever the Washington regime heralds human rights for “friends,” terrible times soon come, it didn’t delay for the new president Biden totally contradict his promises concerning Yemen, a victim of the world’s worst violator of human rights, along with Israel’s Zionists: the Saudis. Both are old U.S. partners.

The excuse now is that the White House is selling air-to-air missiles and launchers to the Saudis, deemed “defensive weapons.”

According to a State Department spokesperson, the Biden administration is now “keeping with the president’s commitment to supporting the territorial defense of Saudi Arabia.”

Today, one year and five months after President Biden took power, the Yemeni humanitarian catastrophe is much worse compared to Donald Trump’s years as president, in every aspect.

And the prospect is not good, despite the truce agreed by both parties in conflict, the Yemeni government, and the country’s Houthi rebels last April 2.

In an exclusive interview, Noam Chomsky points out the White House’s hypocritical narrative supporting Riyad for “defensive” purposes. The legendary American linguist and political analyst, observes the subtle deception in this case.

“The line between offensive and defensive weapons is very blurred,” says Chomksy.

Proxy War
U.S. law prohibits selling arms to abusive governments, as the U.S. refuses to stop its complicity in Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen, where the “figures” of tragedy are frightening – no more than “figures” for the West powers and mainstream media.

As for the American weapons trade for Saudis, Chomsky remembers that though “Anti-Ballistic Missile systems are advertised as defensive weapons, strategic analysts on all sides regard them as first-strike weapons.”

“If they were to work, which is unlikely, they might deter a weak retaliatory strike thus enhancing the temptation of a first strike,” tells the laureate professor at The University of Arizona.

“The same with the Iron Dome missiles provided to Israel, which facilitate murderous Israeli assaults on Gaza by providing defense against the very weak deterrent,” adds the American analyst, to conclude that “‘Defensive’ weapons for Saudi Arabia are subject to the same logic.”

When it comes to violations of international law, nothing new when Washington and Riyad are involved, as much as impunity for both.

The dramatic worsening of the Yemeni scenario, in its context considering the climate of violence and intimidation created by Saudi Arabia, is self-evidence that the country is a stage of an extension of the Saudi-U.S. proxy warfare against Iran, having the Zionists and their terror against Palestinians, behind the scenes.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by Edu Montesanti

EM/OT

Edu Montesanti

Website | + posts

Edu Montesanti is a Brazilian-Italian journalist, writer, teacher, and translator. Edu is the author of Lies and Crimes of the "War on Terror" (Brazil, 2012; Mentiras e Crimes da "Guerra ao Terror," original title in Portuguese), highlighted in the 2012 Sao Paulo International Book Fair. He writes for Brazil's Instituto Humanitas Unisinos, Pravda (Portuguese), and Orinoco Tribune. Used to write for Pravda Report (English), the Brazilian magazine Caros Amigos (both printed issues and the website), Brazil TV's website Observatorio da Imprensa, Spain's Diario Liberdade, the Canadian website Global Research (English, Portuguese, and Spanish), Bangladesh's The Weekly Blitz, London's Atlas Institute for International Affairs, for Telesur English, and US's Truth Out and Pressenza. He used to translate for Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo's website (Argentina), the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan's website, and Malalaï Joya's website (Afghanistan). Edu Montesanti has been teaching at Brazilian public schools. You can follow his work at edumontesanti.wordpress.com.