Prayers that this will happen.
So was the murder of the journalist below the moral compass of this administration to precipitate this call for a cease fire? Surely what the KSA has been doing for decades is below most peoples' moral compasses. This call for a ceasefire is political there is nothing humanitarian about it.
I don't think this administration has a moral consciousness or compass. This administration has named the media as public enemy number 1, how much further do they have to go in a progression to jailing them and attacking our freedom of the press and speech.
Hope this works, but it takes two parties to create a cease fire. Are the Houthi rebels willing?
Another cynical move by Mike Pompeo, the most unqualified Secretary of State in modern history. Note Trump's name doesn't appear on this report. I suppose we have to assume that Trump was aware that Pompeo was going to make this statement. Who knows what communication now exists between Trump and Mattis.
This is a call for a ceasefire until after next Tuesday, at least as far as Trump is concerned. He will do anything to avoid bad publicity at this point, and he has not the slightest interest in the welfare of the Yemeni people. This is just to make sure the Saudis don't bomb a United Nations aid convoy escorting ten busloads of school children any time in the next six days.
After that, it's back to war - probably ramped up. Trump needs the Saudis ready to pump oil out into the world economy through the Suez Canal because Trump is going to bomb Iran sometime soon to start his "election stunt" war so he can run for re-election as a war president. That is going to close the Strait of Hormuz - or at least, that will cause the Iranians to close it. Disaster looms, Trump doesn't care.
What we need is a UN peacekeeping force consisting of a few squadrons of European fighters along with multiple anti-aircraft systems to destroy the Saudi air force if they don't abide by the peace. The Europeans are going to push back very hard against Trump in the next two years. And they are going to play with Brexit Britain like a cat with a mouse. Changes are coming, but so is Trump's war.
1
It has taken more than a year for this "paper of record " to get on board with at least some sustained criticism of US involvement in this horrendous war, but better late than never. This humanitarian disaster is not just the Trump administration's doing . It started under Obama and, as much as I detest the Trump administration, it is important to keep this in mind. At one time, this paper and the Washington Post were far less hesitant to attack US military debacles and impolitic and immoral military interference in places like Yemen. Now, thanks to the never ending "war on terror", the military and every administration essentially have a blank check from the mainstream press to do whatever they want all over the globe regardless of expense, lives destroyed or demonstrable value to the true welfare of our country - Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen all being cases in point. Opinion pieces in the NYT often express worry over the moral fabric of the country. I would suggest that the mainstream media's frequent silence (and sometimes glorification or defense) of these military adventures is having a not insignificant part to play in our country's moral decline.
The ludicrously misnamed American Defense Industry is the cornerstone of US job creation according to Trump and must not be restricted. It drives the US economy and holds foreign policy hostage. It flys under the average voter’s radar and kills and starves out whole countries of civilians that most Americans can not find on a map.
Americans are once again fighting a proxy war in plain sight but they are only just tuning in to the carnage and their complicity in partnership with Saudi Arabia.
It took the brutal killing of a single
journalist to expose casual viewers to the cultural brutality of Saudi Arabia more clearly. There was no time this time to mobilize the DC Pubic Relations Defense Industry as there was with 9/11.
Banks are required to “know the customer” yet no such congressional regulation applies to the military industry that underpins US prosperity.
5
The weapon manufactures are so confident and secure that they always put their names on the 500 lb bombs they make. The fact that this nameplate is photographed among the destruction and death they cause is of no concern either to them or the average American. Not one in a thousand Americans can even give an approximate reason for this combat or locate Sudan on a map. It is just one example of how the military-industrial complex continues to control the levers of government.
So warm relations with US means killing is okay??!! What a terrible reputation for our country.
1
It is good to see that some consideration, although buried in the story, is being given to necessary actions by the rebels. It was the Houthi who started the entire disaster, by starting a rebellion against the government of Yemen, and they could end it tomorrow by surrendering in a war they have no chance of winning.
Yes, the Saudi backed government forces have caused extensive civilian casualties in the areas under rebellion. So did General Sherman when he subdued the rebel occupied areas of Georgia. Putting down a civil war is often very messy, but none the less necessary if a government is to survive.
If there is any justice accounting in the after world, the makers and sellers of weapons for proxy wars are going to regret their actions.
1
The Saudi's entire strategy appears to bomb and starve the Houthis. This is purely a sectarian war where compassion and peaceful coexistence are not part of the Saudis plans. The US and UK have supplied the Saudis with a great deal military equipment and logistic support and so for Mattis to claim some sort of notion other than that Pentagon wanted to help a big customer is disingenuous.
2
It is a nice gesture for The U. S. and Britain to ask for a cease fire In Yemen. Not sure where this is going? I am quite sure Trump plans to have the U. S. in a shooting war by late 2019 or early 2020 to ask for re-election support while fighting our (his) new war. The question, who and where will we be fighting?
2
One of Michael Moore’s movies, “Canadian Bacon,” is a fiction about a President who needs to have a war to boost his poll numbers. He decides to go to war with Canada. Worth the effort to find it. Really funny. Hope Trump doesn’t watch it.
The United States under Trump is culpable here.
2
So the largest arms dealer in the world, the country with the largest offensive military in the world, the country with a history of continuous war, are asking for a ceasefire in Yemen.
How quaint.
7
In what was almost an aside, the author notes that one of the many pressure points the administration can exercise with Saudi Arabia is the threat to curtail civilian nuclear talks. Those talks should be stopped not just because of Yemen, but for security in the mid east generally. Sure, civilian nuclear is different from the bomb, but one can lead to the other. Does no one in the administration understand the risk of blowback in the middle east? Does no one remember what happened when the US armed its friend, Iraq to fight Iran? Does not one remember what the result was of arming Afghanis against the USSR? Does no one remember the result of the Reagan arm sales to Iran? The point is that in the middle east, today's friends can become tomorrow's existential threat to the US or its real friends.
There is no reason to believe that in the long run Saudi Arabia will be a friend of the west, or of the US in particular. We should not forget Saudi Arabia squeezing the west by curtailing oil production in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Saudi Arabia should be treated as the rogue nation it is. Applying pressure to secure a cease fire in the Yemen, including curtailing civilian nuclear talks, is a good place to start,
6
The article quoted Dennis Ross that the US is now having leverage over the Saudis. Where has he been? By virtue of its arms sale to the Saudis and aerial refueling, intelligence and logistical support to the Saudis indiscriminate war in Yemen, the US has always had leverage over the Saudis. It took outrage over the murdering of a Saudi dissident to call attention to the Saudis' despicable conduct of the war in Yemen with the support of the US for the US to seek a ceasefire. It's doubtful that the Saudis would halt its bombing, blockade and economic destruction of Yemen since the State Department statement demands that the Houthis must first stop shelling. The statement is preordained to fail to stop the fighting since the real objective is to defeat the Houthis and contain Iran despite the total incompetence of the Saudis.
6
This is horrid. We must stop the Saudis by whatever means necessary. Preferably peaceful means. How many more photos of emaciated children are we all willing to tolerate? I have two kids. I've seen more than enough. We have to end this humanitarian crisis.
6
Last March, SJ Resolution 54, supported by a few Republicans and the liberal Democrats, was voted down by Trump supporters. It was a failed attempt to halt the US funding of Mohammed bin Salman's war on Yemen. It’s failure allowed Trump to continue our military support for this atrocity. Finally, the publicity about the famine and MBS’s murderous reign may be causing a change of mind, at least for some of our esteemed politicians.
2
“We have got to move toward a peace effort here, and we can’t say we are going to do it some time in the future,” Mr. Mattis said. “We need to be doing this in the next 30 days.”
How about doing it yesterday? No more arms supplies to SA. This is an entire population who is starving to death. Move mountains to end this humanitarian disaster. Send aid. Do it now.
4
The U.S. and Britain have been manufacturing, making and supporting covert and overt murderous ethnic armed military sectarian violence in the Middle East for over a century.
How many Arab, European, Kurds and Persians( Jewish, Christian and Muslim) men, women and children in a multitude of nations have been killed, wounded, displaced and made refugees by the old and the new English language and cultural heritage Anglo-Saxon Empires?
6
Thank you NYT. Imagine if for every article you wrote about a Trump tweet, you wrote an article about the catastrophe in Yemen. Outrage would be stoked, public opinion activated. Thousands if not millions of lives saved. I’m imploring you journalists and editors who have the privilege to do something. How would you like to be remembered?
I have taught Yemeni refugee children in my classroom, one of them wrote this:
“I am from Yemen. It is the most beautiful place. Now there is war.”
4
I will believe it when I see it.
1
The Yemen war is a war of choice and not a "defensive battle against the Houthis" necessary to counter "Iranian expansion" in the region, as the pathetic Saudi propaganda keeps repeating ad nauseam. Iran has no soldiers in Yemen and its links to the turbulent political history of the country are superficial at best. Yet Saudi Arabia has been directly involved in Yemeni affairs for decades, sending its military across the border, taking sides in Yemeni civil wars, annexing Yemeni territories, making and unmaking governments, and using its proximity to dominate Yemeni politics. The Saudis just couldn't accept that their proxy "president" in Yemen, Mr. Hadi, a mere Saudi tool and a man with no credibility, was ousted by the Houthis in what is essentially an internal Yemeni affair. While the dispute has a slight Sunni-Shi'a aspect, exploited by the Saudis, it is actually much more complex, involving the north-south conflict, shifting domestic alliances, and issues arising from Yemen's Arab Spring, which the Saudis undermined. Iran is thrown into this picture as a convenient excuse to justify the unjustifiable: a terrible bombing campaign in its fourth year, atrocities, siege, disease, and famine. The fact is, a modest force of Yemenis fighting with Soviet weapons has managed to withstand and stall a massive force of Saudis, Emiratis and their mercenaries. MBS and his bedfellow in Abu Dhabi, MBZ, have lost the war already. The Americans need to tell them that.
3
Hi
I'm from Yemen and I have something to say about all of this !!!
For 3 and half years the world have looked the other way on what's happening in Yemen and now in 30 days the Defense Secretary said "stop" and it will stop ???
And who will be held responsible for all the destruction and killing from the air strikes isn't the Saudis and the emarites???
Who by the way let ISIS in the south of the country doing all the ugly busines, killing who ever says "no" and the good relegion men ???
Yemen became a wasteland because of politics and political benefits where is the UN from all of this.
And even if the war stops while the corrupted politicians still in power still we're going no where .
I ask this please spare my country the ugly politician's business and let us be in peace like how we used to be , that if there's still hope and peace in this world
10
This is just temporary posturing by the US and Britain. They will return to business as usual shortly. Saudi oil will always be the most important thing to the US and Britain, because the US and Britain are owned and operated by and for the wealthy who depend on that oil.
4
We have valued Saudi Arabia as a security partner in our defense against terrorism that might be directed at us as well as their oil and as Trump has emphasized, a valued customer for American made arms. But those arms and our refueling of their bombers is blood on our hands: indiscriminate bombing and blockades that cause starvation are war crimes and the most heinous form of terrorism. Let's immediately turn our attention to the saving of lives in Yemen and start being true to our principles.
Wake up America!!
1
How much does the US "seek" a truce? We sold them the weapons and we are refueling their planes. If the US says stop--they will stop.
6
Stop refueling the planes.
The tools of war are creating the the demand for Saudi Oil.
And get Saudi Arabia out of Texas.
This highly welcome action to push for ceasefire in Yemen should also be followed by the U.S. reaffirming the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) which the U.S. exited largely to please Saudi Arabia.
JCPOA has been effective in stopping Iran's nuclear weapons development. The U.S. exit from JCPOA has made joint U.S. and EU member state action to bound Iran's activities in Syria and elsewhere all but impossible. If the U.S. is serious about lessening destabilizing activities by Iran inspired and funded groups in the Middle East it needs to work with its traditional allies to make it happen. Now that the U.S. has greater leverage it should reaffirm JCPOA for a more effective response together with the Europeans in encouraging greater stability in the region.
The U.S. would also send a signal to China, Russia and other powers that the U.S. is committed to a rules based order in the world. This would also strengthen the institutional capacity of the Security Council which is the origin of the JCPOA and whose authorization with Resolution 2231 empowered the JCPOA.
"American military officials say they have tried to improve the Saudis’ ability to minimize civilian casualties."
That assumes that they believe that the Saudi's don't harm Yemeni civilians deliberately. However, that is far from certain. The internet is full of quotes from MbS in which he promotes violence against civilians as a deliberate strategy.
2
The best news we got in some time. But, it may be too soon for our optimism. It is unclear why Britain and the U.S. have decided now to call for a cease fire. I would like to believe that it is because of the analyses by this newspaper and others, and their readers who have been tireless denouncing this war and asking for a cease fire. This war did not start with Trump but he has made a bad situation worse. Let us keep up the pressure with our limited resources and call for an immediate cease fire NOW.
2
Ten thousand Sudanese mercenaries have reinvaded Yemen, and now surround Hodeidah, preparing to charge. If the Trump and May governments are sincere, they will insist on an immediate cease fire on the ground, on the sea and in the air. Otherwise, they're not serious or sincere. These several days before the November 6 American election and the days and weeks after the current American government's serious defeat at the polls are the most risky and dangerous of the Yemen War, for Yemen and the world. A sanctions/blockade of Iran begins on November 5. Start thinking about the unforeseen consequences of an assassination in 1914. Declare a genuine ceasefire in Yemen.
14
This is a mild good news story. Hundreds of thousands have senselessly died or are on the verge of dying in this war. And we’ve actually been enabling it for years. But now, we’re at least taking a mild first step on the road to hopefully ending it. And there’s a second good news theme here—we've found a way to do something right, and to do it without President Trump leading the charge. He seemingly has been reluctant to rein in the Saudis, because of oil, his beloved arms deal, his love of how they kiss up to him, etc. Except now things have gotten so bad we’re seeing things that until now in the Trump era have been unknown. First, a small but effective coalition of Republic AND Democratic congressmen has moved to take on the President. Second, the British may have said something like, “Hey, if you won’t do anything we’ll act on our own, and when your newspapers run the pictures of the emaciated little kids you can explain why the British are doing something and you’re not.”
And good news item number three—notice how the closest mention of President Trump here is a passing reference to the “Trump Administration.” So while he’s blustering around about the birthright migrants and his mini army of 5,000—no wait, 15,000!—troops going to the Mexican border to save us from the imminent attack of the sad migrant procession, in the meantime our country has found a way to somehow get an important thing done without him in the limelight and messing it up.
19
But the Houthis have to lay down their arms first? I'd understand a reluctance on their part.
2
@Bill Agreed. We paint the Saudis and their supporters as the bad guys. And rightly so. But the Houthis are not saints : far from it. See the Worth article published this morning. It’s hard to see the Houthis rolling back from their recent gains.
Unfortunately, we will be hearing endless braggadacio twists, for years, from Donald Trump declaring himself the winner.
He alone, in all his dazzling brilliance, ended the War in Yemen.
"The United States and Britain have faced increased criticism themselves over their support for the Saudi military in the Yemen war, which includes supplying bombs and intelligence".
It was Khashoggi that ended this war.
2
Once a ceasefire is declared and adhered to, the International Court of Justice in the Hague should appoint prosecutors to investigate war crimes in Yemen and bring to justice those responsible for creating the world's worst man-made disaster in terms of famine.
4
The power of the pen: the strangling of a writer achieves what pictures of maimed and starving children could not.
3
A bit late to realize that starving 14 million innocent people is not very nice.
3
Perhaps some good may come of Mr. Khasoggi's murder after all. Hope they act quickly before the political winds blow in another direction.
2
That's a good one. When insisting on stopping a war is a new fad.
1
Remember when our special forces were on every street and desert watering hole in Yemen, bout five years ago. Ubiquitous doesn’t do it justice. Then the Houthi’s took the swagger away, and the designer cycles, even though they couldn’t hit the side of a barn with a 50 cal. But the US did not want a war in Yemen, so we got the next best thing - SA would do it for us, for a price, that is.
2
Its high time this was done. However, catergorizing it as the world's worst humanitarian disaster is disingenous given that the Syrian war hasnt ended yet and it has been much worse.
1
The Saudis pay for 1/3rd of humanitarian aid to Yemen - they should be paying for 100% and war reparations for the devestation they have wrought.
3
Hey, hey, Donald J,
How many kids did you kill today?
3
We need to start to plan a future for gun manufacturing factory's and tools. Convert the industry to making useful and productive items for communities instead of destroying them.
I saw a YouTube of a retired guy in Wisconsin who built a greenhouse using underground thermal heat to grow in an inhospitable climate. Brilliant and simple. No pesticides.
There a many things to build that all that money currently spent on guns should be used for.
This is on the gun manufacturers to figure out how to change their ways. Build for good.
2
Does anyone equate a stable Middle East with a stable supply of oil for US drivers of combustion engine cars? Yes, I am talking to you Colorado. Steady domestic sources of oil and natural gas saves lives. Robust domestic resources of oil and gas save American soldiers lives and many, many other lives. Success in the world of the geopolitics of oil depend on the US having a steady domestic supply.
3
The US and GB has been looking for a PR opportunity to betray the Saudis, like the did when the Americans decided to go to war against Saddam Hussein and Panama's Noriega. There is nothing humanitarian about the arrival of diplomatic pressure and those who remember the Saudi complicity in 9/11 will only wonder if US foreign policy with Saudi Arabia trumps the carnage they are responsible for in Yemen and on American soil. I confess my cynicism, yet, I'm not displeased by this news.
4
Oh, heavens! I do hope that the Windsor family won’t be dragged through the muck again over all this business in Arabia.
Henry Balfour hasn’t been an issue for some time. You’d think all of those nomads would have moved on by now.
2
Well, it is about time we quit genuflecting to our masters in SA and spoke up for humanity.
2
Human rights & suffering has to bow before the almighty dollar. Especially when we are talking $110 billion!
2
Should never have gotten ourselves involved in this shameful affair to begin with. A shame it took the Saudis killing & mutilating a journalist and the embarrassment of a US president to make the NATO bloc see the error in supporting such a despotic government in a war against the civilians of Yemen. Otherwise, the killings and starvation would have gone on for years. The horrifying thing is they might still yet, if nothing comes of the peace process.
5
The Saudi’s should be sidelined. They are essentially powerless militarily without us and their economy needs a makeover from being oil based. They are not a benevolent dictatorship by any means and they produce a passel of terrorists. We should not punish them. We should make it clear that they must be benevolent or lose our support.
2
There will be no praise from this American for both Britain and the US for taking so long, too long, to attempt to save these Yemeni's who have been slaughtered, starved to death, left homeless and without a country. And look what it took. I can not answer for GB, but I can certainly point a finger to an administration which reluctantly has finally criticized the Saudi Crown Prince. Mr. Khashoggi's murder was an atrocity, let there be no doubt. But why on earth have we allowed this genocide of sorts to travel this far? Every democracy, from America to Great Britain to Germany et al, have abetted in one way or another this humanitarian disaster and crisis. And for goodness sake, Mr. Trump, stop your lies that you are doing it for more American jobs, and cease "selling" Saudi Arabia weapons which in turn kill the innocent, the most vulnerable. NOW! And that means you, too, Congress.
5
Wonderful opportunity here for Iran to act responsibly and participate in ending this horrible unjust war. They would gain much global good from that but doubt they are smart enough to grab it.
@Larry It will be change nothing, the Trump administration wants the end of the Iran regime (a mix of theocracy and democracy).
1
If we want them to stop this war, then why is our President so hot to sell them 100 billion worth of weapons? So much so that he's happy to repeat blatant lies and accept a murder?
3
Despicable. Saudi's and their Emirati partners asking for PR to allow aid to get to those who THEY are the cause of...
Just despicable.
Perhaps Jamal's death will not be in vain and may have bought and saved the lives of the millions that are going hungry.
1
Why are we participating in the world's worst humanitarian crisis? Is it all about cheap gas?
5
It's about time.
3
Bomb and starve to death thousands of Yemeni children, the West yawns. Kill a dissident Saudi Washington Post journalist and we spring to action. Whatever works to end this cursed war.
PS: Iran is at least as much at fault here in perpetuating this war as Saudi Arabia.
3
Hallelujah! We are taking the side of ordinary people over wealthy patrons for a change.
The U.S. does not need to be known as the world's largest arms merchant. That's not the beacon of light we should be shining to the world. Let's get our priorities straight.
78
@Ken L
The US are the biggest warmongers on earth, not sure what are their "priorities" since WW2 outside more of the same hegemonic and supremacist agenda, slaughtering millions all over the world for their merchants of death and special interests bottom line, you know that military-industrial-congressional-corporate media complex leading them whatever party figurehead is -half the time undemocratically- put in the White House...
"The US is considered to be the greatest threat to peace in the world" (WIN/Gallup International)
8
@Sensi
Ironically that the US haven't won a single military offensive since WW2 - and really were a minor part of the defeat of Germany in that one
1
Don't want refugees? Then stop investing in stupid proxy wars that reap nothing but misery. Invest in peace.
117
@roberto, Yes! And all the more in Central America, where we have a more direct responsibility for the gangs and oppression.
8
@Thomas Zaslavsky
Agreed Central America has been out biggest failing since forever......
3
@roberto We have a long way to go to beat our military industrial complex into plowshares.
4
What happened to the idea that only the US Congress could declare a war ? In fact the US has been at war in Yemen for over three years. Illegal !
82
@Bill Wilson
The U.S. is a nation of corporations, ( masquerading as persons,) not laws.
14
@Bill Wilson
Technically the US are supporting the puppet of the Saudi dictatorship Hadi: after 19 years as "vice-president" of the previous Yemeni tyrant he was planted in farcical "elections" where he as the only candidate as they were boycotted by everybody else. That's the "legitimate Yemeni government" the West (i.e. The US, UK, France, etc) claim to recognize and support, and they are starving half of Yemen in his name, trying to plant him back after that he was ousted and then chooses to flee to his Saudi masters.
6
The hypocritical United States administration and the perfidious United Kingdom government realized the futility, madness and inhumanity of the Yemen war after abetting it with weaponry and intelligence for almost 4 years. The mendacity and stupidity of Mohamed Bin Salman and his sycophants in Riyadh in having started this human tragedy, murdering Mr. Khashoggi, along with the idiotic "embargo" of Qatar and kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister will hopefully hasten the demise of this corrupt Saudi ruling family. They are not our allies...they consider us as their hired mercenaries (diplomatically and otherwise).
At the very least, Mohamed Bin Salman -as I previously posited- will be removed from power by his father, hopefully forever, if he wants this family to survive.
114
@Confucius Removing MBS is like putting a band aid on a cut when the limb has gangrene and must be amputated. The real solution is offer the Sauds a choice:
renounce the throne, take your money, move to Dubai and we keep the oil OR get overthrown, we freeze your money, you move to Guantanamo and we keep the oil.
Anything else is a waste of time. Then we turn to Iran and say "We did this to our ally. Can you imagine what we will do to our enemies? Let's be friends."
3
@Miguel Cernichiari I don't disagree with the premise that removing Mohamed bin Salman is a "band aid" solution...however (1) we are completely self sufficient in oil production...so Saudi crude is not needed. (2) if we overthrow this repulsive monarchy, we inherit the running of the country, have to install a replacement etc...and we've seen this movie before...the ending ain't pretty. (3) i agree we should be befriend the Iranians.
13
@Miguel Cernichiari
Well that is a very appealing idea, but then we'd have to govern the Arabian Peninsula. With the example of Iraq still fresh, I think most Americans would prefer not to go that route.
8
How about an immediate moratorium and cessation of all weapons sales? That might help. Calls alone without ceasing weapon sales is empty posture on the part of the US and UK, the US especially. How sad that it took the savage murder of a journalist to finally bring pressure on these governments to call on an end to the devastation and starvation of Yemen.
179
@Jenise. Unfortunately. Arms sales are the only major product the US builds and exports. In order to keep demand up, the US has to resort to helping and maintaining armed conflicts around the globe.
11
@FDNYMom, it is untrue that "Arms sales are the only major product the US builds and exports." You just don't hear about the others, which include vehicles and machine tools. It is true that arms producers are especially influential in our government.
7
@Jenise even if us average Americans are against and appaulled by what Saudi Arabia is doing to the infrastructure. Econony and people of Yemen—we are complicit. We are selling our planes and bombs and Bullits to Saudis Arabia—making money on another human beings misery,
We will have to answer to God.
Demand a complete stop to every single article of war Heading to SA now. That is the only way for us to begin to get our hands clean, and keep any sort of moral authority the USA may have left, Rise Up Good American People and call out in shame the companies still making millions of other’s suffering.
8
10,000 killed and millions brought to the brink of starvation, and that wasn't enough to make the US and Britain force the Saudis to end their illegal war in Yemen.
But let one Saudi journalist get murdered and all of a sudden it's about time to end the war in Yemen.
I'm glad that SOMETHING has caused them to push Saudi Arabia to end the war, but what an incredibly cold-hearted and inhumane way to go about doing it. The Yemeni people don't matter to them one bit. Never have, and still don't. These are despicable people we're dealing with, on all sides.
13
It is very good to hear these calls for a ceasefire in Yemen,even if they should have come well before the Khashoggi affair. But the governments of the US, Britain and Canada need to back up their calls with something more concrete - the suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. That would concentrate the minds of Saudi leaders on their behaviour in the region.
12
It’s about time.
Now that our dependence on Saudi oil is waning, we have the courage of our beliefs.
How far have we fallen?
6
Obama started US support for S.A.'s war in Yemen, Trump is ending it.
2
@Gerhard
Jamal Khashoggi ended the war in Yemen.
"The United States and Britain have faced increased criticism themselves over their support for the Saudi military in the Yemen war, which includes supplying bombs and intelligence".
Trumps response to the gruesome cuel death was to protect $100 million in US arm sales deals to SA.
Khashoggi gave up his life much like Jesus did. He died for the sins of the United countries for arm sales and proliferation.
The whole world is watching to see if the US continues promoting a guns and bombs economy.
2
Classic American foreign policy. Turn a blind eye to your friends’ atrocities until you get caught. This should have happened years ago...
10
America, the murderer.
The US and UK governments, along with the Italian, French, Chinese and others are complicit arms dealers, knowingly supplying several murderous dictatorships, among them the Saudi.
We all know what is happening in the world today. Too little, too late is this fake effort to take a moral stand. The Trump and May administrations should be tried for crimes against humanity, starting from the leaders at the very top.
No excuses like job creation, economic boost, political contributions from industry lobbies or thinly veiled lies can be used here. While the Saudi royal family lives its life in opulent wealth, millions starve to death, loose their families, their homes, their land, their entire society, their future.
End dictatorships. End "democratic" governments supporting oppression around the world for money, for power, sinful greed.
End this shameful industry that profits on every bomb dropped. It is rooted in law, strategically distributed to sway the political map.
Leaders of a better future - feel shame, discover courage, find a way, uproot your commitment to the industry killing others for profit, funding your campaigns.
13
It seems that the attention generated by the horrible murder of Mr. Khashoggi may end up saving lives in Yemen - a possible silver lining in this otherwise tragic story.
8
Cease-Fire? Just stop the war. The entire war.
8
As a mother of 4 children, I would move heaven and earth to prevent my kids from dying of starvation. I'm sure I would commit all manner of desperate, nonviolent crime to prevent it. Shame on us for allowing this to happen.
I am calling my Senators and Representative every day to demand an end to this despicable war.
Call your Congress, too. Every day. I'm sure, my fellow NYT readers, that you have their numbers in your contacts.
14
Finally, Trump of all people, demands an end on what Obama started
To those who still think of Obama as a humanitarian
From the Atlantic , Sep 23, 2016
Yemen: The Graveyard of the Obama Doctrine
The human costs of facilitating Saudi Arabia’s proxy war
"This past Tuesday, President Barack Obama delivered his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "
"A day later, the U.S. Senate held a rare debate on the sale of arms destined for another war in the Middle East. The deal, for $1.15 billion in weaponry to Saudi Arabia, including over 150 Abrams tanks, is a drop in a bucket: more than $100 billion in arms sales to the kingdom have already been approved by the Obama administration. But a year and a half into the kingdom’s relentless war in Yemen, opponents of the new sale see it as an outright affirmation of Washington’s involvement in a deadly, strategically incoherent war that the White House has kept largely quiet about. What’s more, it is at odds with Obama’s apparent distaste for regional proxy wars."
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/09/yemen-saudi-arabia-obama-riyadh/501365/
7
I’m a Democrat, and I agree with you.
1
Saudi terrorists took down the twin towers .
Why is Riyadh still standing?
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The Saud's are barbaric. How we let them use us in this inhumane cruel attack on poor Yemen is beyond excuse. Drag the genocidal Saud's before The Hague in the same cage used for Charles Taylor. What they did to Khashoggi was criminal what they did to the kids in Yemen ranks up with the Nazis....barbaric war crimes. Mr. Bone Saw should be caged.
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It's about time.
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"Last week Mark Lowcock, the top humanitarian relief official of the United Nations, said the number of Yemenis who need emergency food to survive could soon reach 14 million, half the population." Jesus , how can you sleep at night if you perpetrate this kind of suffering. Who cares which President is to blame--Half the Population?
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The Saudi Kingdom wants the oil beneath Yemen, nothing else. The House of Saud cares for nothing except dollars. To the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the people of Yemen are nothing but troublesome insects to be blown up and starved. The photograph of the starving girl Amal Hussain must have broken every heart in the civilized world. There is little reasonable doubt that Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent fifteen paramilitary assassins to kill and dismember Jamal Khashoggi for criticizing the dictator of the Saudi Kingdom.
We owe that regime less than nothing. Let us immediately send an army of doctors and nurses to save those children who can be saved, and let the United Nations establish a boundary between the opposing armies. And let the Yemeni oil be sold to pay for feeding and housing the Yemenis. The Saudis deserve nothing of the Yemeni treasure.
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I dont think so. S Arabia has enough oil.they dont' want the Iranians in their backyard and I don't blame them. Perhaps this time, we need to listen to the S Arabians a bit more
@rocketship Oh that boogie man rises up again, Iran. Why is Iran the bad guy? They didn't bring down the twin towers, SA did. You are entitled to your opinion but not your own facts.
3
@rocketship
Consider that Iran is - and always has been - just across the Gulf from the Arabian Peninsula, and that there are very large Shi'a populations along the Gulf and the eastern parts of the peninsula. Thus it is hard to take at face value the idea that the KSA can remove Iranians - and by extension Shi'as from "their backyard." Unless you think that genocide is a tolerable option.
KSA may not like their neighbors, but they have no license to exterminate them.
4
I think that the recent expose and photographs which the NY Times published was a huge influence on Mattis, Pompeo and the Brits. Kudos to you guys.
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This is all just posturing for the election. Once that is done Trump's lackeys will say they asked politely for the Saudi's to stop but they said no. Too bad, can't risk harming the US economy by taking any real action. If Trump was serious he would immediately ban all arms sales and military support to the regime.
12
The article clearly points out that this war started in 2015, when Mr. Obama was President. For the next year and a half, neither he nor his administration did or said much about it. Moreover, there was very little coverage of it in our mainstream news media then, except for occasionally reporting on a bomb that might have gone astray.
It really would help if many of the posts here -- which are full of mocking the Trump administration (of which I am no fan) -- recognized this fact, and showed a tad less hypocrisy.
9
@Whatever But you also shouldn't forget that Trump constantly criticised the Obama administration for being involved in the Middle East. Yet during his time in office, the war in Yemen has only intensified and US support has not wavered. So much for promises kept. The 'what about Obama' misdirection does not excuse the Trump Administration which chose not to shift policy.
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@Whatever yes you are so correct, the Middle East was never a conflict zone before 2015!
'
8
Stop supplying the bombs the Saudis use.
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They will just buy weapons from someone else.
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@happyXpat That's no excuse for us compromising our own morals and getting our own hands bloody.
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@happyXpat
And?
That doesn't make it OK that we are supplying all these weapons for an unjust war.
4
It is an indictment of America's so-called leadership that only after three and one half years of Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign in Yemen that it is seeking a cease fire. We are told how precious life is, but the truth is that money precedes morality and humanity. Shame.
12
They let this horror go on for years and toasted the Saudis, but now that it might help them in the midterms they're making noise about pressuring them. Don't reward them your vote.
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@MisterE Oil, Oil, Oil.
Who was the Bushies' best friend? Oh the same guy who bombed the Twin Towers? no really?
3
Pictures of the starving children, still alive with every rib showing should be plastered on huge hoardings near every Trump hotel and golf course. How can we support, buddy up, and sell arms to a regime which has not an iota of an ethical compass. The very arms we sell are being used against a people who have nothing at all. Who are we to let such heinous acts occur?
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@NM
From a committed Dem Trump is not the only President to blame here. This conflict has been going on for years and the US has been selling arms to the Saudi regime the entire time.
1
Gee, maybe it wasn't so bright to sell arms to an islamic theocracy in the first place. Trump seems to think that these sales are so important to the US economy that it doesn't matter how they're used. But look at the humanitarian disaster these weapons have caused for years. Is the small gain for US manufacturers worth these deaths?
6
It is about times US and Western allies stand up to SA.
They have committed enough atrocities to protect their kingdom. Only the children, women and helpless people have paid the price in their bombing.
5
Best news in quite a long time. Please let's also stop selling SA arms.
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Why hasn't the US demanded this long ago? Sanaa used to be a beautiful city. Now it looks like cities in Syria and Iraq, that have been destroyed thanks to the US, indirectly or directly. Why is SA considered a great ally?
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@Lev We apparently needed the pictures to care.
2
If this results even in only a UN-monitored ceasefire let alone maybe an eventual peace agreement; journalist Jamal Khashoggi, slain by Saudi Arabia in part for his opposition to this terrible conflict should be posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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I guess MBS decided not to fund Jared's White Elephant building in Manhattan. What else could explain the sudden change in Trump administration policy?
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I hope one day we have a government that has the courage to examine our dark, demented and depraved relationship with the barbaric Saudi regime....but that will never happen. They will continue to get away with murder and we will continue to look the other way.
And we wonder why people doubt the US's integrity.
10
Trump's "worst cover-up" comment is beyond the pale. Why can't he simply condemn the murder and it's horrifying details? What is wrong with him that he can't just say "worst murder" or "worst treatment of a fellow citizen" or "worst crime in an embassy"?
The hole in this man's humanity can never be filled in.
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@DMS - Oil!
3
This war exposes the hypocrisy of the US government. Just look at all the sufferings. We send our army to Afghanistan in the name of humanity. Have our ideals changed?
8
Why was Khashoggi killed?
4
Why are we not stopping this Genocide today, right now, Why are we giving Saudis and Emiratis 30 days to keep bombing the Yemenis?
I am not pointing out the fact that this war should have been stopped many moons ago when some politicians from both parties decided to keep supporting the Saudis and did not support H Con Resolution 81 sponsored by Rep Tulsi Gabbard.
Houthis are Yemenis, they should be referred as such in reporting they are not implanted in Yemen from other countries as the fighter rebels in Syria. There was a political process and they were a part of that political process. They have been there since the days of Sheba.
Saudis are primarily Najdis from the Emirates of Diniyah (1818). Thanks to the British they gave them the control over the coastline, Taif, Mecca and Medina.
Their habits have not changed, if anything the killing of Khashoggi just highlighted their gruesome nature. It is just not MBS, but the whole clan has the same mentality. It doesn't bother them to kill any and everyone who stand in their way. We and the British have used them for our purposes also.
If the Yemen situation is so dire in the eyes of the British and the US politicians, and if they are serious about stopping, why are they not stop supporting the bombing missions NOW. And Gen Mathis you do not need an Executive Order from Trump either; you can order your men to stand down.
Let peace prevail. Stop these killings now.
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Is this after the $110 Billion weapons sale?
3
What has happened in Yemen is a crime against humanity. We unfortunately have culpability to some degree. The starvation of the population is a direct result of Saudi Arabia's war with the Houthis rebels. It's sad it has taken the death of one journalist for Britain and the U.S. take a stand. Seeing these starving children is heart breaking and disgusting. We should all be ashamed.
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The war in Yemen was a convenient way for Trump to bash Iran. Now the price for that little conceit is getting to be too high.
The truth is, Iran is just not a factor in this war. The Houthis are from the Zaidi sect of Islam--an offshoot branch of Shi'a Islam. They ruled Yemen from the 9th Century down to the 1970s. The idea that they are some kind of upstart rebel group is utterly ignorant. They are in fact trying to reclaim their historic position in that country.
However, the Zaidi community spills over the border into southern Saudi Arabia. This totally freaks out the Saudis who already have trouble enough with the large Shi'a community in the Eastern province occupying the territory where all their petroleum reserves lie.
So the Saudi Arabians have been bombing Yemen to oblivion and the propaganda is that this is somehow Iran's fault! Now as the Saudi onslaught continues, creating famine and needless citizen slaughter, the U.S. and Britain finally realize that the optics of supporting the Saudi slaughter is detrimental to them.
The callousness of Trump is unbounded. How many people have to die for him to continue to score points against Iran?
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@William O. Beeman I'm a Dem and I say, Get Real! Trump didn't start the enabling of this war, Obama did, just as Obama was the biggest weaponizer of the world. Hate Trump, but acknowledge when he does something right, whatever the motives.
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@ELK
Actually Beeman's explanation of the Houthis' background is quite real - and accurate. The Shi'a population in the Eastern Province is the 800 lb gorilla in the room that the Saudis don't want to talk about.
1
During World War II the U.S. and British continuously carpet-bombed German cities, killing tens of thousands of civilians and destroying infrastructure. The idea was to destroy their morale and make them turn against the Hitler regime. It didn’t happen. Despite widespread destruction and dwindling food supplies, the German population continued to cope as the noose around their country and their government tightened. The Yemenis are going through a similar experience and the Saudis have failed to achieve their goal of defeating the Houthis. Human resistance to foreign invasions and attacks is often very strong despite the worst that a foreign power can do from the air.
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End the war and end Trump's alliance with Saudi murderers. Investigate Trump and Kushner's ties to Saudis. Stop all arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Ray Sipe
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Clearly, Trump is pulling out all stops to put MBS's murderous behavior behind the alliance, as well as to get Republicans elected next week.
Not sure I agree. This is swapping short-term gains and an admitted demonstration of human decency for a strategic lever to get Iran to dicker meaningfully on nukes and delivery capacities. What will take its place?
One rogue Iranian nuke five years from now will kill far more innocents than have died so far in Yemen.
1
" One place we can start is by ending United States support for the war in Yemen. Not only has this war created a humanitarian disaster in one of the world’s poorest countries, but also American involvement in this war has not been authorized by Congress and is therefore unconstitutional." - Bernie Sanders, NY times October 24, 2018
The war in Yemen is now in its fourth year. By continuing weapons sales to Riyadh, the West has been feeding and supporting that conflict Humanitarians warn children will be worst hit in what is being forecast as the world's most lethal famine in 100 years. Things are deteriorating very badly and very quickly in Yemen. The implications of this are enormous and frightening and the time is running out, this war must stop. Stop selling weapons to the Saudis.
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I realize this article can't fully explain what's going on in Yemen. But an obvious question left hanging is whether the Saudis are right in asserting that the Houthis are proxies for Iran?
If so, doesn't Iran have to part of any cease fire or settlement?
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@Wiener Dog
Iranian support for the Houthis in Yemen has been exaggerated by the Saudis (and the Western media) to justify their deep involvement in what is essentially a civil war. There have been reports of some financial ties between Iran and the Houthis, but the situation is nothing like Syria for example, which is truly a multi-sided proxy war with troops on the ground from Iran, Turkey, the U.S., and Russia. Nor do the Houthis have substantial historical or material ties to Iran as does Hezbollah.
The war in Yemen is best thought of as a civil war that the Saudis came down hard on one side of, with the assistance of the U.S.
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@Wiener Dog The idea that the Houthis are a cats paw for Iran is utterly ignorant. The Houthis (named after their current leader) are from the Zaidi sect of Shiism. They ruled Yemen from the 9th Century until the 1970s (when North and South Yemen were reunified). Iran's interest and involvement in Yemen is absolutely minimal. The Houthis were well underway in taking back their country before Iran even thought about providing aid (which is primarily financial--there are no Iranian fighters in Yemen). This is a war of Saudis against the Houthis. Saudis fear the Zaidis because their community spills over the border into Saudi Arabia, and they don't want a Shi'a regime on their southern border with adherents in Saudi Arabia itself.
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The US has always supported oppressive regimes in the Middle East and never supported democratically elected governments there (who would rather not give the US carte blanche).
Iran (1953-1979), Iraq (1980-1991), Saudi Arabia (1945-present), Egypt (1973-2011, 2014-present), Lebanon (1945-1983), Yemen (2001-2015), Kuwait (1991-present), Afghanistan (1979-2001,2003-present), Pakistan (1958-1971,1977-1988,1999-2017) (the gaps ere when there were democratically elected governments, the times we supported were during military dictatorships).
There are more, but why bother to pretend that the US cares about the civilians, democracy, and freedom, when all it really cares about is cheap energy and arms deals.
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@James Wallis Martin
Oil,Oil, Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil,Oil
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@James Wallis Martin Thank you. It is good to hear people say these things. I could add my own list of such cases in Latin america.
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Thank you to the NYTimes for their recent coverage of the Saudi induced famine.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/26/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-war-yemen.html
I was personally confused about the core issues, but now understand the majority of problems are fixable, should the Saudis choose that route.
If not, the Saudi regime needs to held accountable for massive oppression and human rights violations.
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@GP - Well the issues gO back 1,000's of years.
@RenegadePriest
This war in Yemen only goes back a few years ..
Please don't mix in ancient Middle East issues with this decade's Saudi atrocities.
I will agree the ancient problems are not easily resolved, but the present Yemen atrocities are quite fixable, within the calendar year, I might add.
Finally, a hope to more directly and centrally address many Middle Eastern problems since 9/11.
If dressing up today in Anglo-American right wing garb, one might utter: “Well, that’s really where the big oil and the religious extremism came from after all.”
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An attempted distraction from Mo Bone Saw and his barbarism.
Not working. Stop dealing with Saudi Arabia. We do NOT need them.
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flooding the market with currency causing impossible prices for food in a country where most people are not working due to the war and civil servants professionals etc. not being paid is a recipe for starvation and the current disaster. SA then wants publicity for donating money for the crisis they share a huge responsibility for is just nuts. It's our and the world community's responsibility to help broker a cease fire and create an environment where this insanity can be ended and people saved.
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If this works, it underscores that we could have stopped this bloodbath at any point. We're complicit and culpable.
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Canada is also complicit as my country has a billion dollar + agreement with Saudi Arabia for military vehicles which our government says are not being used in Yemen.
Really? Can we get absolute verification of this please?
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Yemen has an extreme history of social subjection
and repression .
Stand Clear and don't throw gas on the fire .
Too little, too late. The Saudi's will be replenishing their arsenals from U.S. and G.B. arms merchants. The people of Yemen are unlikely to recover, ever.
4
Have faith. The Armenians recovered, the Jews recovered, the Rwandans recovered. The Syrians will recover, the Yemeni MAY recover. Sadly, Native Americans never recovered.
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@New World Thank you for your comment. Each of these constituencies is a state of diaspora that has never ended. Yes, there is a country of Armenia, Israel, etc. (and our own indigenous peoples' continue to be disenfranchised) but destroying the ability to live " at home" and forcing people into exile from which they don't (or can't) return is a permanent condition. I'm glad we (all) can discuss our views, and I benefitted from your comment, too.
Trump winds down a foreign intervention boondoggle of the Obama Administration.
Excellent news.
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Thank God.
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This is good. I offer praise for something the Trump administration is doing!
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News organizations need to stop using that ridiculous and long outdated estimate of 10,000 dead for the war in Yemen. The true figure for violent deaths (combatants and noncombatants) is probably in the 50,000 to 70,000 range and when you include the deaths from malnutrition (mostly children) then we are adding at the very least tens of thousands every year for the past three years. The total death toll from the war is probably in the low hundreds of thousands.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-true-cost-of-the-war-on-yemen/
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The killing of Khasshogi gave the US and UK the opportunity to demand end to war in Yemen as it was making bad optics. Helping in the mass murder of Yemeni children with US and UK bombs looks really bad.
The US and UK have a conflict of interest in Yemen. Every bomb costs millions. The Saudis aim poorly and they do it a lot so they use more bombs. Every Yemeni child's death brings in wealth to these two great countries who want to bring democracy and free speech in Syria.
3
Does this mean that the US will not sell arms to Saudi Arabia?
7
Divest. Divest all stocks that take money from the Saudis.
10
it's time for us to face it. In a world of dicator "wannabes", not you Prime Minister May, but including Trump. MBS is a despot. All arms sales to Saudi Arabia should be stopped and a trade embargo should ensure. Trump will explode at the latter, but hey he just got shot down on the "Birth Issue" so why not hit him with another one.
All joking aside, Yemen has endured war for far too long with too many casualties. Saudi Arabia is to blame and must be brought to task.
4
A resetting of the US - Saudi alliance?
Thankfully, somebody has done their homework. Hopefully Israeli PM, Netanyahu, is paying attention.
It is wonderful to read a headline where the US is acting alongside one of our country's long standing allies. So refreshing.
We should always leave our options open when it comes to taking sides in the great Sunni-Shite split. We like Iran helping us defeat ISIS in Iraq. We don't like Iran's threats against Israel. Same goes with Saudi Arabia, Turkey etc.
It just seems so strange that Trump is taking this tack. Maybe..........Ah - still wishful thinking at this stage.
3
It's still a mystery why the US media did not make a daily fuss about the genocidal war in Yemen wh/ the US has backed since 2015 when the Nobel Laureate Harvard Law Pres Obama was in office. The deaths of 10,000 Yemeni, the majority via US/Western clusterbombs, jets & war gadgets are in reality a form of state-sponsored terrorism. What sort of preposterous logic was it to aid & abet the murderous Saudi kingdom in its cowardice slaughter of children & adults in the poorest nation in MidEast? How could the US talk about "winning hearts & minds" of Muslims, & then turn around & support war crimes in Yemen? What will happen to the generation of justifiably angry revengeful Yemeni children when they reach adulthood? Should not the US & their European allies have been pushing for peaceful resolution of the Yemen conflict back in 2015 before we reached the stage of what the Times has called a "famine in biblical proportions"? The shock is not how the anachronistic demonic Saudi sheikhs have acted, but mind-boggling how Washington, London & rest of the Liberal world have gone along w/ the Saudi crimes—all for a few hundred billion earnings to benefit the miltiary-industrial-complex. How criminally sad. And Ironically we have Turkey's Pres Erdogan to thank if the Yemen war were to end. Love him or hate him on his internal politics, but his moral outrage on the Saudi Khashoggi butchering was real. It’s long overdue to give peace a chance in Yemen & US/EU/Turkey should take the lead.
38
Thank God there is some movement by the US and Britain on the war in Yemen. I have felt responsible for those poor critically malnourished kids pictured in the Times, and frustrated there seems no avenue to influence the politicians to do something about it.
7
What, the Saudis are no longer our partner in the War on Terror in the Middle East, aka kill your political and tribal enemies with American arms. With MBS likely to be riden out on a camel, Kushner can devote more time to starving the Palestinians and stripping them of their refugee status.
14
Relations have cooled for a brief period: a mini Ice Age. The gyroscope will reassert itself within a year. Next Halloween--actually by April--we will be back to normal. The relationship is too important to all the parties to let decency and Justice get in the way: real power and real money are at stake. They just haven't found a high enough scapegoat to take the fall. That will come first and then they can get back on track to getting back on track. We've seen it all before.
7
This is one of the most accurate reporting on Yemen that I have seen in a long while. Many of the Saudi PR narrative is not parroted.
The strangling blockade enforced by the Saudi need to be lifted if we are to stabilize/reverse the disastrous outcomes of the famine and the lack of medicine in Yemen. NO aid in the world can sustain a population of 29 million people.
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If they don't have the Yemenis to bomb they won't need the alleged USD110 billion in weapons, will they? Any news on the US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia?
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If the British and American negotiators can stop the genocide in Yemen, perhaps Khashoggi’s brutal murder will not have been in vain !!
12
It's high time to end this Saudi massacre of inocent Yemenis (with full cooperation of these United States). This 'war' is totally unjustified. And besides, it just feeds religious extremism where fanatics start maiming 'the others' again, of course, 'in the name of an all-loving god' (Ughh!).
14
So it may be that Jamal Khashoggi’s atrocious death will help put an end to the terrible suffering in Yemen. At least he didn’t die in vain.
12
Translation: we don't want you to use the arms we sell you. Calling for a cease-fire is worth nothing unless the arms are cut off.
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As soon as the US stops refueling the bombers mid-air, the war will effectively be over.
5
It should be NOT just be a cease fire but lift the barricades blocking humanitarian aid. SA is deliberately starving the Yemeni people.
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The British economy will pretty much collapse if arms sales are halted.
These days, the UK's only successful industries are death and money laundering.
13
This news together with the return of the kings only surviving full brother, Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz, and the reconvening of the Allegiance Council suggests MBS may be on his way out. Also, the so-called Kushner peace plan is dead, as Kushner has lost standing in the Kingdom.
Six months ago in response to a Friedman column, I said that MBS would not last. His strategic acumen is lacking. His multi billion Air Force jets and drones that descend on Yemen like armed locusts cannot defeat the Houthi's, even with US drones and US special forces. You need ground forces for that, but here's the rub, the Saudi public nor the Royal Family have the stomach to see their small army attritted in Yemen. The dollar burn rate in the high tech war that MBS sought to wage is substantial.
Finally, MBS has brought international condemnation on the Kingdom and actually strengthened their Sunni rival Turkey as and their Shia rival Iran. That together with a possible rupture with their most important ally, US, created a atmosphere that threatened the survival of the House of Saud and thus sealed MBS fate and likely Kushner's role as a player in the Middle East.
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@George Cooper, well said, although Kushner never had a role in the Middle East except to cozy up to dictators and corrupt, dishonest politicians.
@George Cooper
Nice summation. The return of Prince Ahmad is highly significant.
"Yemen war, the world’s worst man-made humanitarian disaster."
There is a glaring dissonance here.
If it is indeed the worst humanitarian disaster, why (before the disavowal with MBS) hasn't the level of negative media coverage been commensurate to the coverage given to Syria, or even Libya prior to its regime change?
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"U.S. and Britain Seek Yemen Cease-Fire as Relations With Saudis Cool"?
Welcome, but LONG OVERDUE!
Why did the USA and Britain tacitly (explicitly, via back-channels like Lil' Jared?) allow the Saudis to wage this devastating, personal vendetta war, which clearly causes terrible human misery and only serves to destabilize the region more?
Why, apart from US and British arms merchants , of course! Trump made that pretty clear last week.
29
The Saudi's, our largest arms purchaser denied they killed Khassoghi ( personally I don't care about that clown, however I do care about kills in foreign country's) in addition they also denied being involved with 911.
The Saudi government has their Minister of Misinformation making the rounds to convince everyone of the righteousness of their intentions.
2
Absolutely, there never was a justification for Saudis to bomb Yemenis into oblivion. US as well share the guilt for supporting this war initiated and maintained by a reckless 33 year old which proved how criminal he is. What is even more bothersome is that this war against the Yemenis had no strategy when and how to end concerning the sufferings of 22 million people.
Usually media sites the killings of civilians as the reason to end the war. However, the toll of malnutrition, psychological problems and children unable to go to school are the biggest scars Yemenis will suffer from for decades.
Unfortunately, Khashoggi’s killing had to happen for the world to understand who and what is MBS.
Lets hope peace is restored because Yemenis have suffered enough.
Let them have a representative, inclusive and democratic system of government so all Yemenis can participate in walks of life without exclusion or discrimination.
9
Imagine this: Saudis and UAE stop the bombing and kick in $2-3 billions each to feed those they’ve driven to extreme hunger.
12
Remember when Trump was ok with letting Saudi Arabia have nuclear weapons?? Now, that would be just another crazy idea from the “very stable genius”.
Let’s get some checks and balances on Trump. His ideas are harebrained at best, more likely serving his personal financial interests from, er, “direct” negotiations with autocratic governments.
Vote Blue!
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@Patrician The USA are actually assisting the Saudis to get nuclear energy (only for peaceful use,of course)...You have any idea how much they would pay to get this !!!!!
3
@Patrician
You can bet your boots that Saudia Arabia either already has or can with the wave of a billion dollar check acquire nuclear weapons from their absolute best friends, the Pakistanis!
4
After all of these years we are expecting the Saudi terrorists to be responsible? This should have at least started after 9-11.
7
Does our "crack" Special Middle East Envoy, Kushner, have anything at all to do with this new effort at peace, or has he been told by Pompeo to just keep his mouth shut and stay clear?
8
I think he is too busy selling White Supremacy to Jewish Americans to help his father-in-law with the mid-terms. I don’t think that is going very well either.
7
Saudi is a cess pit. Every time I hear about this, I think it’s time to switch to Tesla, or get solar panels for my house.
14
Its really funny ,, these countries did not see that way a few weeks back! killing the kids in the school bus did not cause any uproar!
Well it really needs a "down" royalty for our USA to make a move!
6
How will this affect the Trump Brand ??? Less commissions and bonuses??? Good. Nothing good can come from the slaughter of innocents. NOTHING.
3
God I hope so, the estimated 10,000 Yemeni lives lost, cholera outbreak and a full-blown famine. And not to mention the trauma that has been afflicted. I can't help but feel like the U.S. is speaking out of both sides of their mouths. We have a supposed "billions" of dollars in arms deals to Saudi who is a large corporate of the damage to Yemen yet we want to a cease fire? I guess better late than never.
17
abruptly intensified on Wednesday for a cease-fire in the Yemen war, the world’s worst man-made humanitarian disaster.
Perhaps at this moment but with so many of them, it's hard for me to imagine how and who on earth can quantify such things, or even wish to dare. After years of seeing nothing but rubble made of Syria, that pile pictured here looks no different. I thought the media was trying to regain its credibility, not only reinforce more the negative stereotype of overstatement for political purposes that Trump has been putting out there.
1
This is the first good thing the Trump administration has done. They US backed Saudi war against the people of Yemen is a disaster in the order of a million-fold of the Khashoggi affair. Now would be the time for the US to transform there effort to aiding the international relief effort.
13
I am so happy to read this! The fact that we continue to supply arms to Saudi Arabia when they are responsible for such mass slaughter and famine in Yemen outrages me. On every issue that matters, it seems our country has lost its moral bearings. Thanks to those who are pursuing this new course. May you succeed.
18
My heart goes out to the soldiers, Houthis who have been killed or wounded in this seemingly terrible conflict. The Saudis want to become big shots but their weird religious fanaticism has made them an unattractive ally or friend.
8
So how will then US and UK sell their weapons? Start a new war somewhere else?
68
If the international reaction to Khashoggi's murder forces the Saudis into a ceasefire in Yemen, then his gruesome death will not have been entirely in vain.
66
The war ending in Yemen would be a great, positive legacy worthy of Jamal Khashoggi! Here's hoping it happens!
19
Obama droned a bunch of Yemen's to death doing the bidding of the Saudi's, I truly believe Obama was trying to prevent a wider war. That failed. Hopefully the Trump Administration and the Brits can force and end to it.
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I bet this the payoff for not lifting a finger over Khashoggi. Quid pro quo: we shut up about kidnap and murder, you end that war that’s giving us bad optics. Cynical politics at its worst.
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If somehow the US can help stop this war that would be a blessing,
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@Yankee Fan They can help stop it by no longer giving the Saudis the bombs and weapons being used to massacre the Yemenis.
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@Will - um, we aren't "giving" them bombs and weapons. We are selling them. Lets not forget that Mr Trump touted the jobs jobs jobs thing when initially refusing to condemn the Saudis for the journalists killing. Too many US workers in the munitions industry so our policy is to be *sad* about the Yemenis but continue selling the weapons of death and destruction, for jobs at home. We profit while the Saudis massacre the Yeminis.
We have met evil and it is us.
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This may be a positive step. This "war" was always counterproductive and damaging to the U.S., a very foolish strategy as well as a humanitarian disaster.
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@Beth
It looks positive, I'll grant you. But its a meaningless PR ploy until we cease all arms sales to the Saudis.
Even then, its a show for the groundlings until we make the same demands of Israel (yes, yes AND the Palestinians) and back both up with a refusal to sell arms (like that's ever going to happen) and limit all financial support to humanitarian issues.
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