You may have heard by now that the United States government recently authorized a special operations raid in Yemen. However, you may not have heard about the food crisis in Yemen affecting millions of people. I had not heard about this major problem either until I heard about the raid, so let’s explore both situations.
During a January 29th raid, several members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were killed, as well as many Yemeni civilians and one Navy SEAL.
This is the first military activity authorized under newly-minted President Trump’s watch, even though it was first planned during the closing months of the Obama administration.
Much controversy has surrounded the aftermath of this raid. The loss of innocent Yemeni life certainly has put the mission’s “success” in question by many White House officials, although it is arguable that many American leaders are more upset about the fact that a $75 million helicopter had to be destroyed and that an American commando was killed.
Additionally, the Yemeni government has predictably denounced the U.S. raid. Yemen officials have both called for an end to American operations for the time being and backtracked that statement in recent days.
Standards of success of a counter-terrorism operation be put aside, let us not forget about the larger crisis at hand for Yemen: food shortages.
Currently, a naval blockade is bringing down port shipments to a trickle. Yemen, already the poorest nation in the Arabian Peninsula, now is home to 14 million citizens who are food insecure. This crisis has emaciated the issue of child malnutrition in the country,
which is by some metrics the worst in the world. There is not a clear hope or future in sight for Yemenis, either. The problem has become worse as the Houthi rebels and AQAP fight the government and incite more deadly airstrikes against the cities and villages. Hospitals have become overloaded with parents and starving children. Many families do not have money to pay for food or medical care as their ways of life are being dismantled by war and conflict.
This is one of the true costs of war, and it is atrocious.
Picture credits:
http://www.arabiansupplychain.com/article-11153-saudi-naval-coalition-blockades-yemen-port/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/04/yemen-famine-feared-as-starving-children-fight-for-lives-in-hospital#img-1
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2017/02/02/open-source-survey-of-the-us-raid-in-yemen/
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/04/yemen-famine-feared-as-starving-children-fight-for-lives-in-hospital
https://www.wfp.org/emergencies/yemen/
http://www.newsweek.com/trumps-yemen-raid-killed-nine-children-what-went-wrong-554611
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444766/yemen-raid-donald-trump-barack-obama-john-mccain-sean-spicer-media
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/world/middleeast/yemen-raid-american-military.html?emc=edit_nn_20170209&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=69036351&te=1&_r=0
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/08/middleeast/yemen-raid-explainer/index.html
-Davis Riddett
Another thing you never hear about Yemen: Several of their issues stem from constant bombing from Saudi Arabia. Not bombing against the state but against militants within the state. But of course there is still collateral damage. What's interesting though is that this situation has several parallels to the Russian and Syrian bombing of Aleppo. We hear all about Russia's actions in Aleppo, and next to nothing about Saudi Arabia's (our ally's) aggression in Yemen.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is a prime example of a discussion that exists in our government and military currently. Where do we draw the line between anti-terrorist actions and humanity? Children in Yemen are receiving the direct impact of the United States' and other countries' actions, even though as a country we claim to be acting righteously.
ReplyDelete- Allison Kosic
It seems that at times the consequences are disregarded in favor of achieving an end goal, to the dismay of humanity.
ReplyDelete-Thomas Schmelzle
I had not heard about this food shortage either. The fact that the U.S. government has yet to address either this crisis or the Saudi-led blockade, proves just how prevalent realism stands in U.S. Foreign Policy.
ReplyDelete-Noah O'Kelley
I was unaware that Yemen had any food problems, so thanks for making me aware. Although the news about the raid is important as it has implications in the U.S government's relationship with Yemen, only hearing about the raid and nothing else is upsetting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I'm so bummed that humanitarian concerns have taken the third row back seat to political agendas and a false sense of national security.
ReplyDeleteThis is so much like our World War I reading. It is demoralizing to think that a food crisis in the Middle East has happened because of a blockade in the past and we are letting it happen again.
ReplyDeleteThis is yet another example of how one-sided the Trump administration can be. For some of the people in Yemen, their livelihood originates from AQAP or the government, as corrupt and unfortunate as both of those options may be. So, going into Yemen in an attempt to dismantle the AQAP organization is all fine and dandy, but there has to be some sort of provisions for the people who are bound to this organization, the government, or any other method of subsistence. Approaching this problem and turning a blind eye to those who will suffer immediate repercussions from this (i.e. women and children, who constantly face discrimination and subordination) is selfish behavior on behalf of both the Trump administration and the Yemeni government.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this is just another example of how complicated and inconsistent our foreign policy and military action can be. We know that giving humanitarian aid to local governments often results in inefficient distribution, and bringing our own manpower to distribute it would be costly and dangerous. Somehow, we need to figure out simultaneous anti-terrorism and humanitarian aid in an effective way, such that we can justify the cost and help people like these millions of Yemeni citizens.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how the humanitarian issues of these military expenditures are rarely broadcast but if this happened in the western world, this would be top news story for weeks
ReplyDelete-Steven Rayburn
Yet another example of the US media picking and choosing what to report on. The fact that many of us had no idea about the food shortage in Yemen shows that the media has not considered it as important as other current events.
ReplyDelete-Freya James
I find it interesting that the US and our allies always tend to do the exact thing non-state aggressors cite as their reasons for aggression in response to their aggression. "Oh, these 'terrorists' are mad about the food shortages our economically-driven military operations are causing in their country? Let's get our allies to blockade them and create a food shortage!" Maybe we should try giving humanitarian aid to the population instead of bombing them in the hopes of taking out a few terrorists. I understand that the terrorists are not great for their country or our allies, but at what point do you consider that maybe its our allies that are the real terrorists?
ReplyDelete-J.R. Purvis
I wonder how much a positive (food supply) impact would be in comparison to a raid in weakening the power of terrorists in the region, stabilizing it...
Delete- Yonatan W
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