The U.S. Bombed a New Country, But No One Noticed
The U.S. Bombed a New Country, But No One Noticed
Yemen has been devastated by civil war since forces loyal to Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi began clashing with allies of the Houthi rebels, forcing the government into exile and prompting a military intervention by neighboring Saudi Arabia in March 2015. More than 6,800 people have been killed in the conflict since March 2015, and another 35,000 individuals have been injured.
Up until last week, the United States' involvement has remained somewhat indirect — selling armsto Saudi Arabia, which may be using them to commit war crimes, and providing the Saudis with logistical support for their airstrikes (along with using drones to attack suspected terrorist targets in Yemen).
But on Wednesday, that changed. A U.S. Navy destroyer fired Tomahawk missiles directly at three radar sites controlled by the Houthi movement in coastal Yemen.
Did the U.S. just enter into a war with Yemen without anyone noticing?
Not exactly. The airstrikes are being billed by the American government as limited retaliation. Why? In the past week, missiles were fired twice from Houthi-controlled territory at U.S. warships in the Red Sea off the Saudi Arabian peninsula. (A third attempt reportedly occurred on Saturday, after the U.S. airstrikes.)
The U.S. attack comprised "limited self-defense strikes [that] were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation," according to Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook.
The U.S. airstrikes mark a significant escalation of America's involvement in the bombing campaign against Yemen. And yet we've heard very little about them in the news — and almost nothing about the Yemeni conflict from our presidential candidates.
http://www.attn.com/stories/12118/us...no-one-noticed