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War in Yemen a Bonanza for US, UK Arms Merchants

War in Yemen a Bonanza for US, UK Arms Merchants
folder_openYemen access_time6 years ago
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Local Editor

Commenting on the non-stopping war in Yemen, Michael Horton wrote for The American Conservative a piece discussing US and UK's involvement in the ongoing tragedy:

War in Yemen a Bonanza for US, UK Arms Merchants

The war in Yemen is now in its third year. As a direct result of the war and the blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies, Yemen is now the scene of the world's most pressing humanitarian crisis.

There is a cholera epidemic-a half a million Yemenis have been infected-millions face starvation, and the country's infrastructure has largely been destroyed by Saudi Arabia's indiscriminate aerial campaign.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP] controls large swaths of southern Yemen where it is now the best organized and most capable organization operating there.

The war is a gift to AQAP but it is has also been a bonanza for US and UK-based arms manufactures who-with the approval of UK and US governments-have sold billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partner the United Arab Emirates [UAE].

Not to be left out are the Gulf based private military companies that are making millions from their contracts with the UAE whose army largely consists of mercenaries.

Most of Yemenis simply want to be able to feed their families and send their children to school sure in the knowledge that they will not be shot by a sniper or be incinerated by a US or UK manufactured smart bomb dropped by a Saudi jet.

The war in Yemen is, like the country itself, incredibly complex and divisions run deep. But if there was a genuine interest on the part of Saudi Arabia, the US, and the UK to end the conflict, Yemen's numerous parties would likely respond, Horton adds.

There is a rich history of negotiated settlements in Yemen and it has a culture that prioritizes and respects de-escalation.

The billions being made by arms manufacturers are surely more worthy of examination as a driver of conflict in Yemen and further afield. It is worth remembering the venerable and ever-more prescient words of Major General Smedley Butler: "war is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives."

Source: The American Conservative, Edited by website team

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