Padding US Coffers on the Faraway Miseries in Yemen

You may disagree with my opinion about the United States’ global decline, China’s rise, and Russia’s adventurism, among others. But I write not to gratify readers’ political sensibilities but to offer a strictly objective and honest assessment of how I see the United States’ support for Saudi Arabia’s atrocities in Yemen. And I see a worrisome sign for the U.S. and its relations with the rest of the world.

It is no secret that the United States and Great Britain are the main weapons suppliers to Saudi Arabia (SA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). The U.S. needs to reevaluate its policy of supporting Saudi Arabia’s ongoing atrocities in Yemen by providing weapons and intelligence support.

Examples proliferate, but let’s focus on just one: US continued support in intelligence and weapons/ammunition sales for the Saudi-Emirati campaign of destruction against Yemeni civilians. This is so outrageous that it raises questions about America’s moral standing in the world.

So is this what America now amounts to? Greed?

Congress daily reflects heights of hypocrisy given how politicians (not all but clearly a majority) are more concerned about their political careers and what’s in it for them personally than serving constituents and upholding once-sacred, founding principles. While we might hear, from time to time, that certain members of Congress are angry on points of principle and ethics, it’s inevitably nothing but cheap political theatrics. Meanwhile, most Americans have no clue that the legislative branch is now largely controlled by a Saudi lobbyist group.

If that’s not enough reason to comprehend the depth and seriousness of this problem, consider the following: What happened to that lawsuit that family members of 9/11 victims were to file against the Saudi government for its involvement in and support of 9/11 terrorist attacks? Sadly, Congress quietly swept the matter under the rug. And out of party loyalty, many Americans don’t speak of it anymore, even for all their supposed patriotism every Sept. 11 and alleged sympathy for the victims.

It’s not enough for Congress to act as if it cares when in reality it doesn’t. It’s not enough to express words without acting in deed. It’s not enough for the U.S. to claim to be the beacon of democracy and a champion of human rights while pocketing Saudi cash and contributing to the destruction of defenseless Yemeni civilians in an insane, six-year war launched by the House of Saud. Turning a blind eye to the horrific atrocities committed in Yemen in return for billions of dollars demonstrates how corrupt our government has become.

The amount of destruction and catastrophe Saudi Arabia and its coalition are causing in Yemen — and while using American and British weapons against defenseless civilians — should raise questions about our role and motives. Yet Washington’s silence over the atrocities committed there reflects a failed moral obligation as Washington bows to greed.

As I argue in my book, “Beneath the Veil: Fall of the House of Saud,” the ongoing conflict in Yemen is proving to be a humanitarian disaster on so many levels: famine at unprecedented levels, deaths of civilians, destruction of hospitals and a blockade that demonstrate the worst that human beings can do to one another, let alone a Muslim to a fellow Muslim. Saudi Arabia’s decisions epitomize hypocrisy and the ugliness of human nature. Yet history has come full circle: Yemen has become to Saudi Arabia what Vietnam was to the United States. By now, no one benefits except for those manufacturing military arsenal.

Sadly, we are today barely a shadow of the nation we once represented to the world. While Washington under both parties has spoken as if it is all-knowing in its moral authority, we have failed to preserve basic human decency and dignity.

When the American president – any president – speaks on foreign policy, the world hears only chest-beating bravado, meaningless rhetoric about human rights and hollow claims of global greatness. Our only enduring value these days is power and greed amid endless, self-righteous hectoring that orders all peoples around the globe to abandon their heathen ways and improve themselves according to Washington’s specifically ordained, self-serving, coffer-padding dictates.

David Oualaalou is a Geopolitical Consultant, Award Winning Educator, Veteran, Author, and former International Security analyst in Washington, D.C.