Yemen/ Saudi/ Bahrain update 5/21/2017...Rewarding Saudi War Crimes With Weapons

WHO warns of 300,000 Cholera cases in Yemen within 6 months

Fresh Saudi air raids against Yemen claim six civilian lives

YEMENI FORCES CLAIM SHOOTING DOWN SAUDI-LED COALITION’S F-15 WARPLANE

Yemen, Arabia, 05/20/17 Prov. Of Najran burn camp.

Yemen Today Channel English News 20 5 2017

Yemenis rally against “US terrorism”

No to US terrorism on Yemen | AIC
Ansarullah Information Center

Ansarullah Leader: Trump’s Visit to Riyadh Aimed at Disintegration of Arab States

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960231001276

Leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi, underlined that US President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh is aimed at weakening and disintegrating the Arab countries and helping Israel. “Trump’s trip to Riyadh is in line with implementing the US and Israel’s plots to annihilate the Arab states after weakening and disintegrating them,” al-Houthi said on Sunday. “Saudi Arabia and the UAE are financial sponsors of these plots and when their role ends, it will be their own turn to become annihilated by poverty,” he added.

Trump in Saudi Arabia: More U.S. Weapons for Devastating Yemen War

Saudi’s War on Yemen Acceptable

“Rather Than Exporting Democracy We’re Exporting Weapons!”

Kucinich: Why do a deal with a country connected to terror?

Why Is The Trump Administration Rewarding Saudi War Crimes With More Weapons?

… While in Riyadh this weekend, Trump reportedly plans to announce more than $100 billion in arms deals to Saudi Arabia – nearly as much as Barack Obama authorized during his eight years in office.

The deals include Raytheon bombs, Lockheed Martin missile defense systems and BAE combat vehicles, and some of the weapons whose sales had been suspended.

The scars of unlawful airstrikes can be found across Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition has carried out scores of attacks that hit homes, schools, markets, and hospitals since March 2015, when it began its military campaign against the Houthi armed group and forces loyal to the former longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Human Rights Watch has documented 81 apparently unlawful coalition attacks over the last two years, many possible war crimes. In almost two dozen of these cases, including the attack on the funeral hall, we were able to identify the US weapons that were used.

According to the United Nations, at least 4,773 civilians have been killed and 8,272 wounded since this conflict began, the majority by coalition airstrikes. The war has driven Yemen, already the poorest nation in the Middle East, toward humanitarian catastrophe.

Both the coalition and Houthi-Saleh forces have blocked or restricted critical relief supplies from reaching civilians. Seven million people face starvation, and cholera ravages parts of the country.

Trump should be urging the Saudis to shift course by abiding by the laws of war and holding those responsible for past abuses to account. Instead he will effectively be telling them to continue as before and not to worry – the flow of US weapons will not stop.

Trump will also be putting Americans at risk. Continued U.S. arms sales to a country that has repeatedly violated the laws of war exposes US officials to legal liability for aiding and abetting coalition war crimes.

Some lawmakers in the U.S. are pushing back, introducing a bill intended to limit US arms transfers to Saudi Arabia. It would require the White House to certify that Saudi Arabia is taking all feasible precautions to minimize civilian casualties in Yemen, and stipulate that the White House must brief Congress on whether Saudi Arabia has used US weapons in previous unlawful attacks in Yemen. Other lawmakers have pledged to try to prevent future US arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: “If we condition too heavily that others must adopt [our] value[s]… it really creates obstacles to our ability to advance, our national security interests, our economic interests.” The Trump administration needs to recognize instead that protecting civilians in armed conflict is part and parcel of enhancing US national security.

The U.S. cannot quietly hope that the coalition will take the blame for past and future atrocities like the funeral hall bombing. Yemeni civilians suffering from unlawful airstrikes know the US supports the coalition and that U.S. weapons have been used against them. This is the national security problem the administration should be paying more attention to.

If the Trump administration won’t try to curtail war crimes by Saudi Arabia and the rest of the coalition, Congress should step in and make clear – by using its own power to stop weapons sales – that the lives of Yemeni civilian can no longer be disregarded.

Trump deal with Saudis worth BILLIONS! While Yemen Cracks under pressure

Trump makes plans with Gulf Cooperation Council

“We Highly Respect Iranians” – Saudi King Shah Salman Speaks with Trump

Deputy Top Commander Blasts US Secretary of State’s Anti-Iran Remarks

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960231000838

Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri lashed out at US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for his comments against Tehran’s missile program, adding that it showed the American officials’ lack of understanding.

His remarks came after Tillerson called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to end the country’s ballistic missile tests in what was Washington’s first reaction to his re-election.

“The US secretary of state’s expectations of the Iranian president indicate the US officials’ non-understanding of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” General Jazzayeri said in response on Sunday.

Stressing that the only way for the establishment of peace and tranquility in the region is the US withdrawal of its forces, he said that Iran is implementing its policies in a specified course of action and nothing can impede or stop it.

General Jazzayeri stressed that Iran will continue and accelerate its defense programs, including development of missile defense systems, as a priority.

In relevant remarks earlier this month, General Jazzayeri said that the US spy agencies cannot understand the extent of Iran’s progress in defensive fields.

“We can conclude from the news and information which are presented and released by the US bodies and influential people that the US military and intelligence bodies are not able to understand the depth of Iran’s defense capabilities,” Jazzayeri said.

He underlined that Iran enjoys an “active deterrence power” which chases any aggressor until annihilation or surrender.

Jazzayeri stressed that given the existence of evil enemies, Iran will continue progress in building different weapons and equipment to defend itself.

Bahraini court gives top Shia cleric suspended jail term