2018 Middle East Posts

Inspector General: Pentagon backed Afghan units involved in 'gross violations of human rights'

The Pentagon knowingly funded Afghan security forces engaged in gross violations of human rights. As reported in The Hill (Jan 23), "The Pentagon has used a loophole in law to continue training, equipping and otherwise assisting Afghan security force units that have committed “gross violations of human rights,” according to a previously classified report released Tuesday...The Secretary of Defense has used the notwithstanding clause in the DOD Appropriations Acts to continue providing [Afghanistan Security Forces Fund] funding for select training, equipment, and other assistance to some implicated units in Afghanistan,” the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) wrote.

Kabul attack: Taliban kill 95 with ambulance bomb in Afghan capital

"A suicide bombing has killed at least 95 people and injured 158 others in the centre of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, officials say. Attackers drove an ambulance laden with explosives past a police checkpoint in a secure zone, home to government offices and foreign embassies." (BBC, Jan 27)

Reaction to Trump's decision to slash aid to UNRWA after UN vote on Jerusalem Embassy

POSTED 2/1/2018

Mahmoud Abbas challenges American leadership of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process at the United Nations

POSTED 2/20/2018

"In a speech Tuesday (February 20) before the U.N. Security Council, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas...proposed convening an international peace conference, including Israeli and Palestinian representatives, by mid-2018 that would recognize Palestine as a full-fledged U.N. member state, guarantee the protection of Palestinians, and recognize the international borders of Israel and Palestine on the basis of 1967 borders...The proposal for an international conference was warmly received by other council members,.[and] Abbas’s speech received rousing applause from the packed Security Council chamber. " (Foreign Policy, Feb 20)

RJC 2/20/18: It's time to stop pretending that the United States can be an honest broker in the peace process. Moving its embassy to Jerusalem and slashing funds to the UNRWA, the primary relief agency for Palestinian refugees, are just the latest in a long series of actions (and inactions) detrimental to the two-state solution. There is a sad truth, though, that the rest of the world must face. As was the case with South Africa in the bad old days of apartheid, until the United States pressures Israel to cease its illegal (settlements) and oppressive (Gaza blockade, Note 1) actions, Israel will not allow the Palestinians a homeland. The current far-right Israeli government is now floating the concept of an Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

(Note 1) Imagine This Was Your Family; "This is the reality of Palestinian life in East Jerusalem today." (Americans For Peace Now, Feb 20)

Syria is Exploding Again

POSTED 2/22/2018

The Syrian tragedy continues. Civil war, proxy war, whatever you want to call it - the killing has picked up again.

Turkish forces began an assault on Syrian Kurds in late January. "Turkey considers the US-backed Kurdish militia that controls much of north-eastern Syria a terrorist group. Turkey says the militia is an extension of a Kurdish rebel group it has fought for decades, and wants to prevent it consolidating its hold on Syrian territory." (BBC, Jan 22) This week Turkey "warned the Syrian government not to help Kurds fighting against Turkish forces in northern Syria. Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said Turkey's operations were going ahead as planned and it would be a "disaster" if Syrian troops were to intervene. Syrian media had earlier said the army would help Kurds resist Turkish operations in the enclave of Afrin. But there has been no sign of this so far, and the Kurdish YPG militia has denied there is a deal with Damascus. 'If [the Syrian army] comes in to defend the YPG, then nothing and nobody can stop Turkish soldiers,' [Turkish Foreign Minister] Cavusoglu told reporters in Jordan. (BBC, Feb 19)

Syrian government forces are conducting a siege of rebel-held Eastern Ghouta. "A four-day-long bombardment by Syrian government forces is reported to have killed more than 300 civilians in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area. The enclave - home to an estimated 393,000 people - has been under siege since 2013. But pro-government media say a major military operation might soon begin to clear rebel factions from their last major stronghold near the capital Damascus. The relentless air and artillery strikes are leaving civilians, particularly women and children, in a state of fear and forcing them to seek shelter underground, where they are largely deprived of food and sanitation." (BBC, Feb 22)

"Russia has said there is no agreement on a UN Security Council resolution to bring in a 30-day truce in Syria. Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the council in New York his country had presented amendments. Speaking at an emergency meeting of the council, he called for "feasible" rather than "populist" action. Calls for a truce have grown louder as civilians in the besieged rebel enclave of the Eastern Ghouta come under more intensive bombardment. The draft, put forward by Kuwait and Sweden, calls for a 30-day nationwide truce to go into effect 72 hours after the resolution is passed. Medical evacuations and aid deliveries would start 48 hours after that. The draft says 5.6 million people in 1,244 communities across the country are in acute need." (BBC, Feb 22)

Syria conflict: Will powers end up in direct war? "It may seem strange to talk of instability in Syria as if it's some new element in the war. But the increasing international commitment on its various battlefields runs the risk of shifting it from a war between proxies to one directly between the powers pulling the strings." (BBC, Feb 22)

Sen. Sanders, Lee, and Murphy offer resolution to stop US involvement in Yemen

POSTED 3/2/2018

"On every level, the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen is a catastrophe. It's left thousands dead and tens of thousands injured. There's widespread famine. Disease. Landmines. You name it, Yemeni civilians are suffering from it. Currently, UNICEF considers Yemen one of the worst places on Earth to be a child. And the U.S. is right in the thick of the conflict, for no reason. The war between the Saudis and the Houthis, Iranian-backed rebels from northern Yemen, has been going on since 2015... On a grander scale, it's part of the ongoing power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran that is occurring all across the Middle East, most notably in Syria." (USNews & World Report, Feb 28)

"Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) proposed a bipartisan resolution to take the US Pentagon back out of the Yemen War. The war was declared by Saudi Arabia and its allies in 2015 when Zaydi Shiites of the Helpers of God (Houthi) movement took over the north and west if the country. The three-year-long war has left nearly 10,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, 8 million on the verge of starvation and a million cholera victims. The Obama administration offered the Saudis logistical support and tactical and targeting advice...The Obama and Trump administrations claim that the 2001 Authorization for Military Force is a basis for action in Yemen. But [that] only allows war against Iraq and al-Qaeda, not against Zaydi Shiites who have actively fought al-Qaeda. The press release notes, “The bill will force the first-ever vote in the Senate to withdraw U.S. Armed Forces from an unauthorized war.” (Informed Comment, Mar 1)

Yemen Crisis: Who is fighting whom? (BBC, Jan 30)

Trump's Stumbling March Towards Conflict with Iran

POSTED 3/23/2018

With the recent selection of ultra-Iran-hawks Mike Pompeo (proposed Secretary of State) and John Bolton (National Security Adviser) to join his Administration, Donald Trump has moved us closer to military engagement with Iran.

Americans for Peace Now have initiated a petition campaign opposing former Tea Party Congressman Pompeo's nomination. Their statement reads as follows:

Director Pompeo is an ultra-hawk on Iran and fierce critic of the Iran nuclear deal. After Trump was elected in November 2016, Pompeo tweeted, "I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism." Commensurate with that pledge, he has used his post as CIA Director to push for the demise of the agreement, including in a speech comparing Iran to ISIS the day before Trump decertified the deal in October. Diplomacy Works, an organization of former diplomats who advocate preserving the Iran deal, warns that Pompeo will push Trump to kill the deal, characterizing him as a "known Iran hawk who prefers military intervention to diplomacy." By contrast, Iran had become a point of friction between Trump and Tillerson, given that the former Secretary of State had defended the deal. Trump cited this policy difference as one of the key issues that had led him to decide to fire Tillerson.

John Bolton was part of the team that lied us into the invasion of Iraq. In an interview with MSNBC, Senator Chris Murphy says he "can't imagine a more reckless, more dangerous pick" for National Security Adviser than Trump's new choice, John Bolton. Here's what others have to say about this disastrous appointment:

"Bolton has said the United States should declare war on both North Korea and Iran. He was credibly accused of manipulating US intelligence on weapons of mass destruction prior to the Iraq war and of abusive treatment of his subordinates. He once “joked” about knocking 10 stories off the UN building in New York. That means his new appointment to be the most important national security official in the White House has significant — and frightening — implications for Trump’s approach to the world. " (Vox, Mar 22)

"John Bolton helped lie our country into an illegal war of aggression that killed several hundred thousand Iraqis, wounded over a million, and displaced 4 million from their homes, helped deliver Baghdad into the hands of Iran, and helped create ISIL, which blew up Paris. In a just world, Bolton would be on trial at the Hague for war crimes. Instead, he has been promoted into a position to do to Iran what he did to Iraq...He is also in the back pocket of the MEK Iranian terrorist organization, which despite its violent and smelly past has proved so useful to those plotting the apocalyptic destruction of Iran that the Washington elite decided to take it off the list of terrorist organizations in 2012." (Informed Comment, Mar 23)

A collapse of the Iran nuclear deal would be a "great loss", the U.N. atomic watchdog's chief warned U.S. President Donald Trump, giving a wide-ranging defense of the accord and his agency's work under it. The agency confirmed once again Iran's compliance with the accord.

International support for the 2015 nuclear deal between the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) and Iran remains strong, despite Trump's comments threatening the future of the agreement.

The Saudi War on Yemen and the US Role in a Humanitarian Disaster

POSTED MARCH 27, 2018

Three years ago, Saudi Arabia launched its war on Yemen. Their disastrous intervention unleashed a humanitarian crisis. The US and other Western powers have aided and abetted the Saudis. Attempts to extricate the United States from the war have failed. In November the House passed a non-binding resolution explicitly stating that U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen is not authorized under legislation passed by Congress to fight terrorism or invade Iraq. The nonbinding resolution publicly acknowledged the Pentagon has been sharing targeting information and refueling warplanes that Saudi Arabia and other allies are using to attack Houthi rebels. A week ago, the US Senate rejected a bipartisan resolution to get us out of Yemen 55-44 with 10 Democrats joining 45 Republicans to defeat the resolution. Saudi attempts to paint rival Iran as the bogeyman of the Middle East and to blame them for the unrest in Yemen succeeded.

Amnesty International issued a statement Friday stating that “irresponsible arms flows” by the US, UK, France and other European countries to the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen has inflicted “enormous harm to Yemeni civilians.” Instead of aiding the Saudis and their allies, the West should be bringing them to account for their war crimes. - RJC, 3/27/2018

Juan Cole at Informed Comment writes, "[Saudi Prince] Bin Salman charges the Houthis with being Iranian agents. They aren’t...Iran has likely given them a little bit of aid, but it is minor compared to the billions of dollars worth of bombs from the US and the UK that Bin Salman has dropped on civilian apartment buildings in downtown Sana’a. It is rich that the Saudis wax hysterical about some small rockets aimed at Riyadh while they are daily flying bombing raids on Yemeni cities with F-16s and F-18s.

Israeli army kills 17 Palestinians in Gaza protests

POSTED MARCH 31, 2018/UPDATED APRIL 1, 2018

On Friday, Israeli army snipers opened fire on unarmed Palestinians marching in Gaza near the Israeli border, killing 17 and wounding 1400. "Friday's demonstration commemorated Land Day, which took place on March 30, 1976, when six unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli forces during protests against the Israeli government's decision to expropriate massive tracts of Palestinian-owned land." (Al Jazeera, Mar 30)

The U.N. has called for an independent investigation into the killings, which are a violation of international law. Mansour Al-Otaibi, Kuwait's Ambassador to the UN, issued a statement criticising the Security Council for failing to take action against Israel. "People in occupied Palestine are disappointed that the Security Council met, but did not take action yet to stop this massacre and to hold those responsible to account." "The Palestinian Authority has declared Saturday a day of national mourning after 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces as thousands marched near Gaza's border with Israel in a major demonstration marking the 42nd anniversary of Land Day. "Schools, universities as well as all government institutions across the country will be off on Saturday, as per President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to declare a day of national mourning." (Al Jazeera)

Juan Cole at Informed Comment notes: "Although the US press is reporting that those killed died in 'clashes,' they appear all to have been on the Gaza side of the line of control and never actually to have encountered any Israelis. There was no 'clash.' Shooting down innocent unarmed people on their own land is typically termed 'murder'."

Neve Gordon in an Al Jazeera op-ed writes: "The Passover massacre in Gaza was by no means an exception in the long history of Palestinian resistance...The accusation that Palestinians have failed to adopt non-violent methods of resistance, and therefore share responsibility for Israel's ongoing subjugation and dispossession, not only completely disavows the vast asymmetry in power relations between the coloniser and colonised, but, just as importantly, fails to consider the political history of anticolonial struggles, not least the Palestinian one itself. Indeed, it completely ignores the fact that Israel's colonial project has been upheld through attritional, protracted and widespread violence, and, despite what certain Western media outlets might present, the Palestinians have developed a robust and long-standing tradition of non-violent resistance."

Syrian War - Chemical Attack Kills Dozens

POSTED APRIL 11, 2018 (UPDATED APRIL 14, 2018)

Syrian opposition activists, rescue workers and medics allege that an attack on Douma in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus on Saturday was carried out by government forces using bombs filled with toxic chemicals. 500 people were affected by the attack, with the estimated deaths ranging from 35 to more than 60.

Eastern Ghouta has been under assault by Syrian government forces since February and Douma is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds. In March, troops split the region into three pockets - the largest of which was around Douma, home to between 80,000 and 150,000 people. Facing defeat, rebel groups in the other two pockets agreed to be evacuated to northern Syria. But the group controlling Douma, Jaysh al-Islam, continued to hold out. On Friday, after negotiations with the government stalled, air strikes resumed.

The Syrian government denies being behind any use of chemical weapons.

Western powers (US, UK, and France) are preparing a response. The US has threatened a "forceful" response to the reported attack but Russia has called it a pretext to attack its ally, Syria.

UPDATED APRIL 14, 2018 The US, UK, and France struck chemical weapons research and storage facilities with missiles in Syria. "The bombing represents a major escalation in the West's confrontation with Assad's superpower ally Russia, but is unlikely to alter the course of a multi-sided war which has killed at least half a million people in the past seven years. That in turn raises the question of where Western countries go from here, after a volley of strikes denounced by Damascus and Moscow as at once both reckless and pointless. By morning, the Western countries said their bombing was over for now. Syria released video of the wreckage of a bombed-out research lab... There were no immediate reports of casualties, with Damascus allies saying the buildings hit had been evacuated in advance." (Reuters, April 14)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has demanded "unhindered access" to Douma in Syria to check reports from its partners that 500 people were affected by a chemical attack there.

Death Toll Exceeds 30 in Gaza "March of Return" Protests

POSTED APRIL 14, 2018

As the rest of the world was watching developments in Syria, the Israeli army killed 2 more Palestinians demonstrating for the right of return in protests in Gaza. Refugees have a universally recognized right to return to their places of origin, but Israel has denied this right to the over five million Palestinians who are currently living as refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and countries around the world.

"This is the third consecutive Friday in which Palestinians protested near the fence as part of the Great March of Return...During the two previous Friday demonstrations, Israeli snipers killed at least 30 unarmed Palestinians in Gaza, including journalist Yasser Murtaja who was wearing a vest identifying him as “PRESS.” Despite international condemnation, including warnings by the United Nations Human Rights Council against the use of lethal force against civilians, who do not pose an immediate threat to life or severe injury, Israeli authorities and politicians have praised the army’s actions and vowed to continue repressing protesters to 'protect' their border.

"No Israeli soldiers or civilians have been wounded or killed during the protests in Gaza.

"Criticism of Israeli use of live arms has come from within the country as well. On Thursday a group of former Israeli soldiers, members of the sniper teams, wrote in an open letter “we are filled with shame and sorrow… Instructing snipers to shoot to kill unarmed demonstrators who pose no danger to human life is another product of the occupation and military rule over millions of Palestinian people, as well as of our country’s callous leadership, and derailed moral path.” (Informed Comment, April 14)

Hypocrisy 101: Western Politicians, the Corporate Press, and the Middle East

POSTED APRIL 17, 2018

The West rightly condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, expressing outrage at the loss of innocent lives. Contrast this with the non-reaction to the ongoing tragedies in Gaza and Yemen. The hypocrisy of the political leaders and the corporate press is astounding. Here are excerpts from a couple of articles in the Middle East Monitor this past week:

APRIL 11, Amelia Smith: "[US Ambassador to the UN] Nikki Haley has blocked a UN Security Council statement urging restraint and an end to violence along the Gaza-Israel border twice, even though 32 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the Great March of Return protests began, including one journalist who was wearing a vest clearly marked “PRESS”.

Addressing a demonstration outside Downing Street, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned Western silence around Israel’s actions against the Gaza protesters, called on the British government to get behind the UN inquiry, and to review the sale of arms. Last year alone the UK licensed $220 million worth of arms to Israel, which in part explains its silence on Gaza.

Whilst the US and the UK are appalled by this weekend’s attack on Syria, they have no qualms about selling billions of dollars worth of weaponry to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition of countries currently bombarding Yemeni civilians, schools and hospitals. In fact on 9 April Saudi-led coalition air strikes killed 15 people in Yemen, but it’s unlikely you even heard about it. "

Trump close to decision to withdraw US from the "Iran deal"

POSTED 5/4/2018

Media have been full of Israeli leader Netanyahu's slide show - clearly aimed at getting Trump to back out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the "Iran deal"), which comes up for re-certification May 12. Netanyahu's actions are fully consistent with his attempts to derail the original process by teaming with AIPAC and the Republican Party...

Trump needs no pushing to abandon the JCPOA. Anonymous sources report that he has all but decided to abandon it. Like many Republican politicians, he has opposed the deal - partly because he hasn't a clue as to its conditions and inspection regime, partly because he uses the partisans at Fox News as his researchers, and partly because it was Obama's singular diplomatic achievement.

The JCPOA is working exactly as intended and has been verified numerous times by the agency in charge of the inspections....Read more

55 Palestinians killed, 2700 wounded by Israeli army in protests today

Total since March 30 stands at 104 dead and 12,000 wounded; hospitals in Gaza at "breaking point"

US blocks call for independent Gaza inquiry at UN

POSTED 5/14/2018

UN votes to send war crimes investigators to Gaza

Rights chief calls Israeli Gaza response "wholly disproportionate"

POSTED 5/18/2018

"The United Nations' top human rights body has voted to send a team of international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. A resolution calling on the UN Human Rights Council to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry" was backed on Friday by 29 members.

"Two members - United States and Australia - voted against and 14 abstained....Earlier on Friday, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN human rights chief, had backed calls for an international probe. He heavily criticised Israel's response to the weeks-long mass protests in the Gaza Strip as "wholly disproportionate". Israel was an occupying power and under international law, it was obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said. But instead Gaza residents were "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death", added Zeid....Since protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children. More than 12,000 have been wounded, at least 3,500 by live ammunition." (Al Jazeera, May 18)

World Leaders React to Trump Withdrawing US from JCPOA

May 25 Update: Signatories meet in Vienna in bid to save landmark pact

POSTED 5/8/2018 - LAST UPDATED 5/25/2018

May 25: Remaining signatories meet in Vienna to save the JCPOA; Iran wants economic assurances to stay in nuclear deal and calls for specifics on how that would happen by end of May.

Al Jazeera, May 25: "The remaining signatories of a multinational nuclear deal with Iran have met for the first time in a bid to save the landmark pact following a decision by the US to unilaterally withdraw and re-impose sanctions on Tehran. At Iran's request, delegates from China, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union gathered on Friday in Austria's capital, Vienna, where they reaffirmed their commitment to the 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, told reporters in Vienna that Tehran was negotiating with the other signatories to "to see if they can provide us with a package which can give Iran the benefits of sanctions lifting".

"The next step is to find guarantees for that package," he said, adding that Iran needed specifics on how that would happen by the end of May."

May 11: Intense diplomatic activity is underway in Europe as the signatories strive to keep the Iran nuclear agreement alive after Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement...

May 8: Reaction to the long-expected abandonment of the "Iran nuclear deal" by Donald Trump was swift. All the other signatories re-affirmed their commitment to Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The United States will reimpose sanctions on Iran even though the Iranians have fully complied with the agreement...

Read more...

Bolton names Islamophobe Fred Fleitz to National Security Staff

POSTED 5/31/2018

War of Aggression: The Saudi & UAE Slaughter in Yemen isn’t a Proxy Conflict with Iran

POSTED JUNE 6, 2018

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. Just as the Israeli government has tried egregiously to blame "Hamas terrorists" for the protests and the necessity of IDF's killing of unarmed Palestinians, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been peddling their particular war crimes in Yemen as a "proxy war" against Iran. Like the Israelis, their propaganda campaign has been successful in limiting any negative US response.

-RJC, 6/6/18

Sheila Carapico, professor of political science at the University of Richmond, has written an article for Informed Comment that explains why the war is not a proxy war and how the rhetoric "rationalizes the unwarranted, unprovoked Saudi-UAE intervention in Yemen." She writes, "Make no mistake: big petrodollar spending around DuPont Circle systematically produces a story-line that exonerates the murder and starvation of Yemenis who are not even 'Shi`a' in the name of countering overblown Iranian influence."

Carapico's article also provides background on the civil war in Yemen. She concludes, "The most dangerous aspect of the 'proxy war against Iranian-backed militia' narrative is that it deflects attention away from indisputable war crimes. The Saudi-led coalition is now making a push on the strategic Red Sea port of al-Hudaydah, which has already been out of commission for three years and remains “occupied” by Houthi rebels. Al-Hudaydah port and the governorate of al-Hudaydah lie along the Red Sea coastal plain known as the Tihama. The people of the Tihama...have already suffered disproportionately from Saudi-led bombing and the naval blockade. [They are] dark-skinned Yemenis of mixed Arab and African ancestry. Spiritually, they identify with the Shafi`i denomination of Sunni Islam. Socially, they are the poorest of the poor. Politically, they have no sympathy for the Houthis, much less Iran...The victims of the coming – or current — onslaught are not 'proxies of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.' They are starving children under attack by filthy-rich monarchies wielding the most advanced weapons Britain and the United States have to sell."

(Al Jazeera, July 6): "More than 121,000 people have recently fled Yemen's port city of Hodeidah due to fierce attacks by Saudi-led coalition forces, according to a new UN report. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a report on Wednesday reporting that humanitarian partners have verified more than 17,350 households (over 121,000 people) have been displaced since June 1. "More than 10,000 displaced households (nearly 80,000 people) have been assisted with food, emergency kits, and other life-saving support," the report noted. The OCHA said that after the partial calm during the last few days, air attacks were carried out near the Hodeidah-Sana road and Hodeidah airport, with intensive air raids also reported on July 4 in the southern Zaid District."

A resolution to end US involvement in the Yemen civil war co-sponsored by Senators Sanders, Lee, and Murphy failed in March. But the vote demonstrated growing push back on President Donald Trump’s coziness with Riyadh, which is leading the war effort in Yemen that has caused a massive humanitarian crisis in that country. Saudi propaganda that the Houthis are tools of Iran (Houthis deny the connection) won the day in March but opposition to the war is continuing, albeit quietly.

I usually don't quote from the American Conservative but this is what they had to say: "PBS NewsHour aired the third of Jane Ferguson’s three reports on the war on Yemen last night. The third report focuses on the Houthis and the U.S. role in supporting the war. Ferguson quotes Sen. James Risch, a supporter of the indefensible U.S. policy: The Iranians are in there and they are causing the difficulty that’s there. If the Iranians would back off, I have no doubt that the Saudis will back off. But the Saudis have the absolute right to defend themselves. The Iranian role in Yemen has been and remains negligible, and it is ridiculous to say that they are the main culprits for “the difficulty” in the country. It is the Saudis and Emiratis bombing and invading the country, it is their forces that impose the blockade that starves the people, and it is the U.S. that supports them in all of these things. Sen. Risch is parroting Saudi talking points, and they are no more credible today than they have been for the last three years.

"Not only are the Houthis not Iranian proxies, as every Yemen expert will confirm, but Tehran specifically told the Houthis not to take the capital in 2014 and their advice was ignored. Trying to shift the blame for a disaster that the Saudis and Emiratis have created with U.S. and U.K. backing is obnoxious and insulting. "

Like The American Conservative, I noticed Risch's Saudi-propaganda quote went unremarked, spoiling an otherwise good report. Thank you , American Conservative, for setting the record straight.

World powers back Iran oil exports despite US sanctions threat

POSTED JULY 10, 2018

"Iran’s remaining partners in the 2015 nuclear deal vowed Friday to keep the energy exporter plugged into the global economy despite the US withdrawal and sanctions threat. Tehran’s top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif praised them for their “will to resist” US pressure, two months after President Donald Trump walked away from the landmark accord.

"Britain, France and Germany along with Russia and China met with Iran in Vienna to offer economic benefits and assurances that would lessen the blow of sweeping US sanctions announced by Trump.

"They said they remained committed to the accord and to building up trade and investment links with Iran, including 'the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas' and other energy products." (AFP, July 8)

Related stories:

Trump Trade War: China Refiner dumps US Crude, seeks Iranian Oil

Chinese Foreign Minister puts forward five-point proposal on Iran nuclear issue

The Trump Administration’s MEK Fan Club Giuliani and Gingrich are headliners for the “Free Iran” conference in Paris. The organizers, the MEK, were designated as a terrorist group for 15 years before being removed in 2012.

Saudi Backlash

POSTED OCTOBER 17, 2018

It took the disappearance of a dissident journalist, but a backlash against Saudi Arabia is growing. Whether it will translate into putting a stop to our support for their war in Yemen is highly conjectural. With Iranophobes Trump, Pompeo, and Bolton guiding foreign policy, we probably are facing something similar to the Cold War when any tin pot military dictator or jihadist group could gain US support just by saying they were fighting "communists."

Wikipedia summarizes the story in their entry on Jamal Kashoggi

Journalist Jamal Kashoggi was the "former general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel. and also served as editor for the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al Watan, turning it into a platform for Saudi Arabian progressives. Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017. He said that the Saudi Arabian government had banned him from Twitter, and he later wrote newspaper articles critical of the Saudi government. Khashoggi has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, and the country's king, Salman of Saudi Arabia. He also opposed the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.

"Khashoggi disappeared on 2 October 2018 and was last seen entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, via its main entrance. Anonymous Turkish police sources have alleged that he was murdered and dismembered inside the consulate. The Saudi Arabian government claims that Khashoggi left the consulate alive through a rear entrance, but Turkish police say that no CCTV recorded him exiting the consulate. On 15 October, an inspection of the consulate, by both Saudi Arabian, followed by Turkish officials, took place. Turkish officials found evidence of "tampering" during the inspection, and evidence that supported the belief Khashoggi was killed."

Axios.com, citing the NYTimes, explains the connection with the Saudi royal family: "Turkey has identified four suspects in the disappearance and assumed killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, one of which was a 'frequent companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — seen disembarking from airplanes with him in Paris and Madrid and photographed standing guard during his visits this year to Houston, Boston and the United Nations,' the New York Times reports."

Politicians from both parties are urging a tough response to the journalist's disappearance while Trump says he believes the death was the action of 'rogue killers." Trump's response was derided by outraged Democrats:

"Democrats were outraged that Trump would make such a claim. “President Trump’s suggestion that Khashoggi’s elaborately planned murder in the Saudi’s own consulate was orchestrated by ‘rogue killers’ defies reality,” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement. “Orders must have come from the top. The U.S. must not be complicit in an effort to cover-up this heinous crime.” Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a tweet that he had been hearing the Saudis would push the “rogue killers” theory. “Absolutely extaordinary [sic] they were able to enlist the President of the United States as their PR agent to float it,” he tweeted." (rollcall.com)

Meanwhile, the Saudi war in Yemen, aided and abetted by the United States, goes on. Yemen could be facing the worst famine in 100 years if airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition are not halted, the UN has warned. If war continues, famine could engulf the country in the next three months, with 12 to 13 million civilians at risk of starvation, according to Lise Grande, the agency’s humanitarian coordinator for Yemen. A vocal contingent in Congress that has long pushed for the US to cut off military aid to Saudi Arabia, to little effect, is seizing on the intense scrutiny surrounding the suspected murder of the prominent Saudi journalist to step up the pressure.

The US has provided the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen with military assistance since 2015, including weapons sales, aerial refueling, intelligence, and targeting support. Thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, most of whom were killed in bombing raids, according to the United Nations. Trump has strengthened ties with the Gulf nation since taking office, making it his first foreign visit as US president and signing a major arms deal. On Thursday, he said blocking arms sales to the country would hurt the US and “would not be acceptable to me,” a day after pronouncing relations with Saudi Arabia were “excellent.” The White House’s muted response infuriated many in Congress" - among them Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul and Representative Ro Khanna. (buzzfeednews, Oct 11)

Related Article: "Why a US divorce from Saudi Arabia would be god for us and them" (Informed Comment)

“Reminiscent of South Africa’s Grand Apartheid”: Israeli Human Rights Group Slams Israel at U.N.

POSTED OCTOBER 22, 2018

The IDF had already killed more than 170 Palestinians in Gaza near the border when they announced a new "zero tolerance" policy for demonstrations against the Occupation and for the right of return. Amnesty International, among others, expressed concern that even more bloodshed would result. Amnesty called on "the Israeli government to rein in its armed forces, which have routinely used unnecessary or excessive force during Gaza’s weekly “Great March of Return” demonstrations. 'Given Israeli forces’ horrific track record of using deadly force against Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza, as well as journalists, medics and others, the announcement of a ‘zero tolerance’ policy is deeply alarming,' said Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

Middle East Update

POSTED NOVEMBER 12, 2018/UPDATED NOV 15

BROWN UNIVERSITY REPORT: THE COSTS OF WAR

Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs in its November update on the costs of America's post-9/11 wars (Iraq, Afghanistan & Pakistan) reports that:

Over 480,000 have died due to direct war violence, and several times as many indirectly

Over 244,000 civilians have been killed as a result of the fighting

10.1 million — the number of war refugees and displaced persons

The US federal price tag for the post-9/11 wars is about $5.6 trillion dollars

YEMEN WAR

Street battles raged on Sunday [Nov 11] in residential areas of Yemen’s main port city of Hodeidah, forcing medical staff to flee the largest hospital, as Houthi insurgents tried to repel forces backed by the US-backed Saudi-led coalition. Coalition bombing of Yemen has precipitated the world's greatest humanitarian crisis with Yemen's people facing starvation and cholera.* At least 150 people have been killed in 24 hours of clashes in Yemen's Hodeida, medics and military sources said Monday, as international pressure mounted for a ceasefire in the vital port city. Government loyalists supported by a Saudi-led coalition are fighting to oust the Iran-backed Huthi rebels from the Red Sea city, whose docks are a lifeline to 14 million Yemenis at risk of starvation. "If the port at Hodeida is destroyed, that could create an absolutely catastrophic situation," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned.

In Congress, frustration with the U.S. role in Yemen is at a breaking point. Sen. Bob Menendez — the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — is holding up a $2 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over concerns that the two countries routinely bomb civilian targets. In the House, U.S. assistance to the Saudi- and UAE-led coalition faced another major hurdle. In September, California Democrat Ro Khanna introduced a resolution invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, declaring that Congress never authorized U.S. support for the coalition in Yemen and directing President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. troops from “hostilities” against the Houthis, the Iranian-backed rebel group at war with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The resolution has picked up additional support after the brutal murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

UPDATE NOV 15: Republican leaders in the House of Representatives undercut a bipartisan effort to end U.S. involvement in Yemen by sneaking a measure that would kill an anti-war resolution into a vote about wolves. (THE INTERCEPT, NOV 14)

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on all participants in the Yemen civil war to agree to a ceasefire "in the next 30 days," a call that comes amid criticism of US support for the Saudi-led coalition in the conflict. And, in a classic case of too little too late, the Pentagon announced on Friday it would stop refueling Saudi bombers.

SYRIA

Even as recovery workers pull bodies from the rubble in Raqqa and reveal a civilian death toll that is dramatically higher than the assessment offered by the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, US-led coalition bombing has led to more civilian deaths in the eastern Syrian town of Hajjin. The Syrian regime has protested to the UN about an airstrike by the US-led coalition against Daesh which it said killed 26 civilians in Hajjin in the eastern Deir Ezzor region. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 41 people, including 17 children, had been killed in two waves of coalition airstrikes on Friday in Hajjin and the nearby village of Al-Shafa on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.

Up to 500,000 have been killed in the civil war which began in 2011. UNHCR estimates that 5.6 million people have fled Syria as refugees and an additional 6.6 million have been displaced. Syria had a pre-war population of 23 million.

ISRAEL/OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that at least 37 Palestinians were injured with Israeli live ammunition, including six children, nine women and one paramedic woman. The Palestinians were protesting at the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip, on Friday afternoon Nov 10. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, 220 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of “The Great March of Return” on March 30th, while more than 24,000 others have been injured.

Palestinian militants in Gaza have launched dozens of rocket attacks and Israeli fighter jets have bombed sites across the strip in a round of intense fighting triggered by a botched Israeli special forces raid that left eight people dead. The Israeli national rescue service said at least seven people were wounded by the strikes. Palestinian officials said at least three people, including two militants, were killed by Israeli attacks, which included tank fire, and nine were wounded.

Since 1967, 48,743 structures have been destroyed by Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Some good news: On October 21, Israel announced it was putting on hold the demolition of a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank for a "short, fixed period of time". The Bedouin village, Khan al-Ahmar, is situated a few kilometres from Jerusalem between two major illegal Israeli settlements. The International Criminal Court has warned that Israel's planned demolition of a Palestinian Bedouin village in the West Bank could constitute a war crime. And some bad: On November 7, a four-story apartment building was destroyed by a battalion of around 300 Israeli soldiers who stormed the Shofat refugee camp in Jerusalem with a number of armored bulldozers.

IRAN SANCTIONS

On November 5, the sanctions re-imposed on Iran by the United States went into full effect. The sanctions are aimed at crippling Iran's economy to force it to renegotiate the JCPOA and "change its behavior." Iran’s oil exports and financial transactions will be targeted under the latest US sanctions that take force six months after President Donald Trump bolted from the nuclear deal. Washington is targeting Iran’s banking, shipping and energy sectors, threatening penalties against companies who do business in them. While the EU, along with China and Russia, remains committed to the 2015 nuclear deal, fighting the sanctions is proving difficult. The bloc is trying to set up a special-purpose vehicle to avoid penalties, but that plan still lacks practical details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif fired back on US Sec. of State Pompeo's threats (“The leadership has to make a decision that they want their people to eat."). In a post on his official Twitter account on Saturday, Zarif said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's open threat to starve the Iranian nation was "a crime against humanity" and "a desperate attempt to impose US whims on Iran."

Trump vs. Palestine Revisited

POSTED DECEMBER 10, 2018

As the UN marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on International Human Rights Day, the oppression and killing of Palestinians continues with impunity and the Trump Administration continues its efforts to deny Palestinians a homeland.

Since the March of Return protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed at least 210 Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza and wounded more than 18,000 people, according to health officials. November marked an upsurge in Israeli violence against Palestinians with a total of 24 Palestinians dead and 232 injured in the month from Israeli army-related attacks, according to a report. The International Relations Department in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) reported that 21 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip* and three in the occupied West Bank.

In the latest twist on the Trump Administration's campaign against Palestinians, Jared Kushner - President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East advisor - "has been having informal, private conversations in recent months with Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman while simultaneously defending the prince against charges that he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a new report from the New York Times. Kushner’s chats with Prince Mohammed, which took the form of text messages, emails, and phone calls, concerned senior American officials, who attempted to tighten security by reimposing longstanding protocols stipulating that National Security Council members participate in conversations with foreign leaders. Still, the two men—both in their 30s and heirs to family fortunes—kept chatting on a first-name basis, often over WhatsApp." (Mother Jones, Dec 8)

As well as being the Saudi prince's most steadfast supporter, Kushner is in charge of the Administration's Palestinian policy. The two may not be totally unrelated.

Juan Cole at Informed Comment notes: "Journalism focuses on personalities and often depicts Kushner as a lonely young man eager to have a Saudi BFF. But Israeli journalist Michael Bachner at The Times of Israel has proposed a structural explanation for the link: Bin Salman is using his willingness to throw the Palestinians under the bus as a way of bonding with Kushner and getting the latter’s support in the Trump White House...Since Trump put Kushner in charge of Palestine policy, the administration has 1) moved the US embassy to the disputed city of Jerusalem, 2) cut off funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency that provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees kicked out of their homes by the Israelis, 3) cut off $5 bn in funding for West Bank development to the US Agency for International Development, and 4) permitted a tripling of Israeli squatter housing units on Palestinian land. This full court press to crush the Palestinians and leave them with nothing at all is intended to force their acquiescence in permanent Israeli Apartheid rule over them and gradual expropriation of what is left of their land." (Informed Comment, Dec 8)

Related post: Trump vs. Palestine: the end of the two-state solution

*Israeli forces shot and killed seven Palestinians during an army operation in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, while another eight were killed during Israeli airstrikes that lasted for three days over the Strip.The rest succumbed to injuries sustained during protests along the Gaza border with Israel, where most of the injuries were sustained either from live ammunition or tear-gas inhalation

Yemen: Hodeidah Ceasefire and Senate votes to end support for Saudis

POSTED DECEMBER 13, 2018

"A ceasefire has been reached for the strategic port city of Hodeidah. This comes on the final day of peace talks in Sweden between representatives of the Houthi rebel movement and members of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has described the move as an important step. The U.S.-backed Saudi war has devastated Yemen. A new report says half of Yemen’s 28 million people are now “food insecure,” with 5 million people in an “emergency” hunger situation and 65,000 in a “catastrophe” hunger situation—the most severe phase." (Democracy Now!, Dec 13)

It took the murder of a dissident Saudi journalist reporting for the Washington Post but the US Senate has finally voted to end US participation in the war. Fate is uncertain in the House where the Republican leadership has used procedural moves to block the vote.

"The Senate cast two historic votes Thursday to end U.S. participation in the Saudi-led war effort in Yemen and condemn the Saudi crown prince as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, delivering clear political rebukes of President Trump’s continued embrace of the kingdom...Just before the Senate voted unanimously to condemn Mohammed over Khashoggi’s murder, senators voted 56-to-41 vote to end U.S. participation in the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen by invoking the War Powers Resolution — the first time a chamber of Congress has ever done so. More importantly, the 56-vote majority — a figure that includes seven Republicans — suggests that Saudi critics will still have a majority next year to challenge Trump on Saudi policy."(Washington Post, Dec 13)