Yemen - The Starvation Siege Has Begun
Last night the Saudi coalition launched its attack on the city of Hodeidah in Yemen. Hodeidah is the only Yemeni harbor on the Red Sea coast that can take large vessels. It is ruled by the Houthi who in 2014 took over the capital Sanaa and disposed of the Saudi installed Hadi government. 90% of the food for the 18 million people living in Houthi controlled areas comes through Hodeidah.
Saudi-owned satellite news channels and later state media announced the battle had begun, citing military sources. They also reported coalition airstrikes and shelling by naval ships.The initial battle plan appeared to involve a pincer movement. Some 2,000 troops who crossed the Red Sea from an Emirati naval base in the African nation of Eritrea landed west of the city with plans to seize Hodeida’s port, Yemeni security officials said.
Emirati forces with Yemeni troops moved in from the south near Hodeida’s airport, while others sought to cut off Houthi supply lines to the east, the officials said.
The port is now classified as a zone of active military conflict. Prolonged fighting may well destroy the port infrastructurer. Even if the Saudi coalition forces take and reopen it they will continue to block food supplies for the central highlands of Yemen. They want to starve the Houthis into submission.
The attack from the south includes 3,000 to 5,000 troops under the command of Tariq Sale, a cousin of the recently killed former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. They have been equipped with trucks and new weapons by the UAE. More forces are on their way from Aden and Taiz. They are supported by Emirati artillery, tanks and Saudi aerial bombing. The Saudi coalition forces are commanded by former officers from Australia, the U.S. and UK who have been hired by the UAE.
The New York Times editors do not want to understand the real problem with this attack:
A coalition led by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia is poised to attack the Red Sea port of Al Hudaydah, the home to 600,000 Yemenis and the lifeline for humanitarian aid that sustains most of the country’s people.
...
Experts have predicted that 250,000 people could be killed or displaced in the offensive.
The NYT is in principle supporting the Saudi attack. It wants the Houthis removed. It follows the line of the Zionist lobby:
However, inaction at Hodeida carries steep costs.[...] If liberated, the port's capacity could quickly be expanded, especially if the liberation is achieved quickly and carefully. People in government-controlled areas are better off than people in Houthi-controlled areas precisely because they are reconnected to functioning ports and, partially, to the government payroll system. Thus, the people in Hodeida would benefit from being liberated.
The problem is not that 250,000 people could be displaced or even killed due to the fighting. The problem is not that the people of Hodeidah lacked food. Until today they received it through the harbor.
The problem is that the Saudis plan a starvation siege on all territory held by the Houthis and their aligned forces.
There are some eighteen million people living in those territories. Eight million of them are already on the border of starvation. The Saudis want to take Hodeidah to block food access for the people in Sanaa. If they succeed, or if the harbor infrastructure gets damaged by fighting, the eight million will probably die and another ten million will also be in imminent danger.
The Saudi media are not even shy about the intent. Liberating Hodeidah is a must for cutting the Houthi lifeline headlined the Arab News. Asharq Al-Awsat opined that the operations is necessary to "tighten the siege" until the Houthi "surrender to all conditions and resolutions", "hand over their arms" and "leave Sanaa".
The Yemeni lawyer Haykal Bafana points out that the Saudis used the same strategy in 1934 during a border conflict with the Imamate of Yemen. Back then the Saudis occupied Hodeidah and starved the population of Sanaa, the seat of the Imamate, until Yemen gave up. This is what they want to repeat:
The strategy is to land-lock the Houthis in the already air-blockaded capital Sanaa. In 1934, food scarcity in Sanaa ended the war. Same plan today: Starve the Houthi-controlled areas into military surrender. Ergo: Hodeidah will end the Yemen war.
Whether the starvation of Yemen & Yemenis proceeds depends entirely on what the Houthis decide – fight & starve, or surrender & eat. Houthi threat to shut down ALL Red Sea shipping? Only 1 result: ALL world powers will wage war on them & Yemen, and many, many Yemenis will die.
No one – not Saudi Arabia, UAE, US or the UK, and not even the United Nations – has announced alternative plans to deal with this Hodeidah port closure. But it is Yemen that is lawless, some say.
No matter how much you all hate the Houthis, to starve #Yemen's civilians is a war crime. Starvation of Yemenis as a war strategy is illegal.
This obvious Saudi strategy is the reason why the United Nations warned of the possible starving of up to 18 million people who depend on food transfers through Hodeidah. The International Committee of the Red Cross warns that a push for Hodeida will exacerbate catastrophic humanitarian situation. The Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) is a U.S. government organization. It warns:
In a worst-case scenario, significant declines in commercial imports below requirement levels and conflict that cuts populations off from trade and humanitarian assistance for an extended period could drive food security outcomes in line with Famine.
In the fighting today the UAE supported forces claimed to have reached the southern outskirts of the airport of Hodeidah. They will probably try to hook east around the city to isolate and besiege it. The area is mostly flat and difficult to defend against a force with air support and heavy artillery. There is little hope that the Houthi can hold on to it.
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But the Houthis will continue to fight. If they give up on Hodeidah they will have lost the war. Today they claimed to have fired another ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia. They also said that they successfully attacked a UAE navy ship with a landing force. The Saudis said that they intercepted the missile. There is no confirmation for the ship attack.
The Saudis and Emirates have the active support of Britain and the United States. The attack on Hodeidah, the siege on all Houthi controlled territory and the coming famine can still stopped. Britain and the U.S., the Saudis and the Emirates are on the verge of committing a war crime that will exceed the war on Iraq by any measure.
The attack must stop and the blockade must be lifted. It is either now or it will be too late to prevent the siege of Yemen and a very large famine.
Posted by b on June 13, 2018 at 18:12 UTC | Permalink
next page »No expulsions of saudi ambassadors in the europe, nope, killing thousands of people in Yemen is ok. Dumb Russians, that is what they should do, not fumbling with "Novichok" sigh.
Posted by: Zanon | Jun 13 2018 18:42 utc | 2
KSA's supply lines are over extended and vulnerable. Houthis wont submit. This fight is a matter of righteousness and survival..
Posted by: Lozion | Jun 13 2018 18:43 utc | 3
Stripped of the verbiage the NYT, like the US political class it speaks to and for, has literally nothing left but "submit or we'll kill you", might makes right.
That includes US liberals, who must be reveling in this war crime even as they cry so profusely about the (temporarily) diminishing prospect of WWIII breaking out in Korea.
One hundred years from now the Saudis, Emiratis, the US, the UK and all the aligned presstitutes of the NYT will be seen as the genocidal maniacs that they are. Duplicitous, hypocritical psychopaths. But will only "20-20 hindsight" bring this revelation to the masses? I hope not, but I'm not holding my breath.
@1 Laguerre Great question. I don't know from authority, but if the demographics aren't readily available I agree a safe bet would be that it's a mix.
Posted by: Don Wiscacho | Jun 13 2018 18:55 utc | 5
3
KSA forces have worked their way up the coast. Even if their lines are cut somewhere, they can still be resupplied from the sea. Also, by sticking to the coast, they have naval support/artillery.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jun 13 2018 18:59 utc | 6
Going by the map, al Qaeda holds as much territory in Yemen as the Houthi yet there are no forces aligned against them. So much for 9-11 and the war on terra.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jun 13 2018 19:05 utc | 7
The TV tells me that the Brits have called a meeting at the UN over this. Clever sods. They're covering themselves legally, or at least in a PR sense, while still selling weapons and providing support to state sponsors of global terrorism. Nice work if you can get it.
Posted by: et Al | Jun 13 2018 19:07 utc | 8
The NYT reports that "the people in Hodeida would benefit from being liberated." What possible excuse can erase the horror that comes of that kind of "liberation"? An outrageous crime is underway; and those who bring this evil down on the heads of the innocent in Yemen have no heart at all. The starving of whole populations is absolutely barbaric.
There is no argument the aggressors can make that can wash the stain of inhumanity from their action.
thanks b for staying on this.. let me repeat the twitter comment from your post "No matter how much you all hate the Houthis, to starve #Yemen's civilians is a war crime. Starvation of Yemenis as a war strategy is illegal."
don't expect any good from the west on this.. in the advent of a coming starvation or genocide of near anyone else -the msm would be screaming blue murder, but not if the usa-uk-ksa-uae have a hand in it..
@1laguerre.. i suspect people if given a choice between starving and showing their religious alliance, will choose the former.. it is only a matter of time if this war crime is allowed to happen, that the houthi are in an unwinnable position..
@7 peter.. yes, and again - the hypocrisy is glaring for anyone paying attention here..
Posted by: james | Jun 13 2018 19:24 utc | 10
"To starve Yemen's civilians is a war crime. Starvation of Yemenis as a war strategy is illegal."
Indeed, it's a genocide. Perpetrated by Saudis and Emiratis, strongly helped by usa and UK. I hope some day people in charge of this will be held responsible. This is an immense western shame.
Posted by: Pnyx | Jun 13 2018 19:34 utc | 11
Haykal Bafana contact says 30 bombs fell in Hodeidah within 30 minutes.
Haykal also has this situational report:
#Yemen update (short version) :
UAE-led anti-Houthi forces: "Fuck you."
Houthi forces: "Fuck me? Fuck you too."
UK: "We advise all not to fuck."
US: "No fucking should block aid."
UN envoy: "Escalation of Fucks threatens peace."
Yemen civilians: "We're all fucked. Fuck you all."
If that's the case b, then I doubt they're practicing save sex. It's a very wrong kind of orgy...
Posted by: et Al | Jun 13 2018 19:46 utc | 13
CNN reporting an emergency UN meeting to address the crisis in Gaza. Total silence on this barbaric crime from all American MSM outlets. Remember the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the plight of those unfortunates trapped in Aleppo during the battle there... Assad is the new Hitler, wantonly murdering his own people, it's a genocide of Sunnis, all the greatest hits. Now 18 millions of the world's poorest are deliberately starved to death by some of the richest, yet MBS is the Reformist Golden Boy and Trump thinks he's in the running for a Nobel.
What is happening in Yemen is not only the greatest humanitarian crisis on earth right now, it has come about 100% because of political and military decisions made by the USA and her allies. We do not even know an accurate death toll, and I think it will be many years before the true enormity of this genocidal war crime is widely known, if ever. Of course it is all justified to "contain Iranian influence", which is the start and stop of any critical thought about this brutal war in the West. Yemen has been the site of some truly horrible crimes by the USA over the last 10 years and we're about to see the piece de resistance.
Posted by: Almand | Jun 13 2018 19:53 utc | 14
"Yemen civilians: "We're all fucked. Fuck you all.""
If the surrender to the Saudi's and their pet jihadists, most of the Houthi fighters and a good number of civilians will most likely be killed anyway, so may as well keep on fighting.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jun 13 2018 20:01 utc | 15
From Leith Fadel's article at AMN.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/full-report-from-strategic-battle-in-west-yemen/
"Once a strategic ally to the Houthi forces, the Yemeni Republican Guard switched sides in this war, following the assassination of former President ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Saleh.
Now led by his Saleh’s son, Hadi, the Yemeni Republican Guard has wrecked havoc on the Houthi defenses in western Yemen for much of this year.
The Yemeni Republican Guard played a pivotal role in expelling the Houthi forces from the Mocha Port and several other major sites in western Yemen.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jun 13 2018 20:12 utc | 16
The manufacturers in the USA and UKistan and those working for them must be ecstatic.
More overtime and bonuses. Human lives mean nothing to these folks mostly because the people dying are not considered human.
The major powers that could stop it (Russia, China) just sit on their thumbs and let it happen. Are they as guilty as those doing it? IMO.... Yes.
Posted by: ken | Jun 13 2018 20:14 utc | 17
The NYT will come around and hold the Saudis responsible if they don't open up the port and flood Yemen with food ... queue 15 minutes of palm smacking.
Instead, the NYT will sponsor an animatrix of Netanyahu at the Holocaust museum in Washington saying over and over again, 'I prevented a holocaust in the M.E. I prevented a Holocaust in the M.E. by warning about Iran. Iran has taken over 4 capitals. Anyone who supports Iran must die ...'
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Jun 13 2018 20:26 utc | 18
Indeed. But here is something else to ponder.
In 1985 Yemen's population was about 10 million. They have a sky-high fertility rate and, if they have enough food, their population will double about every 20 years. Think about this:
1985: 10 million
2005: 20 million
2025: 40 million
2045: 80 million
2065: 160 million
2085: 320 million
2105: 640 million
...and so on. You get the idea.
Yemen is and always has been arid, the aquifers are now drained. On their own they could probably support a population of 10 million give or take. So of course, Yemen is dependent on other countries giving them food.
Sure, in principle there could be networks of nuclear power plants with more generating capacity than the rest of the world combined, running advanced desalinization plants. But the issue is whether the Yemenis will be able to build this massive infrastructure in time with just the spare capital they actually have now, and the answer is no. They can't.
Oh and forget about the notion that first the Yemenis have to become rich before they lower their fertility rate. That is a myth, the iron law of development is that FIRST a nation lowers its fertility rate while still poor, THEN if everything else goes right they can slowly increase per-capita wealth. But the fertility rate has to be lowered voluntarily: if it goes down because Yemeni women are just too malnourished to carry many pregnancies to term, that doesn't count.
So a question: suppose we stop stupidly dropping bombs on Yemen and didn't blockade them etc. How much longer is the world going to keep feeding Yemen? And why?
Posted by: TG | Jun 13 2018 20:30 utc | 19
re TG 18.
Other attacked countries, like Iraq, have adapted, why not Yemen?
Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 13 2018 20:49 utc | 20
The factor that permits this attack on Hodeidah is naval bombardment. If Hodeideh were away from the coast, it wouldn't work. The average warship today has a single rapid-fire 5.5 inch gun, apart from the missiles which are too expensive to send many of. It's not like the old days of 15 inch guns in battleships.
Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 13 2018 21:14 utc | 21
TG presents the elitists' call to let the useless eaters die.
Is this a sincere adoption of the David Rockefeller, Bill Gates plan to cull the human population by 85% to 90% or just sociopathic sadism?
Since TG seems to know that reproduction rates almost always fall as societies become more urban and more wealthy, by attempting to preempt truth with ideology, I fear it's more of the latter.
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 13 2018 21:27 utc | 22
Yes, Russia and China equally at fault. Remember a primary focus for Russia right now is being good friends with Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: paul | Jun 13 2018 21:41 utc | 23
TG -lol. Yemen would not need support if not for the war which prevents much of their energy resource exports needed for food imports. Also Saudi Arabia moved and then closed their central bank.
A pile of money to be made in Yemen after they remove or burn 10 milion corpses. A neoliberal dream in the making
Posted by: Pft | Jun 13 2018 21:47 utc | 24
Well, TG's comments are quite racist, treating the Yemenis as less than humans. By the way, where is that old clown, bernard-henri levy and his "right to protect" doctrine?
Posted by: Guy Moyssen | Jun 13 2018 22:07 utc | 25
@Posted by: Almand | Jun 13, 2018 3:53:57 PM | 13
"CNN reporting an emergency UN meeting to address the crisis in Gaza"
UN General Assembly condemns Israel for ‘excessive use of force’ on Gaza border
Well, it has not been for genocide, as should be, but it is a start....
Posted by: Sasha | Jun 13 2018 22:18 utc | 26
What TG should have wrote:
The West is and always has been spiritually arid, the faux spirituality of religious propaganda is now drained. On its own, the earthly heaven for wealthy asshats could probably support a population of 10 million give or take. So of course, the West is dependent on subverting and looting other countries. The ego-boost that Western elite gets from such foul actions is anti-spiritual. Love can not be taken, it can only be given.
Sure, in principle there could be networks of meditation centers with more spiritual awakenings than the rest of the world combined, running advanced consciousness-raising efforts. But the issue is whether the West will be able to build this massive infrastructure in time with just the spare love they actually have now, and the answer is no. They can't.
Oh and forget about the notion that first the West will have to be loved before they lower their asshat rate. That is a myth, the iron law of human development is that FIRST a nation lowers its asshat rate while still unloved, THEN if everything else goes right they can slowly increase per-capita spirituality. But the asshat rate has to be lowered voluntarily: if it goes down because Western sheeple are just too confused to complain, that doesn't count.
So a question: suppose we stop stupidly sucking up to wealthy sociopaths in the West and didn't encourage asshats etc. How much longer would the world keep allowing asshats to drop bombs?
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jun 13 2018 22:40 utc | 27
TG fuck you ! I have no words.
This is unbeliveable.and beyond racist.
These are people you are talking about, not animals.
And you arent in the position who decides to live or die ,as surprising as you might find it you arent a god, you arrogant prick and you cant begin to imagine what these people are going through (what can only be described as an apocalypse) and how despite or inspite of that they are more enlightened(since they seem to know who their enemies are :death to america,death to zionist,death to al saud) that the sheepole/populace in the west
Posted by: notazombie | Jun 13 2018 22:54 utc | 28
"They have a sky-high fertility rate and, if they have enough food, their population will double about every 20 years. "
This sort of sub-Malthusian nonsense gives language a bad name, as well as discrediting simple arithmetic.
There is not a shred of evidence that populations do expand in this manner.
Why am I not surprised that you suggest, as a remedy, a massive nuclear power programme?
Posted by: bevin | Jun 13 2018 23:01 utc | 29
TG @ 18: Before spouting your cherry-picked drivel, you should have checked Yemen's long-term fertility rate from 1960 onwards. It has been falling consistently.
https://knoema.com/atlas/Yemen/Fertility-rate
In the past, Yemen traded with the Ottomans in Hejaz (now the Red Sea part of the KSA) and the Safavids in Persia. So a part of Saudi Arabia (where 35% of Saudis live) has had long links with Yemen. This is one area that could have supplied Yemen with food (through trade) that Yemenis couldn't grow or supply themselves.
If Yemen is poor in food supplies and has been so for a long time, that has more to do with it having been a past British colony cut off from an area it has long historical links with, plus its history of having been split into two countries (Yemen-Sanaa and Yemen-Aden) with one dependent on the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact for trade.
Posted by: Jen | Jun 13 2018 23:17 utc | 30
Yemen's fertility rate from 2005 to 2015:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/524170/fertility-rate-in-yemen/
It's been falling earthward from what I can see.
Current fertility rate (Index Mundi, 2017) is 3.63 children per woman.
https://www.indexmundi.com/yemen/total_fertility_rate.html
At least the Yemenis seem to be firmly grounded unlike one commenting troll around here.
Posted by: Jen | Jun 13 2018 23:25 utc | 31
@laguerre #1
Pat Lang has a good summary:
Yemen As Exemplars
Posted by: kgw | Jun 13 2018 23:26 utc | 32
I liked this article on 'nakedcapitalism.com'
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/06/war-nerd-anglo-american-medias-complicity-yemens-genocide.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
"When the Shia fighters pull out — or even if they stay and make a last stand in the rubble of Hodeidah — the blockade will be airtight. From then on, it’s just a matter of waiting for the blockaded population to die off in such numbers that they lose the will to fight."
This author knows exactly what is going on and I love the way he presents the facts ...
All the other media reports I’ve found on Hodeidah are so wildly pro-Saudi they read like parody. Here’s one example from the Saudi mouthpiece Arab News:“…the failure of negotiations compels [the Saudi-led coalition] to enforce this military solution that will cut off resources from the Houthis once and for all, ultimately shifting the balance of the war and ending the suffering. It is not just a military objective, but a moral imperative.”
Did you catch that? Tightening the blockade by capturing Hodeidah is a “moral imperative.” And that was the English-language version, the soft sell aimed at foreigners.
This guy follows Arab media ...
Other media in the Sunni world had a more openly bloodthirsty, gung-ho tilt. After all, it was only a decade ago that Bandar, one of the most powerful Saud princes, warned that the Shia had provoked the Ummah’s Sunni majority to the limit, and would soon meet their doom:“Prince Bandar bin Sultan, once the powerful Saudi ambassador in Washington and head of Saudi intelligence…had a revealing and ominous conversation with the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove. Prince Bandar told him: ‘The time is not far off in the Middle East, Richard, when it will be literally “God help the Shia”. More than a billion Sunnis have simply had enough of them.’”
Maybe Nikki Haley will personally step over the corpses of the Yemenis, clutching a bible while proclaiming the awesome righteousness of the United States in helping the Saudis do God's work. I can't stand these people, ignorance is no excuse.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Jun 13 2018 23:27 utc | 33
Peter AU1 said:"Going by the map, al Qaeda holds as much territory in Yemen as the Houthi yet there are no forces aligned against them. So much for 9-11 and the war on terra."
Great question...
Posted by: ben | Jun 13 2018 23:40 utc | 34
Great responses to a comment that does not belong in this community. So good that there is little left to say. I might add that the desire for aggression that was thwarted in Syria looks to have found its outlet in Yemen. It’s as if the “something must be done” crap has its counterpart in “somebody must be bombed” and put through appalling suffering. Can there be anything worse than watching your children die of starvation, because they do die first. Maybe beyond the military industrial profit shit and the empire strutting its stuff there is a force at work that can only be described as pure evil.
Posted by: Lochearn | Jun 13 2018 23:42 utc | 35
UAE Naval Vessel on Fire in Red Sea Following Houthi Attack - Report © REUTERS / Abduljabbar Zeyad/File Photo
NEWS
01:44 14.06.2018(updated 02:44 14.06.2018) Get short URL2110
A naval vessel belonging to the United Arab Emirates was ablaze in the Red Sea and has suffered major damage as a result of a Houthi attack, according to multiple sources. The ship eventually sunk, a major dent in the Saudi- and UAE-planned invasion of al-Hudaydah.
The ship was off the coast of al-Hudaydah, a key port that the Saudi-led coalition has been eyeing as a key target, Sputnik News reported Tuesday.
"The Saudi coalition has not advanced at all in al-Hudaydah," Dayfallah al-Shami, a member of the Houthi political bureau, told a Lebanese TV broadcaster.
https://sputniknews.com/news/201806141065386344-UAE-Naval-vessel-fire-red-sea/
Posted by: Red Ryder | Jun 13 2018 23:47 utc | 36
@ Peter AU 1 | 15
the Yemeni Republican Guard switched sides in this war, following the assassination of former President ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Saleh.
Thats putting it upside down. Assassination of Saleh happened precisely because he switched sides and betrayed the resistance.
P.S. Still waiting for Iran to actually start supporting Houthis, because nobody else will. Previously Iran didnt want to rock the boat because of the nuclear deal, now its dead, why not help the suffering brothers?..
Posted by: Harry | Jun 14 2018 0:11 utc | 37
It seems the faction of House of Al Saud, under MBS, is trying to set up a Empire if the House of al Saud, and if Syrian, Yemeni or Iraqi humans need to suffer, then so be it. No one is going to extend an arm to Yemeni and the common people, if they care, have no idea how to resist the “Khmer Rouge in a Tulband”
Red Ryder. Thanks for the update and some positive news for the Houthi and their allies and many dependents.
Since Iran is being blamed for all of this anyway, maybe they should encourage an official invitation to support the rebels and break the blockade and reinforce the rebels? Russia's getting a lot of bashing for not doing enough for the Syrian and Ukrainian people (including by me at times). What about Iran?
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 14 2018 0:17 utc | 39
The problem for Yemen is that it is off by itself, with little strategic or economic importance except to Saudi Arabia. It's a replay of Libya, where the West went all in but Eurasian powers did not enter a "dog in the fight". By contrast, the Eurasian powers--Russia, China, Iran--are going all-out in Syria and will eventually guarantee Assad victory, which will extend the Eurasian axis clear from the South China Sea to the Mediterranean and protect their massive resource and economic resources. On the other hand, just as the West's victory turned into a massive defeat (migrant crisis), the Saudi victory in Yemen will prove to a Pyrrhic one. They will be surrounded by a proud and embittered people that will continue to wage a guerilla war against the Saudis and their puppet government.
Posted by: FHTEX | Jun 14 2018 1:04 utc | 40
quick questions: Has anyone seen any reports on what they may have hit in SA and how many ships are firing on them, now less one?
Posted by: frances | Jun 14 2018 1:04 utc | 41
Christian Chuba 34
That's right. I caught one headline that said several Emiratis were "martyred." So I guess no martyrs on the other side. I also saw where a Doctors Without Borders station was attacked.
And then there's this:
Army destroys coalition warship in Yemen’s western coast
http://sabanews.net/en/news498960.htm
(I haven't seen any confirmation elsewhere yet.)
Posted by: Curtis | Jun 14 2018 1:10 utc | 42
Some additional info on the UAE ship that was attacked:
southfront.org/houthis-strike-warship-of-saudi-led-coalition-with-anti-ship-missiles/
Posted by: frances | Jun 14 2018 1:12 utc | 43
I have a total feeling of impotence
and a even more disgust for the societal left and its hypocrite humanitarianism.
Abject and obese the real value of the West.
Posted by: Charles Michael | Jun 14 2018 1:21 utc | 45
A Saudi coalition ship has indeed been struck. Footage of this is on twitter takenby the Sanaa forces military media wing.
Posted by: Hayder | Jun 14 2018 1:44 utc | 46
This genocide is committed with direct US, UK and Israeli help. The pilots flying the Saudi planes are from those countries.
Remember the flowers that The Donald and Yael, the first daughter, laid on the tomb of the US soldier killed in Yemen, last year?
Why does US have soldiers in Yemen? Did we declare war on Yemen?
I know, rhetorical question.
PS: for those interested, I have new posts and portraits at my sites:
a post about Putin, the NK summit and G7 and the portraits of Russian MOD Shoygu , the double amputee killed in Gaza, Fadi Abu Saleh, gen. Zahreddine. In the next 1-2 days I will publish Zaref's portrait, Iranian FM. I think I'll make a portrait of the Houthi leader too.
https://me582.wordpress.com/
https://artisticexpressions394454247.wordpress.com/
Posted by: veritas semper vincit | Jun 14 2018 2:18 utc | 47
Houthis turn back the invasion.
"Yemeni Ansarullah fighters have foiled a sea landing by Saudi and Emirati forces close to the port city of Hudaydah.
"The Saudi coalition has not advanced at all in Hudaydah," Houthi official Dayfallah al-Shami said during a Wednesday interview with Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV.
"We foiled a sea landing of Saudi and Emirati forces near the port of Hudaydah," he added.
Meanwhile, Emirati state news agency WAM announced that four Emirati soldiers had been killed in Yemen.
Forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition on Wednesday launched an offensive against Hudaydah, aiming to take the city that has been controlled by the Houthi movement.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/06/14/564916/yemen-saudi-hudaydah-emirate
Posted by: Red Ryder | Jun 14 2018 2:44 utc | 48
TG @18
Zionists expressed the same racist opinions on Gaza; that's why they're inflicting a measured deprivation and slow genocide there under the guise of Hamas made us do it. Ironically, the Nazis felt the same way about their Jewish population; so they found a solution.
Hitler and you have a lot in common. He's waiting to shake your hand when you get to...HELL.
Everyone else who tried to rationalize TGs opinion has no shame. To those who recognized pure racism and genocidal instinct and called it out. Good on you.
MSB is a genocidal maniac.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 3:07 utc | 49
@46, Circe,
Concur with your comments. The psychopaths are loose on the world. Some are Kings and Princes, some are Chosen, some are Exceptional. But they are inhuman and evil to the core, proven by their actions. We hope universal justice will strike them.
Posted by: Red Ryder | Jun 14 2018 3:17 utc | 50
Correction: MBS
Hitler has reincarnated and is living in a gilded palace close to MECCA.
Why is it that Jerusalem and Mecca are now the seats of the worst criminals on the planet wielding death and destruction with the U.S. blessing? Wahhabis are Zionists in robes and scarves.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 3:19 utc | 51
@42
Merikans just don't get that karma's a sly bitch. They think that they can keep killing with their Zionist Neocon proxy wars and since they tightened up their security hermetically, karma's going to be locked out. But guess what?: They're killing their children with opioids and guns and KFC is making orphans. Karma always gets past security.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 3:32 utc | 52
hey b - did my post much earlier not go thru due my quoting the hashtag? trying out of curiousity again..
"to starve #Yemen's civilians is a war crime. Starvation of Yemenis as a war strategy is illegal."
Posted by: james | Jun 14 2018 3:32 utc | 53
i would be curious for TG to respond to the comments that have been levelled towards TG..
Posted by: james | Jun 14 2018 3:34 utc | 55
@james. #52
why?
what would be the point?
what will reasoning achieve with someone who sees innocent souls as a currency and their slaughter as justifiable because hey, they don't have enough "civilization" and "enlightenment" to stop breeding like rabbits.
Posted by: notazombie | Jun 14 2018 3:46 utc | 56
@@35
P.S. Still waiting for Iran to actually start supporting Houthis, because nobody else will. Previously Iran didnt want to rock the boat because of the nuclear deal, now its dead, why not help the suffering brothers?..
Today I heard a stupid Republican talking head and buddy of Trump Jason Miller on cable news state: Iran is the biggest threat to the U.S. right now.
Iran appears to be in the same position that Russia is when everyone asks why Russia doesn't bomb the shit out of the Israelis bombing Syrians and Iranians in Syria with total impunity.
Right now Iran is public enemy No. 1 for the U.S., Israel, U.K. you name it and Russia No.3 since NK still tentatively holds the No. 2 spot. So what you think will happen to Iran if it gets overtly involved?
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 3:47 utc | 57
@ Daniel | Jun 13, 2018 5:27:19 PM | 21
Thank you! Well said.
Why Yemen?
My children, you will need to venture deep into the darkness to find your answers.
Can you find Jebus on a map? Maybe in Yemen, Yebos?
Why Yemen? Because Yemen (and Ancient Arabia, particularly the Red Sea coast just North of present day Yemen (now Saudi Arabia) as well as the Western shore – Ethiopia & Eritrea) hold many secrets.
Were these secrets to escape much of the Western World would become a Zombie Apocalypse of True Believers = Takfiri in dNile.
We’re already half way there even without such revelations. So the evidence must be destroyed!
See https://ashraf62.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/the-jewish-roots-of-takfiri-culture/ and more here https://ashraf62.wordpress.com/
Read “The Bible Came From Arabia” by Kamal Salibi. (accessible and reasonably inexpensive if you’re fluent in French and/or German. Much more expensive & difficult if you are limited to English.)
Not quite done yet, what if The House of Saud are crypto Jews?
Posted by: DesolationRow | Jun 14 2018 3:50 utc | 58
It's pure racism to point out that a region's carrying capacity can't sustain unlimited growth? TG even says, plainly, that reduction in birth rate has to be voluntary, not the result of starvation, the focus of the post. Unless y'all remember something TG has written previously that alters the plain text before us?
karlof1 points out often that we all have to take seriously climate change. Having a child and encouraging that child to make children completely undoes all the recycling, reducing and reusing you do yourself. It's not just a question about why we support Yemen. It's the question we all must face: Why do any of us think having our own children is worth destroying the planet?
And when people advocate "death to america" (and others), what is that if not a call for murder, too? Isn't there an irony in saying someone's not in a position to choose who lives or dies buy then saying it's enlightened to call for the death of one's enemies? Or maybe not 'irony', but just the usual inconsistency...
It's a complex issue, but it's not racist to notice that humans compound their problems by bringing other humans into it without figuring out first what the problem is.
Posted by: Charles R | Jun 14 2018 3:58 utc | 59
if you had seen that "future city" that mbs wanted. it could have invested in yemen and brought it under its control if not cooperation. =).
perhaps mbs needed to send some old cadre into suicide missions and clean up opposition.
however, now it takes one missile to hit riyadh piggy bank port, for a staggered war to start in the region. raising oil costs dramatically.
yet, the only reason they haven't done a false flag attack like 9/11 to themselves is that the costs would be too major for even usa/israel to stomach. or i am sure they would have already.
Posted by: jason | Jun 14 2018 3:58 utc | 60
there are two categories of racists in my opinion:
-Bumbling sheep who commit the occasional senseless violence out of fear and insecurity.
-And those who use/twist logic and science to justify/prove their theories of inherent superiority and your inferiority.
They used to be interested in measuring your brain mass and your skull to build their theories (colonial times/early 20 th century) and now they usually rely on statistical data and cultural studies to prove how you are inherently (because of your values linked to your religion/ethnicity/history) incompatible with their "higher" advanced enlightened values
Posted by: notazombie | Jun 14 2018 4:01 utc | 61
The Wahhabi tyrant and his criminal ilk are trying to postpone their inevitable fate by wreaking genocidal starvation on millions of impoverished Yemeni, but their fate was sealed no matter what fake respectability and progress they pretend with the West and what terror their paranoia unleashes at this time to buy them time.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 4:14 utc | 63
I still stand by my point.
The Yemenis have displayed more courage and resilience in impossible conditions than any other nation in recent memory.
You don't seem to get it, do you @Charles R?
who do you think knows more about the real powers, about who controls the world?
your average plump "educated" sheep of the west or your starving Yemeni, Hein?
The way I see it, The Yemenis have won. Just by existing. resisting. surviving.
Because they have achieved something the West will never do. They are free.
Because they actually know who their masters were and acknowledged their existence in the first place.
About death to america: that slogan means death to the government. But let's suppose it didn't.
In the eyes of the Yemeni and in the eyes of the world, Is the western public (particularly the American one) speaking against the war?
As it stands they elected a government who brought famine, war, hunger, disease on them AND the population is silent.
They brought war. famine. disease. pain. for no reason. and their population is silent
That's how the Yemenis see it.
Interesting how you make it sound like the Yemenis are the bloodthirsty ones for pointing the finger at their tormenters and jailers
Posted by: notazombie | Jun 14 2018 4:29 utc | 64
@56
Crazy talk.
I don't think family planning has anything to do with somehow justifying the genocidal starvation of millions.
Hitler believed in master race shet. In this case replace Aryan with Wahhabism and Zionism.
"Death to America" is not a racist chant; it's equivalent to "Death to the Oppressor". When one tribe oppress another; the oppressor becomes a natural target. It's human nature not irony to want to avenge oppression. Americans caused great harm to Iran by supporting the Shah that oppressed Iranians for years and supported Saddam Hussein's invasion that killed hundreds of thousands followed by years of Zionist U.S.-led economic tyranny that brought Iran to its knees.
Quit using Iran and Yemen to rationalize racism and genocidal starvation. Go pick on India or something. Almost 300 million people or more are impoverished there.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 4:53 utc | 65
The denouncement of an unwelcome argument is a sure way to develop a blind spot for reality. Next to the fertility rate is the leaning to grow qat instead of food. This should not be read as support for mass starvation but as a genuine assessment of the situation. Next to genocide comes overpopulation, which is a crime none the less. How many species have already been genocided because of our fertility rate, and why does nobody dare to address the real issue?
The underlying reason is that we as westerners have been brainwashed into the full acceptance of mass immigration. "How dare you think that way, you filthy racist?"
Posted by: Antares | Jun 14 2018 5:13 utc | 66
Additional issues to ponder:
Seattle metropolitan area population in 2018 is over 3.5 million and has a growth rate of 2.5 percent. This yields a doubling time of
ln2*100/annual growth rate = 70/2.5 = 28 years
http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/seattle-population/
2018 = 3.5 million
2046 = 7.0 million
2074 = 14.0 million
2102= 28.0 million
…and so on.
Posted by: Krollchem | Jun 14 2018 5:30 utc | 67
@Krollchem 64
You want a heater/airconditioner? One child less. A car? Another one less. Public transport? One less. Healthy food? One less. Preservation of nature? One less. And so on. It is just a choice.
Posted by: Antares | Jun 14 2018 5:47 utc | 68
Don't blur the moral line! I wasn't born yesterday. We're discussing imminent genocidal starvation, and it's not a solution for population control! It's effing offensive, disingenuous and it's transparent to anyone with half a brain that when you bring that other topic into a discussion of genocide that what motivates this digression is racism and not concern for the planet.
And if those who are digressing to population control are Trump supporters; why don't you support environmental initiatives, since he definitely doesn't???
Forget it; don't bother. We're talking imminent genocide; not self-destruction through procreation. Injecting population control into this discussion is disgusting. No doubt the elitist Wahabbi tyrants want to vaporize what they consider the threat of undesirables next door growing in numbers and daring to demand sovereignty.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 5:50 utc | 69
notazombie, even if the Yemeni secure their freedom, the world their children and grandchildren will come into will not be pleasant, and we are all to blame as humans. It's not as though a person can only take one side and must resist seeing different aspects of the situation. You can love the people for their bravery and resilience and hate the "powers" for their evil and also recognize the futility of the struggle to live and make families in a world we are all destroying. Even Jesus remarked that in the end it will be better to not have kids, and he's not a racist or crazy or a crypto-saudi, is he?
Circe, if notazombie is correct to assume none of us is god enough to know whom to kill, neither are you correct to urge death upon the oppressor. Peace won't come about from violence, and justice bought with the sword only keeps the sword-makers interested in prolonging its dispensation. Saying this doesn't mean I support killing anyone. On the contrary, I'm saying you are now justifying giving death on the basis of your sense of what is right, and if Antares is right to point out what we humans are doing by killing off so many other species, then the just thing to do, if giving death is just, is end the entire human race. Now, that's a lot of ifs, when the peace you're seeking on the other side of justice through giving death is already available to you, available to all of us, even the psychopaths. "Let it go."
Again, I'm not justifying forced starvation or genocide. I think it's a tragedy. I think this whole world is a tragedy. And it gets worse every time people think the solution is destroying enemies, their homes, and their spirit and proceed to do so with righteousness in their cause.
What does it gain anyone to kill their supposed masters only to inherit the wind?
If anything, the way the story unfolds shows what Zhuangzi once remarked is right: there are not enough punishments nor rewards. Perhaps we are to learn something else while here... Perhaps love, especially for those who murder and exploit you, and forgiveness, especially for those who spit upon it and willfully mock it, do something more powerful than the latest hypersonic missile or rod from god dropped from above. Do you agree with me there?
Posted by: Charles R | Jun 14 2018 6:14 utc | 70
So a question: suppose we stop stupidly dropping bombs on Yemen and didn't blockade them etc. How much longer is the world going to keep feeding Yemen? And why?
If, reincarnation exists, maybe you'll have the misfortune of being born in a place like Yemen and some arrogant a..hat on a keyboard will ponder why the rest of us don't just sit back comfortably numb rather than condemn this atrocity before the bombs start dropping; thinking only of the enlightened positive: one less mouth to feed.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 6:23 utc | 71
I'm not justifying a damn thing, especially killing! I'm saying that even if violence is wrong, it's human nature to want to destroy an oppressor, not racism, like you pretend "Death to America" represents. You injected a false equivalency accusing Iran of racism instead to mitigate TGs racist rant. Obviously, you're biased against not only Yemen but Iran as well. Methinks there's Zionist hasbara at work in your comment, and if so, then then the Israelites whom your Zionist tribe claim as predecessors killed a whole lot of their oppressors and commemorated those killings with Jewish holidays example Hannukah when Jews killed their Greek oppressors.
So you're being a tad disingenuous there to cover TGs butt.
Posted by: Circe | Jun 14 2018 6:53 utc | 72
@Circe #68
Maybe reincarnation does exist after all.
Churchill's reasoning for making the Bengal famine of 1943-1944 (at the very minimum 31 million direct victims, but probably around 60 million) :
"They are a beastly people with a beastly religion."
"The famine was their own fault, because they are breeding like rabbits.
Hmm... how eerily similar to our little friend here. (albeit the second line of the quote not the first, still unclear on that front).
Regardless, Benghal (which today is Bangladesh and West Bengal of India) has a population of 250 Million /b>.
Hold on... but that would mean
...Hold on... but that would mean that... the "culling the herd theory" doesn't work!!
Well,color me surprised then.
Guess the British didn't manage to recreate their successful first try at genocide by famine (potato famine), Hein?
Posted by: notazombie | Jun 14 2018 7:34 utc | 74
The argument made here that Yemen is an overpopulated place and thus bound to run into trouble is beyond ridiculous. The money wasted by Saudis dropped on the Yemenis would have been more than enough to feed them several times over. And more billions of Dollars are being spent as we speak.
My only solace in this madness is that the universe is a process of constant change, nothing ever stays the same and those that surpress and control weaker people may well find themselves on the other side eventually. The US and al-Sauds are surely headed that way.
Posted by: Alexander | Jun 14 2018 7:47 utc | 75
I recall NSSM 200 from 1974, also called Kissingers report , recommending limiting global population to 8 billion for national security reasons.. Its currently 7.6 billion. Much of the developed world is already replacement level or below fertility rates. In the US life expectancy is declining. Poverty in 3rd world countries make population less of a concern since life expectancy is low and resource consumption is low as well. Rolling back living standards in the developed world has helped as well. Its those pesky oil rich developing countries who can be expected to multiply population and consumption if left free to develop. Sanctions creating poverty and denial of health care and wars help mitigate the problem in the eyes of neo-malthusians.
One wonders what the population impact from the various wars and sanctions of the 21st century Has been. Such figures would reflect impact on births, declining life expectancy/deaths, etc.
Not to say these wars and sanctions and attacks on the Western middle class are entirely driven by population /resource consumption concerns, but you can bet its a consideration
Posted by: Pft | Jun 14 2018 8:03 utc | 76
Yemenis are not worth enough dozens of 'humanitarians' with juicy salaries to ask them about their needs
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/302395/World/Region/Lebanon-foreign-minister-escalates-refugee-row-wit.aspx
Posted by: Mina | Jun 14 2018 9:44 utc | 77
@ Circe | 54
First of all, kudos for smashing geocidal racists in this thread.
Iran appears to be in the same position that Russia is when everyone asks why Russia doesn't bomb the shit out of the Israelis bombing Syrians and Iranians in Syria with total impunity.
Those comparisons are nothing alike. Russia are best buds with both Syria and Israel, THATS WHY it looks the other way to Israel daily bombings. Your closer comparison could be US and Turkey vs Kurds.
In contrast, Iran are as far from being best buds to Saudis/US as humanly possible (animosity more from Saudis/US than Iran). And as far as I can see, Iran wasnt getting involved (much) in Yemen was due to fragile nuclear deal, now they dont have that excuse anymore.
Right now Iran is public enemy No. 1 for the U.S., Israel, U.K. you name it and Russia No.3 since NK still tentatively holds the No. 2 spot. So what you think will happen to Iran if it gets overtly involved?
First of all, I dont see how Iran would be treated any worse even if it did get involved overtly in Yemen. Secondly, I'm not advocating overt war of Iran vs Saudis, what I'm suggesting is actual non-traceable supplies of MANPADs, anti-ship missiles, in parallel strongly pushing legitimate humanitarian and medicine aid with UN supervision. Iran does that for Syria and Palestine, yet barely anything for Yemenis. I'm sure they do on a very small scale, time to up the stakes.
Posted by: Harry | Jun 14 2018 10:16 utc | 78
People in New York would benefit from the city being liberated.
It's high time.
Posted by: bjd | Jun 14 2018 10:17 utc | 79
@laguerre
Zaydi regions in red.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaidiyyah#/media/File:North_Yemen_in_its_region.svg
Posted by: Mats | Jun 14 2018 10:42 utc | 80
Laguerre
Why don't you google it? (I mean on Googlebooks of course). For example, check "hudayda yemen ottoman"
You'll get plenty of results. It was under Ottoman influence/occupation, unlike the North and therefore has a Hanafi component in it. But as any port, a lot of mixture.
Posted by: Mina | Jun 14 2018 11:17 utc | 81
Malbrunot on Yemen, in French
https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/profession-reporter/profession-reporter-10-juin-2018
Posted by: Mina | Jun 14 2018 11:22 utc | 82
Charles R @ 56: TG's comment @ 18 about Yemenis having a "sky-high fertility rate" was offensive, not only because it was based on a stereotype about impoverished Third World people unthinkingly breeding like rabbits but because it was incorrect. Fertility rates in Yemen have been in decline for the past 50 years. If I can search on Google for information on Yemen's fertility rates - and finding what they are and what the trends have been is not difficult - TG should have done the same before weighing in with his/her fatuous comment.
Yemen's population also does not necessarily have to be determined or limited by the carrying capacity of its present territory. Very few countries' populations correspond to the limits of the carrying capacity of the land where they live. If they had to, then much of western Europe (the British Isles in particular) and northern Europe, Japan, Singapore and South Korea should suffer depopulation. But countries can and do trade.
There may be an argument that the Hejaz area (the coastal strip of Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea) and Yemen have more in common culturally and historically than either has with the rest of Saudi Arabia. If the Arabian Peninsula had been allowed to develop independently after the demise of the Ottoman empire, and not been subjected to British interference and courting of Ibn Saud, the Hejaz and Yemen might have formed an independent state, in which case that state's economy would depend on trade to bring in necessary foodstuffs to feed the population if its farmers cannot grow enough food to feed everyone.
Posted by: Jen | Jun 14 2018 11:32 utc | 83
Harry @ 75: Yemen is being blockaded on land, in the air and at sea by the Saudis and possibly the Emiratis. Even if Iran did want to help, how can its planes and ships penetrate the blockade?
Still I suspect that the Houthis are receiving weapons and ammunition secretly. The answer must be that soldiers in the Saudi army have been defecting to the Houthi side and giving them what they need.
Posted by: Jen | Jun 14 2018 11:37 utc | 84
@ Jen | 81
When there is a will, there is a way. There is no such thing as an air-tight blockade, especially not for such vast territory, if Iran wanted to deliver weapons, they could.
Posted by: Harry | Jun 14 2018 11:57 utc | 85
Circe, @54, regarding the moron you quoted
"Iran is the biggest threat the U.S. faces right now"
If you think about it, this might be true. Who actually threatens the U.S. today? No nation state, only Sunni terrorists and we barely give them a second thought today. Our national security assessment statement even says so.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Jun 14 2018 12:01 utc | 86
Very strange how Malbrunot refrains from any blame on KSA. It's not his habit.
He does not mention that THEY decide who can take the plane to Aden, although he mentions the difficulty for journalists to get to Yemen and the fact the unique entry is Aden.
He mentions the fact that civil servants in the north do not receive their salaries but does not explain that it is KSA/UAE who make it impossible saying that "this is a zone under houthi control and they don't want money to arrive there", i.e. part of the siege strategy.
Posted by: Mina | Jun 14 2018 12:17 utc | 87
Colonel Cassad has a good report with maps and videos of the attack on the port al-Hudaydah.
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/4251168.html
You'll need a translation. Use Yandex Browser. Translates automatically.
Here's a translated section:
"Advancing in the direction of the airport forces bogged down in fighting with the Houthis South of the city, while losing 13 of carts and armored fighting vehicles, and several dozen people killed and wounded, including 4 officers and soldiers of the UAE.
"Attempt landing in the port of Hodeidah failed. The Houthis have destroyed one of the landing craft received hit two anti-ship missiles https://almasirah.net/gallery/preview.php?file_id=17241 (the Houthis claimed that the night after the fire and evacuate the dead, the ship was abandoned by crew and sank) and actually tore an organized landing. Among the dead were sailors and officers of the Navy of UAE. The Houthis claim that they have forces and means for destruction and other ships of the invaders from the West coast of Yemen.
"Also, the Huthis released a few tactical missiles on areas of sosredotochena forces of the invaders. According to official statements by the Yemeni army, with the beginning of active operations in may this year, the invaders and their accomplices have lost 119 of carts and armored fighting vehicles, 58 of them on the West coast.
"Today we can expect a repetition of attempts to break through to the city after a concentrated air strikes. In fact, the total superiority in aircraft and armored vehicles is the main asset of the invaders, which they will be used in order to break through the defense of the Huthis and take have to start at the airport of Hodeidah.
"It is worth noting that the Pentagon has officially stated that it is not involved in plenerowej, implementation and support of operations against the Houthis, and limited only by the operations against ISIS and al-Qaeda in Yemen. The Houthis however, directly call the protests a us-Saudi aggression that tries to hide behind the various puppets.
"It is noteworthy that the offensive began in the midst of the Muslim holidays, in that time, as even in Afghanistan, agreed to the truce, and that in these days of suicide bombers to explode is impossible.
"Of course, all this happens in the midst of a massive humanitarian catastrophe caused by the intervention, on which "civilized community" turns a blind eye."
Posted by: Red Ryder | Jun 14 2018 12:28 utc | 88
What proves that a Malthusian like TG is a racist is that his type never cites about carrying capacity in general, and especially never invokes it toward the most grossly unsustainable people on Earth: Those living a Western-type middle class lifestyle based on extreme energy consumption. Instead they only discover the matter where it comes to impoverished brown people (who of course have been forced out of their sustainable traditional lifestyles by Western imperial globalization itself; that's the only reason they have no food security).
Anyone truly concerned with Earth's carrying capacity always begins, develops, and ends with the extreme high-footprint Western lifestyle.
By the way, today is the day MbS is supposed to make a public appearance (at the Russia vs. Saudia Arabia soccer game). Will we see him up close?
Posted by: Timothy Hagios | Jun 14 2018 13:19 utc | 90
Posted by: Mina | Jun 14 2018 14:20 utc | 91
A couple of interesting tidbits from South Korea (via Antiwar.com):
South Koreans Reject Pro-War Old Guard as Moon’s Peace Party Wins Big in Local Elections
https://original.antiwar.com/Stu_Smallwood/2018/06/13/south-koreans-reject-pro-war-old-guard-as-moons-peace-party-wins-big-in-local-elections/
&
crAP: Koreas agree to restore military communication lines
https://apnews.com/c3a4e7443add4be3a6cd8326e544d0ae
Posted by: et Al | Jun 14 2018 14:42 utc | 92
et Al @ 89: Thanks for the links. An excerpt from the first link:
"South Koreans have used this election to definitively endorse the cooperative North-South movement taking control of Korea’s destiny. A future of peace by Koreans and for Koreans – rather than one of constant crisis and tension – is something they demonstrably desire."
Posted by: ben | Jun 14 2018 19:05 utc | 94
Obviously, there must be some maximum population of any species on a finite earth. The question is, what is the maximum human population? The UN found we could feed all the hungry people currently alive for just an additional $30 billion/year. And that's using the current wasteful/polluting methods to produce the current wasteful diet.
We have the technology to produce enough for all humans to live free from want, and even to a reasonable degree of comfort. But, the earth cannot bear to produce enough hamburgers, ranch-style single family houses, SUVs and consumer products that need to be replaced frequently, etc. for all of us.
So different means of producing different goods is necessary to provide a decent lifestyle for all of humanity.
The problem is that sustainable, non-polluting production/consumption modes are not as profitable for the economic elite. So, they promote the belief that the reason 50,000 children die every single day from the effects of extreme poverty isn't their greed. No, it's THEIR/OUR OWN DARNED FAULT.
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 14 2018 20:26 utc | 95
Pentagon spends $30 billion every 20 days on surveillance, security and Killing Machines.
There is no war on poverty. War is for the benefit of those who profit from resource extraction, land theft and genocide.
Posted by: fastfreddy | Jun 14 2018 22:19 utc | 96
Today's SitRep on the port battle, at PressTV.com
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/06/14/564952/Saudi-Arabia-UAE-Yemen-Hudaydah
It's going as well as it can for the Houthis against the invader UAE, Saudi and their mercs.
Posted by: Red Ryder | Jun 15 2018 0:36 utc | 97
Something is going on with US policy on Yemen.
US has refused to help the attack on the port city.
Posted by: Red Ryder | Jun 15 2018 1:01 utc | 98
James, check out DesolationRow | Jun 13, 2018 11:50:22 PM | 58.
The links support your earlier recollection of evidence that Yemen/South Arabia were the actual "Israel" of Biblical lore.
Fascinating stuff, with enough threads to present many sources to follow up. Oldest Arabic writing turns out to have been Christian. Apparently there is (or was) much archaeological evidence to support the claim that most of the Old Testament/Torah stories were really about Yemen, not the Levant.
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 15 2018 1:45 utc | 99
@99 daniel - thanks.. yes - that is the same author that i had previously read.. i was hoping it was another author to further substantiate it, but it is interesting non the less.....
i see my post finally got posted @10.. not sure why it got held in the cue...
on the topic of population and too many people - malthusianism - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusianism
i just finished reading dan browns book - inferno, written in 2013.. it is all about this topic of how many people can be on the planet in a sustainable way? i think it is an important question and it isn't racist to ask this.. unfortunately TG didn't present his interest in the best way and was subsequently attacked from all angles, lol.. oh well.. i was hoping TG would come back to make an amendment to his commentary, but alas - it looks like no such luck...
for anyone who wants to read an interesting book on this topic - check out dan browns book inferno...
Posted by: james | Jun 15 2018 2:07 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
The question I asked on a previous Hodeidah thread has still not been answered: who are the people of Hodeidah? Are they mainly Sunnis, who might be expected to give up easily and push out the Houthi garrison? Or are they basically sympathetic to the Houthis, and might be expected to help the Houthi garrison resist? It's a vital question.
I suspect, being a port, that they're a mix, and it's a bit touch-and-go which side they will support. A blundering mistake on either side could turn things.
Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 13 2018 18:41 utc | 1