By Brian Milakovsky, BDN
Without most Americans noticing, our country has become deeply complicit in a humanitarian catastrophe. In Yemen, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia is ruthlessly bombing civilian infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and the bridges that bring food from seaports to the desert interior. Not only have thousands of Yemeni civilians died in these airstrikes, but millions have been pushed to the edge of famine.
On the one hand, American diplomats are working admirably to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, and the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to assist suffering Yemenis. But in parallel to this, the Saudis are bombing Yemeni targets with billions of dollars’ worth of American bombs, refueling their fighter jets from American tankers, and receiving American intelligence for their air raids.
Americans are demonstrating heightened levels of political engagement as we debate our future under a Trump presidency. It is high time for us to expend some of this energy to understand the ethical consequences of our country’s policy in Yemen, and to require that our elected officials — such as U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King — explain their support for the Saudi war knowing its consequences for civilians.
