A recent report revealed the US’s active complicity in the deadly Saudi-led war on Yemen, saying the Pentagon runs an aerial combat training program for UAE personnel.
According to an official December 2017 US Air Force Central Command document obtained by Yahoo News on Wednesday, the US “escorted 6 UAE F-16s to RED FLAG; assisted 150 airmen in challenging exercise to prepare for combat ops in Yemen”.
The file, released via the Freedom of Information Act, also detailed additional support provided by the US Air Force’s Air Warfare Center at al-Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi.
“Unit fighter personnel advanced the UAE’s F-16 fighter pilot training program; 3 pilots flew 243 instructor sorties/323 hrs that created 4 new instructors & 29 combat wingmen who immediately deployed for combat operations in Yemen,” the document read.
William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, said the training program is yet another example of the deep US involvement in the military aggression against Yemen ongoing since March 2015.
“Training pilots who go on to bomb civilian targets in Yemen is yet another US form of complicity in a brutal war that has gone on for far too long,” he told Yahoo News
He added ” If Donald Trump administration is serious about getting Saudi Arabia and the UAE to negotiate in good faith for peace in Yemen, they should cut off training and other forms of military support until they play their part in ending the war.”
