Solidarity with the People of Yemen

Statement by Austin Dewey of the Anti-War Committee at the Women Against Military Madness protest on January 25, 2021.

Thank you all for joining this international show of solidarity against the US-backed atrocities in Yemen. 

As Saudi targeting of food production has led to tens of millions being pushed to the brink of famine, Yemen’s health infrastructure has been ravaged by Western-sponsored bombing campaigns— leading to a still-ongoing cholera outbreak, already the worst in recorded history.

Sources including the Washington Post report that the US provides support to Al-Qaeda in the region, all while designating the Houthi movement, a group that resists Al-Qaeda in Yemen, as a “terrorist organization.” This is right as then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced that the new base of al Qaeda is in Iran, a baseless claim.

The US’s backing of Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen began in 2015. The Vice President of the administration that helped push these campaigns forward was none other than Joe Biden!

The same Joe Biden that took part in the Obama administration’s campaign against Syria, initiating a massive refugee crisis.

The same Joe Biden that took part in the campaign against Somalia that killed thousands of people through drone strikes.

The same Joe Biden that took part in the campaign against Libya which devastated and destabilized one of the most prosperous countries on the African continent. To this day, African migrants are exploited and sold as slaves in open air markets.

The last year that Biden was Vice President, an average of three bombs were dropped by US forces every hour, with almost all deaths being civilians. The return of Biden to the seat of power represents a tactical shift in imperial policy, not a moral renewal as he claims.

However, there will be a different kind of renewal. There will be a renewal of people disillusioned with the status quo, wondering why we are spending almost a trillion dollars a year on mass murder instead of on healthcare, or education, or repairing aging infrastructure. It is up to us to mobilize the people against these absurd priorities.