Yemen 9-2-2015

2, September                                    Yemen According to Human Rights Watch, dozens of civilians have been killed and many more wounded by Saudi Arabia using U.S. made cluster munition rockets in the Yemeni city of Hajjah. Following the attacks additional fatalities occurred when unexploded submunitions were picked up.  Ironically, the US, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have ratified the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit indiscriminate warfare. Cluster munitions are, by definition, indiscriminate and therefore all these countries are in complete violation of the Geneva Conventions. Each munition contains 200 submunitions which when released kills or maims anything in its path – men, women and children – totally indiscriminate in its execution. The US just signed a huge military contract with Saudi Arabia for the delivery of military weapons and jets – the largest deal in the world. The Obama’s administration much touted rhetoric on human rights and the rule of law is completely at odds with its indefensible policies of arming the greatest purveyor of terrorism in the world with billions in military hardware. Once again, maintaining the military juggernaut weapons industry always triumph concerns for human life. I urge concerned readers to contact their legislators and the White House and demand an outright ban on these hideous anti-personnel (cluster munitions and land mines) killing machines.