US and UK launch war against Yemen

Summary

The US and UK have launched an illegal war against Yemen, bombing densely-populated cities. This act of aggression targets an already oppressed nation and highlights the growing danger of a broader Middle Eastern conflict. The attack comes as the US seeks to expand its offensive in Gaza and target Iran. The toll of casualties is unknown, but strikes have been reported in Sanaa and other cities. The US and UK launched the war without congressional or parliamentary approval, and President Biden confirmed the strikes in a statement.

URL

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/01/12/vgxz-j12.html

Content Type

📆 Run Date

Status

Done

A US Navy guided-missile destroyer launches an attack towards Yemen, January 11, 2024. [Photo: US Central Command]

The US and UK began bombing Yemen tonight, including strikes in the country’s densely-populated cities. While the scale of the assault is still emerging, the bombardment is an illegal act of war targeting an oppressed and impoverished nation that had already been ravaged by a decade-long onslaught by Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and its allies.

The attack highlights the growing danger of a broad Middle Eastern conflict, as the US seeks to transform Israel’s genocide in Gaza into a regionwide offensive, particularly targeting Iran.

In a statement to Reuters, a Houthi official confirmed that strikes had hit the capital city, Sanaa, which has an estimated population of more than three million, as well as Dhamar in the southwest, Sadda in the northwest, and Al Hudaydah, the largest Yemeni port city adjacent to the Red Sea.

Associated Press journalists reported hearing five airstrikes in Sanaa. Footage posted to X/Twitter shows large explosions in Al Hudaydah. As of this writing, the toll of dead and injured is unknown.

In a statement cited by the Al Mayadeen news agency, Hussein al-Ezzi, the Houthi deputy foreign minister, said: “Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines and warplanes, and they will have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression.”

The US and the UK have effectively launched a new war without even a figleaf of Congressional or parliamentary approval. Amid widespread and ongoing popular anger over the Gaza genocide, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not front the press to announce the operation or to answer questions about the bombing.

Instead, the White House issued a statement in Biden’s name confirming that strikes had begun.

It declared: “Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.”