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US President Joe Biden repeatedly claimed that he would end the war on Yemen, which has created the largest humanitarian crisis on Earth.
But in reality, US-backed Saudi bombing of the poorest country in West Asia has reached the highest level in years, under the watch of the Biden administration.
Yemeni civilians are paying the price, with one killed or wounded every hour, according to an analysis by Save the Children.
The humanitarian organization said January 2022 was the deadliest month in Yemen since 2018.
From January 6 to February 2, more than 200 adults and 15 children were killed in Yemen. Another 354 adults and 30 children were injured.
Save the Children acknowledged that this is a conservative estimate, and the actual casualty figure is likely higher.
Oxfam reported that at least 43 US-backed Saudi airstrikes hit civilian targets in Yemen in January 2022.
“Most of these were on houses and farms, destroying homes and businesses that will take many years to rebuild,” the aid group wrote.
PRESS RELEASE: Nearly one civilian was killed or injured every hour in #Yemen last month, making January the deadliest month since 2018, according to a new analysis by Save the Children. https://t.co/qRsoqEBCqo
— Save the Children Global Media (@Save_GlobalNews) February 11, 2022
March 2022 will mark the seventh anniversary of the US-backed Saudi war on Yemen.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden promised he would end this conflict. Then in February 2021, the newly inaugurated president claimed he was terminating US support for Saudi “offensive” operations in Yemen.
Biden did not mention that the war is offensive by its very nature, given that Riyadh started it in March 2015 by launching a bombing campaign on its southern neighbor.
It is widely acknowledged that Saudi Arabia would not be able to wage this war on Yemen were it not for the military, political, and logistical support it receives from the United States and Britain, not to mention the many billions of dollars worth of planes, missiles, bombs, and other weapons these two countries have sold to the Gulf monarchy.
Even centrist Washington, DC-based think tanks that are closely linked to the US national security state, such as the Brookings Institution, have spoken openly of “Biden’s broken promise on Yemen.”
The Biden administration has continued selling military technology to Saudi Arabia as it kills Yemeni civilians.
This January, Saudi Arabia attacked a detention center in Yemen with a Raytheon laser-guided bomb, killing at least 91 people and wounding 236 more.
Saudi Arabia attacked a detention center in Yemen with a US-made laser-guided bomb from Raytheon, killing 91 people and injuring 236.
President Joe Biden claimed he'd end US support for Saudi bombing of Yemen, but has not. Instead he sold it more weaponshttps://t.co/vMZyz5Ahsv
— Multipolarista (@Multipolarista) January 30, 2022
Meanwhile, international institutions are doing little to nothing to try to stop the bloodshed in Yemen.
The Norwegian Refugee Council warned that the number of civilians killed or injured in Yemen has nearly doubled since the UN Human Rights Council voted to end its monitoring of the conflict in October 2021.
“In the four months before the end of the human rights monitoring, 823 civilians were injured or killed in the war. In the four months that followed, it was 1,535 civilians,” the refugee council reported, citing data from the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project.
In this period, the number of civilian casualties caused by US-backed Saudi airstrikes increased by 39 times.
Instead of pressuring its ally Saudi Arabia to end the war, the Biden administration is considering reverting to the policies of Donald Trump, by hitting the Yemeni indigenous resistance group Ansarallah, known popularly as the Houthis, with a so-called “terrorist” designation.
