US responsible for Saudi crimes in Yemen: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Tighe Barry, activist with the CODEPINK in Washington, to discuss Saudi Arabia’s ongoing military aggression against Yemen.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: When the US looks at this situation, what type of thinking is going on behind their support for Saudi Arabia to pound the weakest country perhaps in the world when it comes to a military campaign?

Barry: I believe that there is no coincidence in the fact that the United States [sells to Saudi Arabia] really 60 billion dollars worth of military equipment, munitions, jet fighter planes and these Abrams tanks just while they were finishing up their negotiations with Iran on Iran’s nuclear program.

I think this is an appeasement to the people of Saudi Arabia or to the regime in Saudi Arabia really, just like there is an appeasement being done with…Israel. It seems that Yemen is the Gaza Strip of the Arab Peninsula. It is inconceivable that the United States would help the largest violator of human rights to destroy the poor people of Yemen but it is also inconceivable that the United States would be arming and logistically helping and scientifically helping the regime in Tel Aviv to destroy the poor people of the Gaza Strip and to keep the people in the West Bank in such turmoil.

I believe that the United States is responsible for what is going on right now, allowing Saudi Arabia to murder these people in Yemen. We saw the national dialogue progressed, two years of national dialogue that was coming to a conclusion and the people of Yemen did not want another dictator and Hadi was well on his way to becoming another dictator and hopefully he won’t become a new dictator in Yemen. But it looks like Saudi Arabia is never going to stop because there is no power in the world including the world’s largest military forces that supplies logistics, ammunition and military equipment to Saudi Arabia is not telling it to stop and neither are any of the European countries or the UN - shame on them, shame on the UN, shame on these European countries hiding behind the skirt of the United States.   

Press TV: What is your reaction to these bombs that are being used in Yemen. We are talking about 900-pound bunker buster bombs by the US provided to the UAE which was then given to Saudi Arabia that is being used including these 500-pound bombs that was provided by the UK.  These bombs are not supposed to be used for wars, these are big huge bombs that are being used in civilian areas. Do the US and the UK not see the type of usage of these bombs?

Barry: Absolutely and not only that, this is not a war. This is an invasion by a foreign entity called Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And we just heard that the UAE has put troops on the ground in Yemen today. This is a violation of all UN rules, this is a violation of Geneva convention, these are war crimes, any person that dies in this incursion by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the other [Persian] Gulf emirates, the kingdoms, these monarchies in the [Persian] Gulf are war crimes and the United States and the UK and the rest of the European Union is participating in these war crimes by arming these people with these bunker buster bombs, the equipment to kill innocent Yemenis from across the border in Saudi Arabia.

Yemen is a very, very poor country, probably the second or third poorest country in the world and it is being attacked by two of the richest nations in the world – the United States and Saudi Arabia. This is shameful, it should be stopped and the criminals should be held responsible. There is no proof that this is a proxy war from Iran. They keep talking about this in our presidential elections but they offered zero proof.  

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