For seven years, a civil war has been raging in Yemen between the Saudi Arabia-backed government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebel sect, which seized control of the northern Saada province in 2014. The conflict that continues to this day, and the cost in human lives has been exacerbated as Saudi Arabia has blockaded all of Yemen’s ports on land, air and sea, leaving ships unable to enter. This has caused a massive famine, leaving more than 5 million people at risk of starvation. Additionally, American imperialism has remained strong under the Biden administration as the United States continues to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia while a more or less apathetic public remains largely ignorant.
The Obama administration began selling these weapons, a practice which continued under Trump’s one-term presidency and up through Biden’s recent sale of air-to-air missiles. As America continues to provide weapons, the conflict’s death toll has surpassed 100,000 people. The first sale of weapons in 2015 brought $3 billion to Raytheon Company, a former arms manufacturer. The fact that Obama administration officials would later express some regret is little comfort to the victims.
Given America’s consistently disastrous involvement in foreign conflicts, including the Iraq War that resulted in between 186,084 and 209,276 civilian deaths due to violence, these sales are disappointing, but hardly out of character. What is worth mentioning, however, is the disheartening apathy Americans have shown toward our continued imperialistic and disastrous foreign policy.
The conflict in Yemen is no different. American weapons and planes operated by Saudi-led coalition forces continue to bomb civilian targets, which have included a wedding party and a school bus. Saudi brutality in Yemen has not been ignored by the media, but little is said regarding it. American involvement in the conflict rarely makes front-page news, even as the death toll continues to climb. While Biden received press coverage for removing troops from Afghanistan, during the 2020 presidential debates, discussion on foreign policy was lacking. This is likely because the conflict is not a partisan issue. Whatever sorrow the Obama administration or the U.S. Department of State express, weapons sales began with a Democrat-controlled White House, continued for four years of Republicanism and has persisted a year into Biden’s four-year term with no end in sight.
With this lack of media coverage, president after president has been able to continue this trend of interference uninterrupted. And Americans still remain apathetic due to the disparity of media coverage or the fact that it’s simply easy to turn a blind eye to what happens outside of one’s home country. Politicians may express the occasional platitude, but say and do little in the name of serious change. As the concerns of the oil industry influenced our decision to intervene in Iraq, so now do the demands of the weapons industry take precedence over any serious diplomatic goals as Raytheon Technologies, formerly Raytheon Company, has continued to lobby for lengthened intervention.
According to Rolling Stone reporting, in 2018, MSNBC ran more than 455 segments on the Stormy Daniels affair controversy while rarely mentioning Yemen. Matt Taibbi speculates that the radio silence is owed to America’s aforementioned direct involvement in committing war crimes.
In response to the Vietnam War and the brutal bombing of Cambodia, there was a massive wave of anti-war activism, particularly among university students. This would culminate in a massive student strike in 1970, following the shooting of four Kent State University student demonstrators by the National Guard. The war would end five years later, after a total 20-year span.
I don’t mean to imply that a strong anti-war movement will bring about an end to imperialism, nor do I mean to imply that disinterested American citizens are responsible for their country’s wrongdoings. However, I am disappointed by our apathy toward the horror and terrorism our country exports to developing nations. Although I understand that a government is obliged primarily to its own citizens, the life of a Yemeni, Libyan, Iraqi, North Korean or Vietnamese person is worth the same as that of an American. As the cause of their distress, when America inflicts horror on these people, it becomes responsible for their lives. If Biden were to bomb his own people, it would be called a genocide, and killing an American has the same moral weight as killing a non-American. Whether or not anti-war activism can bring the mechanisms of imperialism to a halt, remaining apathetic will definitely ensure nothing changes.
Desmond Keuper is a sophomore majoring in philosophy.