Progressives (Liberals)

ELIZABETH WARREN DEMANDS IN LETTER THAT U.S. MILITARY EXPLAIN ITS ROLE IN YEMEN BOMBINGS

IN THE WAKE of a U.S.-backed bombing last week that killed dozens of children on a school bus in north Yemen, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding answers about how U.S. military advisers support and oversee the Saudi and UAE bombing campaign in Yemen.

Warren sent a letter on Tuesday to Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command and top commander for U.S. forces in the Middle East, requesting that he clarify past congressional testimony about the U.S. role in the Yemen war. Warren’s letter referenced an article by The Intercept about an airstrike in May, based on a U.S. intelligence report that recounts in detail, minute by minute, how the strike unfolded and American munitions were used.

Votel has previously suggested that the U.S. has little knowledge about how Saudi Arabia and the UAE use American weapons, and does not track the aircraft missions that the U.S. helps refuel. During a congressional hearing in March, Warren asked Votel whether CENTCOM tracks what aircraft do after the U.S. refuels them. He responded, “Senator, we do not.” Votel also denied knowing whether U.S.-produced munitions were used in specific strikes when the media has reported on civilian deaths.

However, earlier this month The Intercept published a detailed article about a coalition airstrike in May, which targeted a site in Yemen’s Northern Saada governorate where a dozen family members slept in tents; the bomb happened to miss the tents, so the civilians survived. The article quoted an intelligence report that includes “what appear to be comments from an American intelligence analyst” who closely supervised the strike from a coalition command center in Riyadh, suggesting that U.S. military observers have detailed information about how strikes unfold.

Eric Eikenberry, an advocacy officer for the U.S.-based Yemen Peace Project, told The Intercept that the existence of an intelligence report shows that coalition airstrikes are more closely supervised than Votel had indicated. “When it comes to Yemen, the priorities of General Votel and the rest of the administration are obscene,” he wrote in an email. “We knew that the United States was providing the fuel, weapons, and intelligence for coalition strikes, and now we know that the U.S. is perfectly capable of assessing strikes on civilian targets that use U.S. munitions.”

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates began bombing Yemen in March of 2015, after a rebel group commonly known as the Houthis deposed the country’s Saudi-backed president. In the three years since, the countries have relied on support from both the Trump and Obama administrations, which have provided targeting intelligence, flown mid-air refueling missions for coalition aircraft, and resupplied them with tens of billions of dollars in weapons.

Warren’s letter references the intelligence report in The Intercept, asking how U.S. intelligence analysts could have produced such a complete picture of the strike if, as Votel claimed, the Pentagon is doing so little to tracking the missions.

“This report appeared to indicate that one or more U.S. representatives were present in the Saudi command center at the time the strike was approved and executed,” Warren wrote. “The reported presence of U.S. advisors in a command center responsible for actively approving and directing such airstrikes, and the reported existence of at least one U.S. intelligence assessment of an airstrike acknowledging the use of U.S.-manufactured munitions, raise questions about whether the U.S. does in fact have the capability to track the origins, purpose and results of U.S.-supported airstrikes should it choose to do so.”

Warren’s letter contains a list of detailed questions about U.S. oversight of Saudi bombings, asking about the role of U.S. advisers in the targeting process, and whether U.S. military officers are present in coalition command centers overseeing operations. The letter also asks whether the Pentagon conducts “after action assessments or … intelligence reports summarizing coalition airstrikes in Yemen, such as the one reported by The Intercept.” The letter asks the Defense Department to “provide unclassified answers … to the extent possible” and requests copies of the intelligence reports.

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Since the beginning of the war, U.S.-backed airstrikes have hit countless civilian targets, including schools, hospitals, and food and water infrastructures. Last week, the U.S.-backed coalition bombed a school bus in North Yemen, reportedly killing dozens of boys between the ages of 6 and 11. UNICEF called the strike the “worst attack on children since Yemen’s brutal war escalated in 2015,” and the U.N. Secretary General called for an “independent and prompt investigation” into the strike.

Warren’s letter comes at a time of mounting frustration on Capitol Hill toward the U.S. role in the war. In June, Sen. Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced that he would hold up a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the UAE until the Trump administration answered his questions about civilian casualties and U.S. strategy in the war.

“I am concerned that our policies are enabling perpetuation of a conflict that has resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” Menendez wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

https://theintercept.com/2018/08/14/elizabeth-warren-yemen-bombing-us-military/

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what has happened since. You have the U.N. calling for an independent investigation, Saudi Arabia—that killed them—saying “no,” Saudi Arabia backed by the United States and now General Mattis saying he is sending a general to Saudi Arabia to help with the investigation.

SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Well, it’s just preposterous to think that they are continuously allowed to investigate their own crimes. We’ve seen this committee that they’ve put together and the kinds of investigations they have done in the past. Remember, this is not the first massacre in Yemen. Two years ago, they killed 120 people in a market. The also killed 140 mourners in a funeral hall. And of course, every single day, there are airstrikes and casualties and civilians who have been killed by Saudi-led airstrikes. They have essentially absolved themselves of all wrongdoing every time they have investigated themselves. And of course they would. Who would trust a criminal to investigate his or her own crimes?

And for the U.S. to say that we’re going to send a general—well, the U.S. is also part of this coalition that has targeted civilians since three and a half years ago, since this war started. What Yemenis need is really an independent investigation, which has been put forward in the U.N. twice already and has been rejected by the Saudi-led coalition and the U.S. unfortunately has provided cover for the Saudi-led coalition at the U.N.

We need an independent investigation, yes, but the Saudis have already admitted that they have targeted this bus. They have said that this was a legitimate target. They’ve characterized the children inside the bus as people who were responsible for launching missiles into Saudi Arabia. And then the colonel, the spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition, went on to say that those who launch missiles into Saudi Arabia will get what they deserve.

So they have already admitted that they have targeted the bus. They’ve characterized those children as missile launchers. And what is there to investigate? We know who’s the only party capable of committing such acts in Yemen, which is the Saudi-led coalition. We know that they have done this over and over again. So really what would an investigation even prove, that we don’t already know?

AMY GOODMAN: This colonel, Turki Al-Malki, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, saying, “No, this is not children in the bus. We do have high standard measures for targeting.” Shireen Al-Adeimi, what does the U.S. military bill that President Trump signed off on yesterday at Fort Drum, New York—this unprecedented bill, a record-setting $716 billion military spending bill, $82 billion above the current year—say about Yemen?

SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Well, if you remember, Amy, Congress has now twice tried to invoke—has invoked the War Powers Resolution to try to extricate the U.S. from Yemen, and Congress passed a resolution back in December of last year acknowledging that the U.S. is at war in Yemen without congressional approval. So now here we have this defense bill that just got passed, and some senators and congresspeople have managed to insert some Yemen provisions that are meant to limit U.S. military spending on refueling missions in Yemen.

We know that the Saudi-led coalition relies on the U.S. military to refuel their jets midair. This is just one of the many services that the U.S. provides for the Saudi-led coalition. This bill contained these provisions saying that this money cannot be used toward midair refueling, but when you look at the language, it allows for some exceptions.

It says that the secretary of state can issue a waiver, and it says that these midair refueling missions can occur as long as the Saudis and the Emiratis show that they are taking certain actions to prevent civilian casualties.

So again, this is very vague language that essentially provides a loophole for using military spending toward midair refueling, and in essence it contradicts Congress’s earlier stance of saying that, “We are in Yemen, this is not authorized in Congress, but here we are allowing midair refueling under certain conditions.” Which again does nothing to protect the Yemeni citizens from Saudi bombs, U.S.-sold bombs to the Saudis and the U.S. assistance of the Saudi-led military.

The young crybabies(TYT) would be the first to hack machines to rig elections if they could. They are intolerant wonder babies that spout anti-American propaganda, which is why they are popular to left leaning people.

I guess, if you don't know any facts, any set of lies will do you. Trump has taught you well.

Voter fraud is a Democratic disorder. They will cheat if they can. I have known that about the Democrats since Kennedy's election. Trump did not teach me anything on that subject.

Here is a winning Progressive move.


Who are the bigots? Who wants free speech to disappear? Progressives turning children into zombies.
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2018/08/15/is-this-nazi-germany-college-student-denied-admission-because-he-followed-alex-jones-on-twitter/

I would be frightened to death if I ever agreed with you about anything.

I would be scared too if people were judged on their merits, where would you be?

Exactly what makes me so bad? Be specific.

Don't get me wrong. I don't know a thing about you offline. But your expressed opinions on these forums are to me the antithesis of what America - actually, the world - should be striving for. Blind to the crimes of Israel, Trump, our military - Blind to the necessity for socialist reforms - The list is endless.

That is nonsense. I support equal rights. I support Constitutional rights. I have said Islam is an enemy. That is a fact. I have never advocated anything but individual rights and equal justice. I do not know what you have been reading. And you cannot pass laws that eliminate human nature, people are people let them live their lives their way while obeying the laws of this country. They do not owe your ideas a thing. They do owe your protected groups a thing either.

I'm learning more about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
She is an excellent candidate.
She is wonderful person.

Given the opportunity to complain about the party leadership, she punts and says that the only thing that matters is Democrats winning.

Given the opportunity to cast shade on centrist candidates, she doesn’t take the bait and says that it takes all types to win around America.


I’m liking the unity for sure.

She is my favorite of persons running today.

We both can write the same words and not say the same things at all, in describing each our principles. Individual rights and equal justice we both claim to strive for, for instance. Put the words alongside one another as animals and you have perhaps a camel alongside a kangaroo. Anybody that supports Trump has no understanding of the damage to these concepts being done.

Trump is censoring no one. Progressives censor. The concept of free speech is something you do not respect.

You obviously are sincere, which is what makes it so sad.

You obviously can not do simple math. Ideas like yours are unsustainable, caused millions of deaths, and have already failed, and will again. You do not consider the individual trustworthy. Most see right through it.

If your profile is accurate you would have been 6 years old when Kennedy was elected. I supposed you must be either the genius of the family or just a chip of the old blockhead......let me ruminate about that.