WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar says the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Yemen stems from the years-long war waged by the Saudi-led coalition and its crippling blockade against the impoverished country, not because of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
On Friday, the United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield blamed Russia for worsening the food instability in Yemen since February 24, when Moscow began the Ukraine operation. She claimed the current circumstances in Yemen serve as another ripple effect of an “unprovoked, unjust, unconscionable war.”
On Sunday, Omar, who represents Minnesota, blasted Thomas-Greenfield’s claims. “Yemen’s devastating humanitarian crisis isn’t because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” She tweeted, adding that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is “because of the Saudi-led coalition’s brutal war and blockade that is starving millions of Yemenis, which the U.S. still supports.”
“Let’s not put the blame where it doesn’t belong,” the Muslim Congresswoman stated.
Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allies and with arms and logistics support from the U.S. and several Western states. The objective was to bring back to power a Riyadh-friendly regime and crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.
Shortly after the onset of the war, the regime in Riyadh also triggered a tight blockade on Yemen, where the population is in dire need of basic supplies such as food and medicine.
The Saudi-led war has stopped well short of all of its goals, despite killing hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and turning the entire country into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.