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The Increasing Costs of the Saudi War on Yemen

Dozens of civilians have been killed so far, and that number is only going to rise.

Not surprisingly, even Yemenis that supported the Saudi-led intervention are quickly turning against it:

Yemenis once supportive of the Saudi-led bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in their country are turning against the operation as civilian casualties mount and vital economic infrastructure is destroyed by airstrikes, including one on Wednesday that killed 29 employees at a dairy factory far from rebel-held areas.

At least 164 civilians have been killed since the airstrikes started last week, according to Yemen’s health ministry, while the United Nations put the figure at 93 dead and 364 wounded. Aid agencies say their ability to provide Yemen with urgent medical and food supplies has been restricted by both ground fighting between local factions and the Saudi airstrikes.

Even those who cheered the Saudi intervention against Houthi rebels are now appealing for its end.

Any local support that the intervention might have had in the country appears to have vanished in a matter of days, which suggests that there was never much support for military action in the first place. While there may have been some sympathy for Saudi hostility to the Houthis, it must now be dawning on everyone in the country that all of Yemen will suffer because of this intervention. Yemenis that oppose the Houthis reportedly want the war to end:

“We hate the Houthis, but they never attacked us or destroyed our property. Why don’t the Saudis just kill the head of the Houthis and save Yemen? It’s the Houthis that they want, but it seems that Saudi is trying to destroy Yemen instead,” said Lutfi a Mahbashi, a San’a resident who lives near the capital’s heavily-bombarded airport.

If the Saudis were hoping to weaken the Houthis by attacking Yemen, the attack has made enemies out of the Yemenis that share that goal. That is an entirely predictable and natural reaction to coming under attack by foreign forces, and it’s one that should have been expected.

As the article tells us, the costs to Yemen from this war continue to grow daily. Dozens of civilians have been killed so far, and that number is only going to rise as the war drags on. According to UNICEF, more than sixty children have been killed in the fighting to date. These deaths are all the more appalling because they are the result of an entirely avoidable and unnecessary war that could be ended at any time. The U.S. ought to realize how senseless and needlessly destructive this campaign is and lean on the Saudi government to halt its operation. Failing that, the U.S. should withdraw all support for the Saudis’ dangerous intervention.

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