Why Has the U.S. Been Fighting a Proxy War Against Yemen?

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Saudi soldier in discussion with Emirate soldier.

IT WASN'T UNTIL last year's Russia/Ukraine war that I learned about the proxy war our country has been fighting in Yemen. While NPR has been running story after story about Ukraine civilians killed or an elementary school being hit by a Russian missile, I've wondered why similar coverage has been missing of the eight years of bombing in Yemen by the Saudis using U.S. weapons, or the humanitarian crisis there? 

The way I learned about it was via Twitter. This past year, when the Ukraine conflict began and voices were being raised against "that brute Putin," I began noticing increasing numbers of people from Yemen crying out for help, or angrily asking why nothing is being done about the horrors going on there that the U.S. was funding.

This prompted me to investigate further. What I've since learned is pretty disturbing.

The US has been involved in a proxy war in Yemen since 2014, when the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the country's civil war. The US has provided billions of dollars in weapons and logistical support to the Saudi coalition, and US forces have been involved in airstrikes and other combat operations.

Where is the Picasso who will paint
this modern Guernica?

The US has justified its involvement in Yemen by saying that it is supporting the Saudi government against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The US has also said that it is concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

Our involvement in Yemen, however, has been more than just a little controversial. Critics have said that the US is supporting a Saudi government that has been accused of human rights abuses (what's new?) and that the US is not doing enough to address the humanitarian aspect of the crisis. The US has also been accused of using the proxy war as a way to advance its own interests in the region.

It would appear that our involvement in Yemen will likely continue for the foreseeable future. The Saudi coalition has shown no signs of ending its intervention, and the US has no interest in leaving the region.

What it keeps coming back to for me though is the lack of coverage by our media. Why the blackout? Why the silence? How many other things are we involved that are being kept from the American people?

I decided to ask Google Bard (an AI like ChatGPT) and did learn some things that made sense. I asked: Why is there so little media coverage of our proxy war against Yemen?

Yemeni protesters after Saudi airstrike
with U.S. planes.

Bard: There are several reasons why there is so little media coverage of the US proxy war against Yemen.

First, the war is complex and difficult to understand. It is a multi-sided conflict with no clear victor. There are also many different factions involved, and it is difficult to keep track of who is fighting who.

Second, the war is taking place in a remote and impoverished country. Yemen is not a major media market, and there is little interest in the war from the general public.

Third, the US government has been reluctant to discuss its involvement in the war. The US has not officially declared war on Yemen, and it has denied that it is involved in a proxy war.

Fourth, the Saudi government has been very effective in censoring news coverage of the war. The Saudi government has blocked access to news websites and social media platforms, and it has arrested journalists who report on the war.

As a result of these factors, there is very little media coverage of the US proxy war against Yemen. The war is largely ignored by the general public, and it is difficult to find accurate information about the conflict. 

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Click to enlarge. (Creative Commons)

Closing Thoughts: The situation in Yemen is complicated. The media assumption appears to be that Americans don't care all that much. (Never mind that it is hard to care about something you don't know anything about.) Wars are easier when you create a bad guy who can personify the story. Kaiser Bill, Hitler, Saddam, Castro and now Putin. Ramp up the hate machine and people will watch the news more closely, which enables media to obtain higher prices for the advertising space they sell. 

Instead of attempting to inform the public, all too often the media focuses on matters that are easy to explain and can be written about efficiently. When stories are ignored, it's as if they never happened.

A major function of a free press is to shed light on what our leaders -- Federal, State and local -- are doing. When a government fails to walk in the light, the potential for abuses of power can be unlimited.

This is why a free press is included in the very first batch of items protected in the Bill of Rights along with the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, assembly, and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Each of these is a pretty profound right.