The shockingly brutal Saudi air
campaign in Yemen has been led by American-made F-15 jet fighters.
The indiscriminate bombing of
civilians and rescuers from the air has prompted human rights
organizations to claim that some Saudi-led strikes on Yemen may
amount to war crimes. At least 2,800 civilians have been killed in
the conflict so far, according to the United Nations — mostly by
airstrikes. The strikes have killed journalists and ambulance
drivers.
The planes, made by Boeing, have
been implicated in the bombing of three facilities supported by
Doctors Without Borders (Médicins Sans Frontières). The U.N.
Secretary General has decried “intense airstrikes in residential
areas and on civilian buildings in Sanaa, including the chamber of
commerce, a wedding hall, and a center for the blind,” and has
warned that reports of cluster bombs being used in populated areas
“may amount to a war crime due to their indiscriminate nature.”
Bombs dropped by fighter jets are
pulverizing Yemen’s architectural history, possibly in violation of
international humanitarian law.
A few years earlier, as secretary
of state, Hillary Clinton made weapons transfer to the Saudi
government a “top priority,” according to her closest military
aide.
And now, newly released emails
show that her aides kept her well-informed of the approval process
for a $29.4 billion sale in 2011 of up to 84 advanced F-15SA
fighters, manufactured by Boeing, along with upgrades to the
pre-existing Saudi fleet of 70 F-15 aircraft and munitions, spare
parts, training, maintenance, and logistics.
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