On World Children’s Day, Trump Praises Saudi Arabia for Murdering Yemeni Children

In a bizarre, statement on Tuesday, Trump also shrugged at the CIA’s conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 – “maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” he even declared that the US will continue to back Saudi Arabia because it is one of the world’s largest oil producers, a major purchaser of American arms, and an ally in the “fight against Iran.”

The twitter-in-chief went on even further. Trump refused to say he would stop the practice of detaining migrant children and their families in the US, although a federal court ruling on Monday found his restrictions on asylum claims unlawful. Little wonder Amnesty International says “what the US government is doing is abhorrent.”

Mind you, it’s not just migrant children and their families who are suffering under the Trump administration’s barbaric policies. The basic human rights of Yemeni children and their families are also being violated on a daily basis because of Trump’s “never-ending support for Saudi Arabia.” Specifically, millions of Yemeni civilians are suffering because of the US-backed, Saudi blockade of the country.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis. The unnecessary conflict has taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN also says a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

Now, instead of putting an end to this man-made humanitarian catastrophe, the Trump administration prefers to be complicit in the ongoing aggression as the US supplies the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance. After all, Trump says “it’s all about America first. We’re not going to give up hundreds of billions of dollars in weapons orders.”

In other words, the US will continue to be a party to the bloodshed in Yemen, and Trump intends to keep it that way. He will justify continuing to arm and defend the heinous behavior of Saudi Arabia, a regime that has not only killed a journalist in the most brutal way imaginable but has killed thousands of civilians in indiscriminate bombing attacks, many of them with US-supplied bombs and aircraft.

Which is to say, thanks to Trump’s foreign policy, migrant children and their families will continue to be locked up in US prisons as well, while the illegal war on Yemen will continue to kill and injure thousands of children, leaving millions more severely malnourished and fighting for their live –  the devastating consequences of a war that is not of their making.

However, now is the time to call for an end to the bloodshed and the protection of children, as well as sustainable and unconditional access to deliver assistance to every child in need. By falsely blaming Iran for the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, Trump cannot shrug off his government’s responsibility for all the terrible things that are happening in Yemen. First and foremost, he needs to put an immediate end to the US involvement, which has become a blank check.

It is past time for Washington’s role in this disastrous war to end. The way forward is not to provide the Saudis with training and intelligence sharing, or support them to blockade the port city of Hodeida, a crucial channel for 80% of Yemen’s food imports, or block vote on ending US military support for the war, or hinder the new UN-led cease-fire and peace talks in Sweden. Tragic enough, there is little sign that either the Saudis or the Americans are prepared to bring an end to their disastrous four-year war.