The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 11.1 We Need To Talk About Yemen...

Episode Date: November 1, 2018

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Hello, hello, welcome to your Extra Morning Show. My name is Philip DeFranco and today I want to focus on a story that's received very little cable news coverage, although that is beginning to change, and that is the war in Yemen. And over the last few weeks, many have begun to question the US relationship with Saudi Arabia after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was allegedly tortured and murdered by agents of the Saudi government. And this while he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. And while the outrage over Khashoggi's death is 100% completely justified, it does also bring up the question as to why Saudi Arabia's death is 100% completely justified, it does also bring up the question as to why Saudi Arabia's airstrikes in Yemen that have killed thousands of civilians has not received nearly the same amount of attention.

And so that's why today we're going to dive deeper into this war-torn country's severe humanitarian crisis. And now Yemen's a mess, but it's getting better. During a recent press conference, President Trump briefly mentioned the war in Yemen. But the American public knows little about what's actually happening there. Since 2015, a civil war in Yemen has spiraled out of control and transformed into an international crisis. For more than three years,

a rebel group called the Houthis that receives weapons from Iran and a central government backed by Saudi Arabia, the US, and other Arab countries have fought a bloody air, naval, and ground war. The Houthis have been accused of committing war crimes, such as placing landmines in civilian areas, engaging in arbitrary arrests, and torturing prisoners. This includes the placement of 500,000 landmines in various areas around Yemen, reports of

detainees being hung from walls by their arms and having their fingernails extracted, and at least 117 documented cases of prisoners in Houthi captivity dying behind bars due to torture or neglect. But the Saudi coalition is responsible for the vast majority of the estimated 16,000 civilian casualties, conducting more than 18,000 airstrikes in Yemen, one strike every 99 minutes, targeting wedding parties, doctors without borders facilities, and school buses carrying children. Saudi Arabia has also imposed an on-again, off-again blockade on some of the key ports of entry into the country. The blockade prevents vital food and medical supplies from reaching millions of Yemenis.

This has led the UN Secretary General to call the war in Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis. We spoke with Christine Beckerle, a Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch, about the origins of this humanitarian crisis. And here's what she said. This is the world's worst and largest humanitarian crisis that is man-made. It didn't just come out of nowhere. It's not a natural disaster. There are clear individuals and states who are responsible, and individuals and states

who, if they were to change their behavior, could save literally millions,, sort of without exaggeration, of people. In fact, more than 22 million Yemenis, or three quarters of the entire population, is in need of humanitarian aid and protection. 18 million people are food insecure. 8.4 million people do not know how they will obtain their next meal. Due to a lack of clean water, Yemen saw its one millionth case of cholera in December 2017. And humanitarian organizations have a difficult time getting supplies to those in need, even when they are able to get provisions into the country. Dina El Mamoun, the head of policy and advocacy in Yemen for Oxfam International,

explained just how difficult this process has been for the humanitarian organization. Last year, Oxfam has flown in supplies to deal with cholera. Basically, it took us two months in order to get that to the people who need it. The crisis has also had a particularly severe impact on children. Dr. Marychelle Relaño, the UNICEF resident representative for Yemen, spoke with us from on the ground in Sana'a. The conflict has made Yemen actually a living hell for almost 11 million children. We have 1.5 million children acutely malnourished,

including almost 400,000 severe acutely malnourished children that are fighting for their lives, actually. Those are those children that we see on the TV, that they are just skin and bones. But it's not just physical symptoms that children are experiencing. The psychological impact of the war on children has also been devastating. For a long time, the children are hearing the sounds of war. And this is terrifying. Even for us that we are adults here, it's not so easy to hear the shooting, the shelling, the bombing, etc. This is really terrifying for the children.

They don't know if they're going to be able to go to school tomorrow. If they go to school, they don't know if it's going to be an attack and they will have to leave the school. So it's a very uncertain situation for them and psychologically many children are affected. So why should Americans care about a war taking place thousands of miles from their own shores? Well, the United States is very much involved in this crisis, the U.S. provides Saudi Arabia with logistical support, intelligence, and arms sales. And U.S.-made weapons have been found

at the scene of many civilian bombings. James Gelvin, a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at UCLA, told us that Americans should be more informed about the war in Yemen. This is something that should be on the front burner of the American public psyche at the present time. All we have to do is Google the pictures of the children in Yemen, children who are now susceptible to everything from direct combat deaths and being bombed to mass starvation.

So this is something that's very important, I think, for Americans to focus on because we are absolutely 100% complicit in the crimes that are being committed in Yemen. For its part, the U.S. has claimed that it needs to be involved in Yemen to prevent Iranian influence in the region and prevent the spread of terrorism in the country. But the question remains, are these interests worth the cost of complicity in the world's worst humanitarian crisis. from the border and then based on ceasing dropping of bombs that were permit the UN special envoy Martin Griffiths to get them together in Sweden and end this war." And echoing that same sentiment in a statement Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "...the time is now for the cessation of hostilities, including missile and UAV strikes from Houthi controlled areas under the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates." And adding, "...subsequently, coalition airstrikes must cease in all populated areas in Yemen." And the international response has been positive.

We have the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee calling Pompeo's statement the most significant breakthrough in populated areas in Yemen. And the international response has been positive. We had the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee calling Pompeo's statement the most significant breakthrough in the war in Yemen for four years, and adding, it is vital that this call for a ceasefire is followed through, and the call for support for the political process heeded. British Prime Minister Theresa May

telling Parliament in response, we certainly back the US's call for de-escalation in Yemen. And we also saw a response from Martin Griffiths, the special envoy of the secretary general for Yemen, saying that the UN welcomes all of this and stressed that there can be no military solution to the conflict. And in fact, as of recording this video,

Sweden has accepted the request from Griffith to host those talks, but also adding that nothing was definite. So that's where we are as of right now, and it'll be very interesting to see what comes from the next 30 days and the next 60 days. And of course, like I try to do with every video I put out on this channel, I'd love to hear from you. What are your thoughts regarding the potential de-escalation here?

Do you have hope for it or no you think it's screwed no matter what also Do you feel like we're only dealing with this situation now because of the spotlight cast on the situation due to Khashoggi? Really any and all thoughts on the situation let me know what you're thinking and feeling with all of that said I just want to say thank you for watching as you can kind of tell this is a little bit of a preview of different kind of content we're working on. Some pieces where it's not just me, and actually there's even more. In addition to Cody, who's the writer and researcher that worked on this piece, whose voice you just heard, if you're really interested in this situation, you want something even more in-depth than what was provided in the video, an explanation of what is actually happening, you can click the link down below in the description.

It'll take you to a Medium article. In the future, what we're wanting to do is we would feature that piece on our news website that we're currently building. But since we're still developing that, we're testing that. We thought we'd just use Medium for the time being so you can kind of get a feel. And so actually, on that note, if you like this video, you want more of the news coverage, hit that like button. That's the way to let me know. Also, while you're at it, if you want more, be sure to hit that subscribe button. Ring that bell for notifications.

But with that said, like with every morning video, I just want to say I love your faces. Thank you for your time. And I'll see you later today on the Philip DeFranco Show.