?In Yemen, Where Do The Children Play

Yamanyoon- 27 Sep 2017

Darla Leclair

Yemen, a country with which I have a deeper, more intimate relationship, and it’s troubles hurt my heart most profoundly.

Yemen recently entered its 3rd year of war. In addition to a cholera epidemic, mass starvation, utilities sabotage, and black market greed, Yemenis suffer death almost daily from air bombardments, rocket attacks, and economic blockades at the hands of the US/UK/Saudi Arabian coalition.

Yeah, we’re complicit in killing loads of civilians and very, very rarely hitting the intended Al-Qaeda targets. Is the coalition that pathetically incompetent?

To be more precise, the countries that aid and abet Saudi Arabia in their murderous aggression, both actively or in a supporting role include:

UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, Sudan, Turkey & China

The U.S.

Bombs and other ordnance, naval blockades, Saudi pilot training, mid-air refueling, control room monitoring and strategizing, and the recent multi-billion dollar weapons deal which may or may not happen.

The U.K.

Intelligence, weapons, bombs, other ordnance and naval blockades

Australia

Arms sales

Canada

Armoured vehicles

Again, just the tip of the iceberg.

 

I’ve heard it said that war is good for the economy. Apparently so, because we are talking multi-BILLIONS of dollars in world-wide sales as the West blossoms beautifully into war-mongering nations. There’s the blood money.

But this article addresses specifically the youngest casualties of this dirty & disgusting war currently being waged in the killing field that is Yemen.

I mean no disrespect to the little babies, the youngest casualties of the proxy war in Yemen, whose birth defects make them look as if they are players in a horror show or products of various science experiment.

And indeed they are since many of the birth defects currently appearing in Yemen have never been seen at such an elevated level of deformity before now, and chemicals appear to be the culprit.

It is of particular frustration that I cannot include the actual photos of these children which would give everyone a horrific swift kick in the pants. If I posted them, I would be banned from social media for not following community guidelines. But I completely understand the concern.

The photos are so heinous and disturbing that I will not share them with older and sensitive family members and friends. If they were posted, some kid innocently surfing sites might come across them, and I want to avoid that at all costs. The images are that bad.

Prior to this war, Sanaa was able to separate out the most dangerous materials from a 10-million-ton hill of refuse thanks to a nearby treatment plant. Unfortunately, the coalition saw fit to bomb and destroy this necessary utility, resulting in the creation of puddles at the base of the heap containing untreated medical waste. Poisons that leach into the ground water ingested by the population.

When the liquefied, contaminated waste was tested, researchers found it contained hazardous and biohazardous chemicals that could cause a variety of diseases including cancers, birth defects, immunological disorders and many other diseases.

We’re talking toxic, genotoxic, infectious and pathogenic waste; deadly microorganisms, heavy metals (to include mercury), drugs, solvents and disinfectants; and the biggie, radioactive materials. Combined, these ingredients resulted in a soup of illness and death.

The same thing happened, to a lesser extent, in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Basra after the 2004 Iraq War.