Yemen is a Humanitarian Nightmare. But the U.S. is Resisting Calls to End its Role in the War. By Kareem Fahim and Missy Ryan – Washington Post
NEHM, Yemen - Above lazy booms of artillery shelling and howling mountain winds, a Yemeni army commander described the endgame of his country’s destructive, three-year civil war in a way that suggested a bloodier phase was yet to come.
The capital, Sanaa, sat 60 or so miles away, controlled by Yemen’s rebels. The commander, Gen. Nasser al-Thebani, predicted an imminent advance on the city, while eyeing a loftier goal.
“The strategy is the liberation of Yemen,” he said.
But neither Thebani’s government troops, which are backed by a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, nor their opponents, the rebel group known as the Houthis, have shown they have the military strength to prevail. And as the battle grinds on, the United States has chosen to maintain its military support for the Saudi coalition — despite a rising tide of opposition to the war by U.S. lawmakers and increasingly dire warnings about its toll on civilians.
The U.S. refuels coalition warplanes, shares intelligence with the Saudis and provides them with munitions used in the air war. The Trump administration has weighed in with diplomatic assistance, too, bolstering the Saudi case for the war by publicly detailing what American officials allege is Iran’s growing military role on the side of the Houthis…