Writer and political analyst Catherine Shakdam shines a light on the routinely under-reported crisis in Yemen, telling Mnar Muhawesh on ‘Behind the Headline’ what’s really motivating the Saudi-led, US-backed war on the most impoverished country on the Arabian Peninsula.
By  @mnarmuh | January 17, 2017
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    MINNEAPOLIS — Yemen has been devastated by asymmetrical aerial 
    bombardment by a Saudi-led coalition, and the war on Yemen, along with
     a Saudi-imposed blockade, is having disastrous impacts on food and water security.
    The United Nations reported in October that more than half of Yemen’s 28
     million people are short of food. At least 1.5 million children are going hungry
     in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, including 370,000 who are
     suffering from malnutrition so severe that it’s weakening their immune systems.
    And the Saudi-led attacks continue, striking Yemen’s hospitals, which are
     running out of medicine. All the while, these attacks have continued to receive
     backing from the United States and the United Kingdom since they began
    Even The New York Times admits that the deadly Saudi project in Yemen 
    couldn’t go on without U.S. support.
    But the Obama administration has said that while they may start
     halting some arms sales to Saudi Arabia, they’ll push ahead with
     training the Gulf kingdom’s air force to improve targeting.
    The people of Yemen are without food, water, medicine, and fuel. The
     death toll in Yemen is so high that the Red Cross has started donating 
    morgues to hospitals. And if that weren’t enough, the military campaign 
    has not only empowered al-Qaida to step into a vulnerable situation,
     it’s actually made the group richer, according to Reuters.
    Still, the Saudi government continues to block any kind of diplomatic 
    resolution in Yemen. Riyadh even threatened to cut funding to the U.N. over 
    its inclusion on a list of children’s rights offenders, effectively weaponizing
    Yet the crisis unfolding in Yemen goes routinely under-reported in mainstream 
    media. Hard-hitting coverage is kept to a minimum by those controlling the
     narrative — namely, outlets loyal to the U.S. and its allies which are enabling
     these atrocities.
    Here to discuss the crisis in Yemen and what this war is really about is
     Catherine Shakdam, a political analyst, author, and director of programs 
    with the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies. She is also an expert
     The House Of Saud,” is her latest book, and in it she explores that 
    real story of resistance against Saudi Arabia’s influence on the impoverished state.
    Learn more about fake news and about the forgotten genocide in Yemen on the full episode of the Behind the Headline:
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