Local Editor

Both the United States and Saudi Arabia should be held accountable for war crimes, a US-based peace activist said. Leah Bolger, a US Navy veteran who is president of Veterans For Peace, accuses the two nations of human rights abuses. 

Bolger served in the Navy for 20 years before retiring in 2000. The full-time peace activist said the global community should not ignore instances when governments violate international norms and values.

"It’s really been quite some time that the US has been violating international laws and committing war crimes and now Saudi Arabia is doing the same thing," Bolger said.

"I’m afraid that because Saudi Arabia is a strong ally of the United States, it is not receiving the critical attention and response that it should receive and would receive if another nation committed the same kind of acts", she said.

She further said that the entire global community must insist that every country abide by international law. 

Bolger hailed a recent Human Rights Watch [HRW] report that blamed the US government for being involved in Saudi aggression against Yemen.

According to the HRW report, the US may be accountable for illegal military strikes in Yemen. It added that the US military was refueling warplanes and supplying Saudi authorities with relevant information.

The HRW report asked US authorities to investigate the horrifying effects of Saudi airstrikes against the people of Yemen. It accused Saudi authorities of committing war crimes in Yemen by killing civilians and destroying markets, schools and houses.

Bolger wrote on Common Dreams in 2012 that the US and "Israel" had violated Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force and threats against a country that poses no imminent danger.

Bolger referred to the time when leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement sought US support for launching a military attack against Iran. She wrote that "Israeli" leaders believed Washington’s support would be guaranteed as the US election was due Nov. 6 that year.

According to UN records, Saudi attacks have killed more than 2,600 people and injured at least 11,000 in Yemen. The Saudi airstrikes since March 26 have not been authorized by the UN.