Local Editor
The White House has offered a limited public defense for its role in the bloody Yemen conflict. It speaks mainly of supporting a friend against instability in its neighborhood.
Officials say that U.S. support, particularly intelligence sharing, is intended to reduce the chance that the relatively inexperienced Saudi military will miss targets and kill civilians.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) slammed that reasoning in a HuffPost interview.
"Under the law of war, if an individual or entity aids and abets someone who is committing war crimes, then that person can also be liable for war crimes, so that is something that the administration needs to take into account," Lieu said.
Observers of the conflict note that the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition has been linked to tragedy again and again, with the most recent prominent example a March 15 attack that killed over 100 people, including 25 children. The Obama administration has freshly approved arms sales as the killing has continued. In November, it gave the Saudis the green light to buy $1.29 billion more of American bombs.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
