Yemen Roils, Repression Continues With US Consent

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is still in Saudi Arabia, although doesn’t seem to be hindered from repressing Yemenis, through his vice president, to secure his rule. Just this week, Yemeni troops killed more than 50 unarmed protesters in the capital Sanaa as snipers fired on the crowd from rooftops, killing even a toddler. Today, bodies continued to pile up as army defectors attempt to defend the demonstrators from military onslaught, in one instance attacking a funeral procession:

These are images of what President Obama and the United States government support. Yes, they’ve asked for Saleh to step down. But many of these horrors were going on before Washington would agree to pull (rhetorical) support. And further, they now only have requested Saleh step down, placing more than tacit support behind the interim president, Saleh’s vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Obama’s counterterrorism advisor John Brennan even met with the both of them. And the US money still flows to Yemen and support continues. Why? So that Obama can secure a reliably obedient dictator in Yemen who will respond permissively to bribes so that Obama can escalate drone strikes without objection. Mysterious how the US magically has a moral and legal license to back such terror.

Update: Via Glenn Greenwald, a cable with a detailed list of the weaponry the US government gave to Yemen, which they are now using on their own people. Complete with shotguns, machine guns, ammunition, grenade launchers, body armor, communications equipment, warships, transport trucks, other unspecified killing machinery, etc. Oh yeah…and military-to-military training…don’t forget the training.