“Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” appears to be official Defense Department policy on its role in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.
The head of Central Command (CENTCOM) told lawmakers on Tuesday that the Pentagon doesn’t chronicle details of the specific Saudi air missions supported by the US military.
Gen. Joseph Votel also denied the United States was “one of the parties” to the war, and put the blame for fighting squarely on Houthi rebels.
“There is certainly a humanitarian disaster taking place, but there’s also a security disaster and there is a political disaster taking place, and the people responsible for this are the Houthis,” Votel said during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Votel also claimed that Houthi forces are refusing to engage in peace negotations, and that they are also “impeding humanitarian efforts that are being undertaken by Saudi Arabia.”
Whatever the veracity of the former claim, the latter flies straight in the face of expert opinion from the non-profit sector. Just two weeks ago, the International Rescue Committee said Saudi aid to Yemen amounted to a “war tactic.”
“The Saudi-led coalition is offering to fund a response to address the impact of a crisis it helped to create,” said IRC advocacy director Amanda Catanzano.
About three years ago, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched a full scale invasion of Yemen in response to the Houthis’ 2014 ouster of then-Yemeni President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The United States has provided Saudi-led forces with weapons, intelligence and logistics support, including mid-air refueling for bombing missions.
Saudi coalition forces have killed over 5,000 civilians, more than 20 percent of them children, and their blockade of Yemen has put one quarter of the country, or 7 million people, at the brink of starvation, according to Vox.
The destruction wrought by the war has also caused disease to spread. In January, the head of United Nations humanitarian affairs said that an ongoing cholera outbreak in Yemen was “probably the worst the world has ever seen.”
“Unless the situation changes, we’re going to have the world’s worst humanitarian disaster for 50 years,” Mark Lowcock said.
But according to Votel’s testimony Tuesday, the Pentagon has zero concerns whatsoever about its own culpability in these developments. When asked by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) if CENTCOM keeps detailed records on Saudi missions—location, targeting, and results—Votel answered in the negative.
Warren then asked about a reported Saudi “double tap” airstrike last month—the targeting of emergency services responding to a prior Saudi airstrike that killed five civilians.
“Is CENTCOM able to tell whether US fuel or US munitions were used as part of that strike?” she asked.
“Senator, I don’t believe we are,” Votel replied.
Later, when asked by Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) about diplomacy, American leadership, and the US “enabling” of Saudi operations, Votel wouldn’t recognize Washington as a stakeholder.
“We’re not parties to this conflict,” Votel said.
Hirono interrupted with protests, but Votel ignored them, continuing to give his answer, which meandered into praise of Saudi humanitarian aid.
“I still don’t know what the US role there should be and is because we are very much part of what the Saudis are doing,” Hirono replied.
