Washington Post Confirms US support of Saudi in Yemen

New analysis by The Washington Post and Security Force Monitor at Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute (SFM) provided the most complete picture yet of the depth and breadth of US support for the Saudi-led air campaign, revealing that a substantial portion of the air raids were carried out by jets developed, maintained and sold by US companies, and by pilots who were trained by the US military.

The Post and SFM reviewed more than 3,000 publicly available images, news releases, media reports and videos identifying for the first time 19 fighter jet squadrons that took part in the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen. More than half of the squadrons that participated in the air war came from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — the two countries that carried out the majority of the air raids and receive substantial US assistance.

An analysis of public contract announcements shows that the United States provided arms, training or maintenance support to the majority of the fighter jet squadrons in the campaign. The Post found that as many as 94 US contracts were awarded to individual Saudi and UAE squadrons since the war began.

The analysis revealed that 39 squadrons from Saudi-led coalition member states flew aircraft with airstrike capabilities. The majority of these units flew fighter jets that were developed and sold by American companies.

Despite Pentagon statements that it is difficult to pinpoint

which units in foreign militaries receive US assistance, The Post-SFM analysis identified specific airstrike squadrons that received US support, proving the universe of squadrons carrying out airstrikes is a narrow and knowable one.

“For most coalition countries, there is no way for [America] to support their planes without supporting squadrons that may be linked to airstrikes that human rights groups say are apparent war crimes,” said Tony Wilson, the director of Security Force Monitor.

The Post additionally reviewed more than 1,500 videos, photos and public statements by the Department of Defense and coalition members since the war began and found the United States participated in joint exercises with at least 80 percent of squadrons that flew airstrike missions in Yemen. At least four times, these exercises took place on US soil.

Source: Washington Post