These are excerpts from Democracy Now! and PBS Newshour
JaneFerguson5, reporting back from Yemen: "Of course, civilians are dying in these airstrikes, but not in anywhere near to the numbers of people who are falling ill and dying from the humanitarian crisis that has been caused by this war."
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen is incredibly difficult to cover on the ground, with many obstacles for journalists hoping to access the capital Sana'a and other areas affected by the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition bombings. We speak with a reporter who smuggled herself into northern Yemen to report on the widespread famine and devastation there in an exclusive three-part series for "PBS NewsHour." Special correspondent Jane Ferguson is a Beirut-based special correspondent. Her pieces are titled "Yemen's spiraling hunger crisis is a man-made disaster," "American-made bombs in Yemen are killing civilians, destroying infrastructure and fueling anger at the U.S." and "Houthis deny U.S., Saudi claim that they are Iran's puppets.
This is U.N. humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande.
This is U.N. humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande.
LISE GRANDE: Most of the eight-and-a-half million people that we describe as being pre-famine, the reality of their life is that when they wake up in the morning, they have no idea if they will eat that day. No idea. Eight-and-a-half million people are in that category. The U.N. estimates that by the end of the year, if there is not an end to this war, another 10 million Yemenis will be in that same situation. That's 18 million innocent civilians who are the victims of this war. And that's why all humanitarians are saying, "Enough is enough. There has to be a political solution, and the parties to the conflict have to sit at that table and agree on how to stop this."
AMY GOODMAN: We'll speak with PBS correspondent Jane Ferguson, now in Beirut, about what she saw in Yemen. But first we're going to her report. It was part two of her three-part exclusive PBS series. This piece is called "American-made bombs in Yemen are killing civilians, destroying infrastructure and fueling anger at the U.S."
JANE FERGUSON: Inside rebel territory in Yemen, the war rains down from the sky. On the ground, front lines have not moved much in the past three years of conflict. Instead, an aerial bombing campaign by the Saudi-led and American-backed coalition hammers much of the country's north, leaving scenes like this dotted across the capital city, Sana'a, and beyond. A few weeks before I arrived, this gas station was hit. Security guard Abdul Al Badwi was in a building next door when it happened. He says six civilians were killed.
The U.S. military supports the Saudi coalition with logistics and intelligence. The United States also sells the Saudis and their coalition partners many of the bombs they drop on Yemen. In the mountains outside the capital, we gained exclusive access to the site where the Houthis store unexploded American-made bombs, like this 2,000-pound Mark 84 bomb made in Garland, Texas. It landed in the middle of the street in the capital, we are told. One of the men here told me where each was found around Sana'a.
Back in the city, the Houthis also let us see a storage site with the remains of American-made cluster bombs. Cluster bombs are among the most deadly to civilians, filled with baseball-sized smaller bombs that scatter over a larger area. Any that don't explode stay where they fell, primed, and often wounding civilians like land mines. The Houthis have also targeted civilians, throwing anyone suspected of opposing them in jail.
Dr. Ali Al Motaa is a college professor. He did his doctorate in the U.S., but is a strong Houthi supporter.
AMY GOODMAN: We'll speak with PBS correspondent Jane Ferguson, now in Beirut, about what she saw in Yemen. But first we're going to her report. It was part two of her three-part exclusive PBS series. This piece is called "American-made bombs in Yemen are killing civilians, destroying infrastructure and fueling anger at the U.S."
JANE FERGUSON: Inside rebel territory in Yemen, the war rains down from the sky. On the ground, front lines have not moved much in the past three years of conflict. Instead, an aerial bombing campaign by the Saudi-led and American-backed coalition hammers much of the country's north, leaving scenes like this dotted across the capital city, Sana'a, and beyond. A few weeks before I arrived, this gas station was hit. Security guard Abdul Al Badwi was in a building next door when it happened. He says six civilians were killed.
The U.S. military supports the Saudi coalition with logistics and intelligence. The United States also sells the Saudis and their coalition partners many of the bombs they drop on Yemen. In the mountains outside the capital, we gained exclusive access to the site where the Houthis store unexploded American-made bombs, like this 2,000-pound Mark 84 bomb made in Garland, Texas. It landed in the middle of the street in the capital, we are told. One of the men here told me where each was found around Sana'a.
Back in the city, the Houthis also let us see a storage site with the remains of American-made cluster bombs. Cluster bombs are among the most deadly to civilians, filled with baseball-sized smaller bombs that scatter over a larger area. Any that don't explode stay where they fell, primed, and often wounding civilians like land mines. The Houthis have also targeted civilians, throwing anyone suspected of opposing them in jail.
Dr. Ali Al Motaa is a college professor. He did his doctorate in the U.S., but is a strong Houthi supporter.
DR. ALI AL MOTAA: The missiles that kill us, American-made. The plane that kills us, American-made. The tanks, Abrams, American-made. You're saying to me, "Where is America?" America is the whole thing.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Jane Ferguson, reporting from Yemen for the PBS NewsHour. When we come back, we'll go to Beirut, Lebanon—Jane has come out of Yemen, which she smuggled herself into—and speak directly with her. Stay with us.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Jane Ferguson, reporting from Yemen for the PBS NewsHour. When we come back, we'll go to Beirut, Lebanon—Jane has come out of Yemen, which she smuggled herself into—and speak directly with her. Stay with us.
AMY GOODMAN: "Yemen Blues" by Yemen Blues. This is Democracy Now! I'm Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/19/pbs_report_from_yemen_as_millions
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/19/pbs_report_from_yemen_as_millions
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