By CAMERON GAY
Tens of thousands marched in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on April 11 to denounce continuing U.S. airstrikes on their country and Israeli bombing in Gaza. On the early morning of April 11, U.S. airstrikes killed at least three people, while the death toll in an attack two days earlier rose to 13, mainly women and children, according to Houthi officials. The Houthi-run Ministry of Health states that at least 116 civilians have been killed since the U.S. increased its attacks a month ago.
The White House has proudly declared unequivocal victory. Trump boasted on April 9: “We’ve put a major hurt on the Houthis, which nobody’s been able to do. We’ve really hit them hard, and they know it and they don’t know what to do, and it’s every night, night after night, and we’ve got many of their leaders and their experts.”
Meanwhile, the Houthis claim to have downed several MQ-9 Reaper drones, which the U.S. Department of Defense refuses to acknowledge. The total cost for its bombing campaign that is estimated to exceed more than $1 billion by mid-April. This is all taking place while the right wing in the United States attempts to roll back the last century’s achievements in social gains, including cuts to social programs, mass government layoffs, and major attacks on civil liberties. At the same time, the new budget approved by the House will increase appropriations for Trump’s efforts to deport immigrants by $175 billion, while giving the Defense Department an equivalent increase in funds.
The recent downturn in global markets signals the added burden on the working class, as millions of people lose their savings while facing lay-offs and rising prices. Yet Trump shrugs at the climbing cost of living and bombs working people across the globe.
Where is the so-called progressive wing of capitalism? What kind of “opposition” are they leading? Democratic Senator Cory Booker rambled for 25 hours about morality but continues his endorsements of Israel’s genocide measures against Palestinians in Gaza. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, allows the right’s spending bill to pass without lifting a finger to oppose it. The Democrats only stirred in their congressional seats when Trump administration officials leaked top-secret plans for an attack on Yemen to the editor of The Atlantic. The politicians’ social media accounts are filled with American flag emojis and thumbs-ups over an operation that has managed to kill scores of civilians. What exactly did the Democrats oppose during this leak?
Airwars reported that the recent bombing campaign has seen an increase in civilian casualties—indicating a higher willingness in U.S. military circles to harm civilians. Yet, there has been no discussion amongst Democrats about opposing the war in Yemen. Their discussion merely claimed that leaking the plans risks national security and in essence looked unprofessional.
Sometimes the ballooning war costs allow the Democrats to squeak and wave their finger at the Republicans, but how could the Democrats criticize them for a bombing campaign which they started under Biden? For the “progressive” Democrats, the leak was about optics, but they fully support the bombing.
Nor was there any real discussion about why attacks on shipping lanes have resumed. The Houthis in Yemen want Israel to allow aid into Gaza and an end to U.S. attacks on its own territory. “We do not consider ourselves at war with the American people,” said Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a longtime spokesperson for the Houthis told Dropsite News (April 10). “If the U.S. stops targeting Yemen, we will cease our military operations against it.”
Israel has been starving Palestinians in Gaza as it continues its terror bombing campaign to “convince” the Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave Gaza. Israel conducts its genocide as it publicly threatens Egypt, Turkey, and Iran and as it bombs Syria and seizes territory in Syria’s south. The “progressive” imperialist party in the U.S. has done nothing to prevent this regional escalation, even as the conflict threatens more of the region into war.
No attempts were made to meet Houthi demands that humanitarian aid be delivered to Gazans. Both wings of imperialism hoped that their advanced weaponry would be enough to diminish the Houthi’s capabilities. Yet, despite the bombings, Trump has not achieved his stated aims. Several commentators have noted that the Houthis have adapted to the bombings and remain capable of downing drones and attacking U.S. ships despite the large number of sanctions. The working people of the U.S. have nothing to gain from the destruction of life in Yemen or Gaza. Despite what congressional finger wavers might say, working people in this country have more in common with the people of Yemen or Gaza than with Musk or Bezos.
On April 5, hundreds of thousands of people came out to protest the authoritarianism of Trump, and declare “hands off” of social services and civil rights. We must also denounce the horrific acts of violence that the Republicans and Democrats commit or support across the globe. That includes the funding of repressive regimes like al-Sisi’s Egypt, Saudia Arabia, or the UAE, as well as the Israeli apartheid regime—which crushes hopes for democracy in the Middle East. It includes continued bombings, assassinations across the globe via the Joint Special Operations Command, and the coups of recent memory such as in Haiti, Honduras, Bolivia, etc.
All these acts of heinous violence are attempts to curtail the self-determination, democracy, and rights of the working people of those countries. Both political wings of the government in Washington hope to create conditions favorable for U.S. capital. It doesn’t matter if that’s accomplished through negotiations in the IMF or the World Bank, with a cleverly planned coup, or with brutal force.
The millions of people who have marched in the streets in recent years demonstrate that there are more people who oppose these wars than support them. We should continue to organize against their bloody intervention and demand an end to these endless wars.
