Stop Bombing Yemen, Start Building America
By Penny Arcos
All this hardware, just to lose against the poorest country in the world.
If you could spend $17 million a day to help Americans, what would you do with it? Would you build schools? Hire the unemployed to fix roads? Work on helping out people who can’t afford food, rent, or healthcare? Or would you pour every last penny into bombing the poorest country in the world?
Operation Prosperity Guardian has been sold to the American public as an operation to protect global commercial shipping in the Red Sea. While Americans are barely able to afford to feed their families, our infrastructure is falling apart, hurricane victims and wildfire victims are abandoned, trains carrying toxic chemicals are blown up, and many communities lack safe drinking water, our government is spending $17 million a day to bomb Yemen. Meanwhile, wherever there is a disaster in the United States, instead of our government helping communities rebuild, Black Rock is given a green light to swoop in like vultures and buy up the land for their own profits.
Maui wildfires in 2023. Credit: ABC 10
Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse of 2024. Credit: 7 News Boston
How are the Yemenis, with so few resources, so dedicated to standing up against the US and Israeli war machines? Why do the Yemeni people fight so hard for the people of another country, when they haven’t even regained full control of their own land from the Saudi-imposed government? They do it because Yemen has a government that fights for working families, and they believe it is their mission to fight for the oppressed at home and anywhere they can reach. They consider martyrdom for the sake of the oppressed as the highest honor in life, just as the early Christians did.
Matthew 16:25 - For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
The Ansar Allah movement, also known as The Houthis, fights austerity. Yemen has oil and arable land. They want to use those resources to build infrastructure, to support businesses, to build hospitals and schools, and to feed their families. They have been bombed and starved by Saudi Arabia and the United States for nearly a decade. But they remain true to their mission.
Since Bush launched “The War on Terror”, Yemen has been preparing for a showdown against the Imperialist/Globalist countries in NATO. When Israel began its mass murder campaign against Gaza, bombing hospitals, schools and refugee camps, Ansar Allah formed a picket line in the Red Sea to halt ships that were headed for Israel. They are fulfilling their duty to prevent genocide under The Genocide Convention.
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Article I
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Meanwhile, Biden bombed Yemen for months, to no avail. The Houthis continue shoot down our MQ9 reaper drones with homemade missiles that cost as much as a family car. These drones cost between $32 million and $50 million EACH. Trump has continued this assault, killing Yemeni civilians and destroying their infrastructure — with no results to show for it.
When President Elect Donald Trump enforced the ceasefire agreement that Biden had put forward in April of 2024, the Houthis stopped attacking ships in the Red Sea. When President Trump gave Israel the green light to cut off food and water to Gaza and to resume bombing hospitals and schools and tent encampments in Gaza with bunker buster bombs, the Houthis returned to their picket line in the Red Sea.
As hundreds of millions vanish in smoke, weapons manufacturers and their government funders clap with glee at the sales opportunities. But how does this waste of money, resources, and lives help the American people — or anyone?
We need a government of action that fights for working families.
To do my part, I recently conducted two small protests in Minneapolis, where I live.
Even just holding a sign by myself, I got interest from passers-by and helped people hear a message they may have never encountered before. I plan to continue my activities, and I’m working to build my local contacts so that I can bring more people with me next time. No matter where you start, everything you can do helps. Here at CPI, we would love to help connect you with people, resources, and guidance to help you make a difference in your area — just join on our website to get started. Together, we can make a difference.
Stop bombing Yemen - start building America!
