{"article":{"id":272924,"heading":"US Occupies Yemeni Island","author":"Stephen Lendman","created":"2015-08-30 19:06:12","modified":"2015-08-30 19:06:12","last_modified":"Mon, 31 Aug 2015 02:06:12","article":"<p>US Occupies Yemeni Island <br><br> by Stephen Lendman <br><br> Fars News said &ldquo;(t)he US has invaded and occupied Yemen&rsquo;s strategic Island of Socotra (part of the Yemeni archipelago) in the Indian Ocean and is now building up its biggest naval base there, media reports said.&rdquo; More on this below. <br><br> Obama&rsquo;s war on Yemen using Saudi-led regional proxies is perhaps the region&rsquo;s most destructive, underreported conflict - five months of genocidal war passing under the radar almost unnoticed.  <br><br> US major media report little about it. Other Western counterparts give it short shrift.  <br><br> Most Americans likely never heard of Yemen - for sure know nothing about raging conflict, planned and orchestrated by Washington - to return the nation to US client state status, putting millions of Yemenis in harm&rsquo;s way, suffering because of a combination of US\/Saudi aggression and blockade, creating a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. <br><br> Casualties number in the many thousands more than officially reported. People are killed by war. They&rsquo;re starving to death or dying from untreated wounds or diseases. <br><br> The entire so-called civilized world is dismissive - mindless that millions of Yemenis could perish before conflict ends. It could rage for years - perhaps replicating Washington&rsquo;s endless wars on Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Donbass, plus almost entirely ignored covert ones and global destabilization. <br><br> Wherever America shows up, mass slaughter, destruction and appalling human misery follow. US media virtually ignore US direct and proxy aggression in multiple war theaters. <br><br> Scant reports, almost always in print media, read like Pentagon press releases - pure rubbish, bald-faced lies and coverup, ignoring Washington&rsquo;s responsibility for genocidal slaughter, blaming victims for its crimes, standard procedure in all US wars of aggression to make the world safe for monied interests, enriching them more than ever. <br><br> In 2012, Washington began covertly deploying air, naval and marine forces to Socotra and Oman&rsquo;s island of Masirah at the Strait of Hormuz&rsquo;s southern exit point. <br><br> Socotra air and naval bases let Pentagon commanders monitor and control strategic Red Sea\/Gulf of Aden\/Persian Gulf waters. Plans for increased facilities and operations are highly classified. <br><br> Leaked reports suggest Washington has around 50,000 military forces on both islands - along with other regional strength, enough firepower to attack Iran or other regional targets if ordered. <br><br> Fars News cited Arabic-language Al-Masirah TV quoting a Spanish language newspaper saying &ldquo;(h)undreds of workers from Asian countries have been deployed by the US navy to construct its biggest naval base on the island.&rdquo; <br><br> What Pentagon officials have in mind is highly classified. Whenever US forces mass in a region, war usually follows - whether against current adversaries or new ones remains to be seen. <br><br> Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net\" rel=\"nofollow\">lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.  <br><br> His new book as editor and contributor is titled \"Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.\" <br><br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/a> <br><br> Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.  <br><br> Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. <br><br> It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. <\/p>\n","contact":"lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net","link":"sjlendman.blogspot.com","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Yemen","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2015\/08\/272924.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}