Special to WorldTribune.com

UNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama said in early 2013 at his second inauguration that “a decade of war is now ending.”

Two years later, Russia has just endorsed a Red Cross appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in Yemen to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of civilians.

The target of this backhanded diplomatic offensive is the Obama administration  which announced via the National Security Council on March 25 that ““President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] -led military operations” meaning air strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Therefore at the same time the White House was pushing for a draft nuclear agreement with Iran, unnerving traditional U.S. allies in the region including the Gulf Arab states, it was also providing combat support for Saudi-led air strikes to slow the advance of the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, on Saudi Arabia’s southern border.

The Houthis were responsible for the U.S. decision to evacuate all remaining American troops and diplomatic personnel from the U.S. Embassy and from a counterterrorism base.

Iran has repeatedly denied arming and supplying the Houthis, but U.S. intelligence does not concur.

“Iran has provided support to the Houthis for years, and their ascendancy is increasing Iran’s influence,” James R. Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Congress last month.

“American military planners are using live intelligence feeds from surveillance flights over Yemen to help Saudi Arabia decide what and where to bomb, ”  the Wall Street Journal quoted U.S. officials as saying. There are also reports that the United States is providing aerial refueling for U.S. origin Saudi fighter jets conducting the strikes.

A Saudi military spokesman declined to confirm or deny reports that Saudi special forces were operating in Aden. But A fighter in Aden, Khaled Ahmed Saif, appealed on television for the Saudi-led coalition to quickly send ground troops as soon as possible, as the city was being subjected to a “genocidal war” by the Houthis.

Yemen is only one nation in the region wracked by fighting. The civilian populations of Iraq, Libya, Syria are all facing humanitarian crises.

Russia on April 4 distributed a draft resolution at the United Nations pressing for suspensions of the air strikes to allow evacuation of foreign civilians and diplomats, and demanding rapid and unhindered humanitarian access.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement  “All air, land and sea routes must be opened without delay for at least 24 hours to enable help to reach people cut off after more than a week of intense air strikes and fierce ground fighting nationwide.”

Cedric Schweizer, who heads the 300-strong ICRC team in Yemen, said that medical teams and rescue workers in Yemen must be allowed to work safely.
“Tragically, three Yemen Red Crescent volunteers have lost their lives in the last week in targeted attacks while coming to the aid of people who had been wounded in fighting,” the Red Cross statement said.

“The people of Yemen have endured years of conflict, drought and insecurity, which has eroded their resilience and left them particularly vulnerable to the human, economic and environmental impact of this latest upsurge in fighting. Their situation has now become unbearable, and they cannot afford any further delays in getting relief supplies. Under international humanitarian law, humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach those in need. Armed forces and groups must not deliberately impede the delivery of relief supplies. Even people under the control of opposition groups are entitled to receive food and medicines vital for their survival.”

  Wars galore: Russia joins Red Cross in appeal for pause in Yemen fighting, WorldTribune.com