On Conflicts of Interest #209, Kyle Anzalone discusses the lasting impacts of America’s wars in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. 

The coming winter in Afghanistan is expected to bring extreme hunger - and even death - to millions of Afghan children. The cause of the acute starvation facing Afghan children is America’s economic war. Pressure is starting to mount on Biden to make some move to reduce the suffering in Afghanistan. However, Biden has remained willing to starve children to punish the Taliban. The American people are largely unaware of the Afghans’ suffering because, since the withdrawal, major news has ceased coverage of Afghanistan. 

Five million Iraqi children have been orphaned by America’s three decades of warfare. Many of the parentless children live in poverty and are lucky if they are able to find work. The violence and instability created by Bush’s overthrow of Saddam has led to fighting by various actors throughout the country. 

The NYT reported on the Pentagon’s slaughter of Syrian civilians. The reporters sifted through more than 1,000 pages of documents on airstrikes in Iraq and Syria from 2014-2018. The documents show the military has little care for the civilians it kills and never holds anyone responsible for war crimes.

Saudi Arabia recently bombed the airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The strike damaged communications equipment. The airport has reopened but ill-functioning equipment is causing dangerous situations with flights. The UN is calling on the Saudi-backed government of Yemen to allow the equipment to be flown in.