US envoy who enabled Yemen war suddenly horrified by Saudi crimes

Ambassador Samantha Power has called on the US to end its support for the Saudi-led invasion of Yemen, in a tweet lamenting a humanitarian catastrophe that she enabled and supported during her tenure as US envoy to the UN.

Power, who served as adviser and then US ambassador to the United Nations during the Obama administration, tweeted her disgust with the Saudi-led coalition's bombing of a hospital and other civilian infrastructure in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida last week.

"Today Saudi-UAE coalition bomb a hospital. Yesterday @UNICEF reported that they have repeatedly attacked facilities that provide drinking water," Power wrote. "Horrifying in the extreme. US: end all support, full court press on Sept. peace talks."

READ MORE: Haley concerned Yemeni civilians 'starting' to be at risk after 3-year war leaves 8 million starving

The Houthi-affiliated Yemen Health Ministry said that the United States "bears full responsibility" for the deadly strikes, which killed at least two dozen people. It was revealed in June that the US military has been working with the Saudi-led coalition to "fine-tune" its list of targets in Hodeida – purportedly in an effort to avoid civilian casualties.

Long before the Trump administration took office, Power enabled and supported the “horrifying” Saudi-led attack on Yemen during her time as the Obama administration's top diplomat at the UN.

In fact, using her seat on the UN Security Council, Power backed a comically prejudiced UNSC resolution which essentially placed the blame for the conflict on the Houthi rebels resisting the Saudi-led invasion, imposing an arms embargo on the Houthis while failing to do the same for the US-supplied Saudi military. The Atlantic magazine reported that the "unrealistic and one-sided resolution" had been "drafted by the Saudis, introduced by the British and passed with US support."

Power exemplified Washington's startling silence in the face of increasingly concerning attacks carried out by Riyadh in Yemen, Politico reported in 2016. "Ambassador Power even found herself defending an intervention in Yemen that has killed thousands of civilians" and "coincided with the spread of Al Qaeda," the Politico piece noted.

READ MORE: Saudi-led coalition ‘victories’ achieved by striking deals with Al-Qaeda in Yemen - AP report

Power's curiously-timed moral posturing did not go unnoticed. Asad Abukhalil, a professor at California State University and a well-known Middle East analyst, tweeted back: "Where was your humanitarianism when you were a government official?"

He wasn't the only one who had a question for Power. "Are you just counting on the world to forget who was American ambassador to the UN in 2015?" one Twitter user asked.

Another user responded to Power with more direct criticism: "For 2.5 years you knew Yemeni civilians were being murdered by the Saudi regime using US weapons and logistics. You were saying 'US doesn't control the targeting'. While the US supplied weapons to the Saudi regime, you provided it with cover at the UN."

This isn't the first time that Power has attempted to portray herself as a brave crusader against US-supported Saudi war crimes. Last year, Power lashed out at President Donald Trump, admonishing his administration for inking an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth more than $100 billion.

Her virtue-signaling was not well-received, however, with even a Human Rights Watch executive noting it was a bit much coming from Power.

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