Category: Uncategorized

While the Yemeni population is under attack by cholera, with more 300,000 cases, the Houthis remain in on-going conflict with Saudi and US forces.

Who are the Houthis? The Houthis are a Zaidi sect of Shi’a Islam, which arose in northern Yemen in the 1990s. They are religiously derivative of the standard Twelver Shi’as, but they do not believe in the infallibility of the imams.

Having originated in northern Yemen, they are considered as unsophisticated by those in San’aa and southern Yemen. They are known as brave and effective fighters. Their overall concern has been political independence and the distribution of fairness from governmental authorities.

They have allied themselves on one hand with the former Yemeni President, Abdullah Al-Saleh and against the succeeding Hadi government. The Houthis appear to be solidly in control of the capital, San’aa.

The current accusation and concern is the Shi’a Iran is supplying the Houthi war effort. Hence, the opposition has arisen from Sunni Saudi Arabia. The degree to which the US is assisting the Saudis is uncertain.

Consequent to the unsettled opposition between the Houthis and the Saudis, the conflict in Yemen continues in the middle of the cholera epidemic. Neither side takes responsibility for the humanitarian disaster, and the international community lacks the will and the funds to intervene effectively.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, and Egypt are boycotting Qatar. The stated reason for their action is Qatar’s supposed, excessive support for terrorism.

The boycotters demands that Qatari drop its support for Al-Jazeera, the Qatari news network. The boycotters state the Arabic language version of Al-Jazeera contains  support for suspicious groups.

How odd that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, and Egypt desire to silence a free journalistic endeavor in the Gulf! Egypt still holds an Al-Jazeera journalist.

If the boycotters are so altruistic, why do they fear the free press? This demand diminishes their credibility.

The position of the US is unclear, even though our largest naval base resides in Qatar.

Little Kuwait tries to mediate the crisis. Thanks to the Kuwaitis for their good sense.

The US health care debate plugs along as we consider who gets what. We wonder what the plan of the day means to “me.” The US Constitution does not guarantee health care, but, as a Christian, I note the Bible says we should care for the sick and poor around us. “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my people not been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22)

Even as a non-Christian nation, our tacit social compact says we should we should care for the sick.

Let me compare our health care system with that of Saudi Arabia. I emphasize I am not a health care economist and that the the statistics I show may be subject to question. But I have been a physician for almost fifty years.

Article 31 of the Saudi constitution guarantees free health care to its citizens. The Kingdom has a three-tiered system of public health care (primary, secondary, and specialty) that is designed to deliver services to all its citizens. The specialty level services are much like our ours, including high tech cardiovascular care and bone transplant for cancer. In addition, there is a private system providing care to those who desire it. A private MRI in Saudi Arabia might cost $500. In the US the cost is about three times as much, at best.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person in Saudi Arabia is $55,000. In the US the GDP per person is a comparable $57,000. In the US the total health expenditure per person is $9403. In Saudi Arabia it is $2466 (stats from WHO). We pay four times as much with the same GDP per person for the same coverage. Huh?

I am not saying everything is great in Saudi Arabia. Our infant mortality rate is 5.82/1000, and theirs is 13.48/1000. Why is theirs so bad? This may be related to cultural and geographic differences (i.e. bedouins in outlying areas.)

As an additional note, Kuwait has a similar system to Saudi Arabia with a GDP/person of $72,000 and a health care cost/person of $2320. Due to their smaller size and more homogenous population, their infant mortality rate is comparable to ours, 7.66/1000.

So, we are paying four times as much per person as the the rich Middle Eastern countries for comparable health care. Are we greedy or stupid?

The ambiguities of Yemen: Qat, the jambia, and cholera.

Qat, a narcotic leaf used by almost all Yemenis, is one of the country’s main cash crops. It has no nutritive value, robs the soil of needed water for other crops, and may have a carcinogenic effect with prolonged use. Even in the face of deteriorating social and economic conditions, the use of the drug continues. But where else can the Yemenis turn?

The jambia is a curved decorative dagger, often with a jeweled handle, which for the most expensive jambias may be made of rhino horn. The dagger is worn by all Yemeni men with a leather belt strapped around the upper abdomen. The jambia is a source of pride with the most expensive jambias worn proudly by the rich.

Meanwhile the cholera epidemic proceeds with more than 100,000 cases and at least 1000 deaths, mostly children.

And  Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen, with the assistance of the US.

Qatar has been singled out by several other Gulf countries for contribution to “terrorism.” The rift widens as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE have blocked Al Jazeera news sites and have made it difficult for travel to Qatar. The rift has the potential to spread unless Kuwaiti efforts at peace-making can resolve the crisis. Why did Qatar get singled out for terrorism in the region? Wow!

How did this craziness get started and what’s keeping it going? Bahrain first accused Qatar of spawning regional terrorism, and the rumors spread. Then, communications by Rex Tillerson and President Trump appeared to be in disagreement. The conflict may be fueled by our own legislative action HR2712 “The Palestinian International Terrorism Prevention Act of 2017,” which is supported by Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Israel. The US sponsors of the bill have received more than one million dollars from Israeli donors (according to Al-Jazeera).

And now have we injected ourselves into this mess. We need to join Kuwait in moderating the controversy.

Let’s not forget our largest base in the Middle East resides in Qatar with 10,000 of our personnel. We can’t afford this trouble.

The famine and cholera epidemic (>500 deaths) in Yemen are part of the acute news coming from this, the poorest of the Arab countries. As we have said, few outside Yemen have much interest, The UN has so far failed to raise the funds needed to stave off the famine.

But what about the chronic or longterm effects of the famine? Animal studies have demonstrated that early malnutrition lessens ultimate brain size. While it is difficult to extrapolate these data to humans, the effects of malnutrition to the degree seen in Yemen may have considerable longterm effects on the society in terms of the cognitive development of children. Will the effects be discernible twenty years from now? No one knows. Will Yemen ever really recover?

Is this another victory for Al-Jazeera, that they would be blocked by none other than the Saudis? Although Al-Jazeera was not blocked by the US, the news group saw no point in remaining active in the US. They withdrew from the US some months ago. Thus, Saudi Arabia once again joins with our nation in the character of our news coverage.

Al-Jazeera must really run good stuff if the Saudis block it.

And the Al-Jazeera journalist, Mahmoud Hussein, has been held by Egypt for almost six months.

What’s the story behind these stories? Are we hearing more echos of the Sunni-Shia conflict? Or is it simply a restriction of information flow?

Cholera is now reported  in Yemen with 200 cases in the capital Sanaa.

Cholera only occurs in such large numbers in situations where the population is already in a depleted nutritional state. The only effective management is better nutrition and clean water. The vaccine is relatively ineffective.

That these cases occur in the capital of the country means Yemen is continuing on its downward spiral.

Reporting of diseases in probably not accurate in outlying areas at this point.

The fact remains in play that there is little reason for the world to be concerned about Yemen – no oil, minimal other resources, and no land that anyone wants.

Is the end in view?

I feel we, as Americans, should apologize to the rest of the world for the current state of US cable news, specifically Fox and CNN.

Plutarch quoted Socrates, “I am neither an Athenian nor a Greek but a citizen of the world.”

Our two primary cable news are so focused on the turmoil in US presidential politics that they have pretty much dropped any detailed consideration of international news. They are no longer really news networks.

If we want international news, we must turn to Al Jazeera, the BBC, or lesser US choices.