What's the big deal with Ukraine when nobody cared about Yemen

So this is what I'm confused about still. Saudi bombed the shit out of yemen using our f35 jet, and there wasn't a single peep. No sanctions, no media, not a single fart. But putin invades ukraine and suddenly it's a humanitarian crisis where we need to be empathetic?

While Saudi bombed the shit out of yemen, Obama kept quiet, trump kept quiet, biden kept quiet. Now ukraine happens and everyone cares?

What is the deal with this? Is it because Yemen is dirt poor, and don't matter as much? Is it because Saudi are our allies and they have lots of oil? Is it just more propaganda and fake news from the MSM? Why should I care about this, when I didn't care about yemen? It just sounds like more fake news to me.

I remember a lot of people making a big stink about it, but I listen to a lot more political podcasts than most people so I think I might be in the minority.

Although I do think a lot of what you said is true; we need Saudi oil, we aren't going to be as hard on them.

Also, yes, they are poor. Yemen, Syria, etc. They don't have the infrastructure and ability to get footage out the same way Ukraine does. We got the Ukrainian president down with the troops doing nightly updates on TV. A couple of boxers worth millions have signed up and that was a huge spectacle. Pictures of old grandmas and little kids and the mayor of Kiev standing with rifles are all circulating. It's all very public. It's a lot easier for white westerners to see people that live like white westerners and look like white westerners and feel sympathetic than it is to feel sorry for someone that lives in a mud hut and was starving to death before his village was bombed. I don't think that makes us bad people, that's just life.

With that said, I don't think it is fair to to "comparative suffering". It might not seem fair to you but you can't really equate the two; a shitty situation is a shitty situation and to make it out like people have a double standard or are being hypocritical doesn't really do justice for anyone.

TL;DR: People care about what is going on with Ukraine, don't make them feel bad about it.

I think the big worry is that this conflict grows into WW3, the conflict is very close to NATO allies. things can get out of hand really fast. War always sucks no matter where, Yemen is poor and didn't have the same kind of potential to spark WW3. Doesn't mean their loss or pain is worth less.

and yes, resources, energy, oil, and the media all play a part in how people react.

You just answered your own question. Americans don't give a shit about about poor Arabic people being killed and brutalized (just like with Palestinians). They also strangely don't seem to care that their tax dollars fund and support a medieval theocracy like Saudi Arabia which also happens to be one of the biggest exporters of terrorism.

Good lord, some people are oblivious beyond believe.

Learn some history ffs. Stupid americans.

Boy, lot's of pissy people on today lol

That's a pretty gross generalization. Plenty of Americans care. There's a large Arab-American and Ukrainian-American population in the US, for starters, and a lot of other people that care.

Why don't you enlighten us.

I agree. Dont understand the silence when Yemen or Syria got attacked by Saudi and Israel respectively.

Straight up low-key threatened WW3.

Don't get me wrong, if this war is going to last more than a week, chances are, it will be less and less covered, because it will be the new status quo. That being said, did Yemen had the opportunity to constantly via twitter or facebook update the whole world about the situation? Also, no one threatened a supposed nuclear response, if anyone intervenes. So, that's also a thing.

@gns: yemen might be a 3rd world country but they arent that backwards to not have phones to upload to facebook and twitter.

Ukraine is a potential market for the sale of weapons by US manufacturers. Saudi Arabia is already a large buyer of US made weapons. Building sympathy for Ukraine, and white washing what Saudi Arabia does in both cases benefit the US manufacturers of weapons. And our media isn't as independent as some of you would like to pretend they are.

What we focus on depends on what the media reports on, and what they report on is determined by the interests of billionaires. It's that simple.

@blaznwiipspman1: It’s because of oil and also power.

When one of America’s allies such as Saudi Arabia or Israel commits any crimes it’s largely ignored because these countries help project US power.

Saudi Arabia is also one of the largest oil producers in the world. When they refused to sell oil to the US in the past, the US economy fell to pieces.

However, if a country is an enemy, a rival or simply just a competitor, everything is twisted to demonise them. Even if they do something that is right, the western media will twist the action into something that is negative.

Consider Crimea, polls show the people are happy that the region has returned back to Russia. There was support for it for decades and Russia has been widely condemned by it.

Look at the western media and it’s description of China’s response to COVID. The lockdowns were described as draconian or authoritarian. But in reality it saved lives, thousands of lives.

Russia has tried to make this claim about Ukraine as well. Seeing how many of their planes are being dropped, body bags piling up, and even air bases inside Russia having been destroyed, it's clearly bullshit.

Some regions that border with Russia do have Russian affinities. If you look at the Ukrainian elections map you can see that the second most voted party in the parliament is pro Russian and has something like 15% of the votes, and has some significance in those regions. But that justifies absolutely nothing about Putin's war crimes.

And it's pathetic that Putin complains about "Nazi" Ukraine when the far right party in Ukraine has 1 elected representative and the pro Russian party is represented in the parliament as the second political force. He has some reason about some anti russian sentiment among Ukrainians, but to that I'll say to read a fucking history book to understand why that happens. But even the EU is not willing to accept Ukraine and that's one of the reasons.

Regarding Yemen. It's a shameful and one of the reasons why we all should walk away from depending on fossil fuels. But the reason why we "don't" care is because that conflict is of no consequence to us. The Ukrainian war is an objective threat to a large scale war and no matter what happens the world will not be the same after this.

To Biden's credit I think he did cancel the multi billion dollar arms deal Trump was so proud of. But knowing how the world works that probably when forward in some backdoor deal.

@sakaixx: never said that they didn't.

@gns: thing is Yemen is severely under reported. All the machinery and bombs Saudi Arabia used targetting Yemeni was made by the USA probably why the silence. The latest 2017 $350 billion Saudi arms deal probably helped greatly everyone to look away too.

Just like China ignoring Russia's invasion of Ukraine since they are allies. I think China just doesn't like western media since it's not state controlled. I suspect chinese media would have differing viewpoints as well if they weren't controlled by the state.

It kind of is. The evidence that our media either gives the orders or toes the line for political parties is pretty clear. Whether they're the ones choosing politicians through their control of information or government has some kind of control over them, or someone (such as corporations, billionaires) has influence over both doesn't really matter as much as the clear fact that there's clearly a relationship going on with our media and government to a level that I would not trust them anymore than I would the Chinese media. Our media isn't nearly as independent as they would like people to believe.

The US has enough of those "fossil fuel" reserves in oil, natural gas, and coal to last thousands of years, and the idea these things are finite is still an unproven theory. We're not allies with Saudi Arabia because we need their oil. We're not dependent on them for it either. This is an easy, canned belief many have against Saudi Arabia, but it isn't correct.

There's a difference between bias and state run media. Our press is still very critical of the government - regardless of who is in it. There are plenty of journalists who are dedicated to the truth, and fortunately they don't end up in jail, executed, or have their work censored by the government.

@mrbojangles25: jeez, you nailed it. People who live and look like us vs those living in huts. It's disgusting to be honest, to see all the outpouring of support, the celebrities and billionaires.

Just 2 years ago we were selling f35 so Saudi could bomb the shit out of poor people in yemen. And here is a united response for Ukraine. Disgusting if you ask me. But you're right, it's just the way of the world.

When I see things like this, I can only confirm this world is fucked. And I said it before when the crypto boom happened and climate change before that. Earth is doomed.

Well whatever, let's keep on going and living till the end.

Different country, different aggressor, different history, still lots of hypocrisy.

Well, he's completely wrong. As are you. Not a lot of people in Yemen are "living in huts." If anyone is going to make accusations of a racial bias, direct it at the media who chooses what to cover, not the people watching. But there's an easier, and much less ridiculous answer... ratings. Saudi Arabia is an "ally," the aggressor, and winning. Ukraine is an underdog story being attacked by one of the US's oldest enemies. Ukraine is going to generate more clicks, and more views, which ultimately translates to being more profitable to the media.

It's just life man, it's not disgusting. It's not anything. The point is don't be so judgmental. There's a bullshit invasion of Ukraine being committed by Russia which is led by a man who wants to be Czar of that country. It's wrong and we shouldn't let the mistakes or shame we feel from the past stop us from condemning it and supporting Ukraine.

Arms are sold to other countries by governments. Did you know Iran flies French Mirage aircraft and American F-14 Tomcats? And how is our relationship with them? Allies become enemies and enemies become allies and there's a whole spectrum of gray between that black and white.

And they don't live in huts, that's just the perception people have for "that part of the world" as a whole. I was being facetious. Guess I should use more emojis lol.

Are we talking about the targeting of the Shia populations? I don't know much about it but I imagine the politics of the region are very complicated but if I had to guess yeah Saudi's the US is going to side with them, not to mention if Shia's are fighting Iran will probably be involved trying to help which probably muddles circumstances for west to take side of the targeted populations.

Something I read earlier about the Middle East is Iran. Iran's biggest backers on the global scale are Russia. Russia is clearly having problems now, they seem to even be losing to Ukraine. They're in no position to aid Iran. Were Israel and Saudi Arabia to bomb the shit out of Iran there wouldn't really by anyone that could stop them. And if they did, any aid Russia was able to provide would likely detract from what they are able to use in Ukraine.

Publicity. Why does this get more publicity?

1. Ukraine is far closer to home
2. An invasion is far louder than the genocide, far more sudden too.
3. People have been aggressive on Saudi Arabia for their genocide on Yemen for a while.

The Houthis, Ansar Allah, are terrorists whose stated goals are death to the U.S. and death to Israel. They also want to attack the Saudis to overthrow the kingdom. They allied themselves with Iran and tried. I'm glad Obama supported the Saudis against Iran and the Houthis.

I'm not sure of the exact situation in Yemen. I think there have been several terrorist groups based out of Yemen and supported by the government there that have struck at Saudi Arabia. Not sure on that, but that's what I recall reading. As for Saudi Arabia, did they just strike at Yemen, or did they invade with the intention of eliminating Yemen sovereignty and regime change?

As I recall, the western press has been very critical of Saudi Arabia, especially after they killed that one journalist.

@eoten: @joementia: China officially has a non-interventionist policy. It did call for the US to acknowledge Russia's security concerns, but of course, the US and the west ignored this.

The root of the entire issue lies within Russia's security concerns, if you simply ignore this, then progress will never be made.

Moreover, China shares a 4,000 km border with Russia, if the west attacks Russia and does another regime change then China is increasingly surrounded by the US, something it doesn't want.

From the Chinese point of view, the US is an aggressive and warmongering nation of savages.

From the west's point of view, only they have security concerns, and only they have national security rights. It's perfectly ok for the US to play naval war games with Japan, but when China plays with Russia its aggressive and provocative.

So, China has not been hostile to others in the region? Like Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Phillippines, Taiwan? How's Tibet? Oh, still occupied by a foreign invasion? Yeah, must have been done because of security concerns... You know who really has security concerns in Asia? Literally anyone even remotely close to China.

@eoten: Tell me what has China done? Has it spilled their blood? Has China used a nuke?

Does China need to use a nuke to harm their neighbors? You're shifting goal posts now from pretending China is innocent in the face of threats to them not using a nuke. China has invaded Tibet, propped up a dictator in North Korea which alone is a crime against it's people. Gone back on it's word in regard to Hong Kong. Has abused Hong Kong citizens, and denied them so much as an honest election. Not to mention endless threats and boarder encroachments of virtually every neighbor China has. You pretend China is innocent, how many neighboring nations agree? Not many, not many at all.

China has made claims to, or claimed parts of Tibet, Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, Laos, Vietnam, Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Cambodia, and more.

Putin already laid clear what he thought of Ukraine and his desire to see the USSR remade. The issue wasn't Ukraine wanting to join NATO. It was when Ukraine started to lean economically toward the EU that Putin became aggressive. His end goal is to see Latvia, Estonia, Moldova and Lithuania reabsorbed by Russia. The entire world is criticizing this illegal invasion of Ukraine. Nice to see China supporting the invader.

As for security, no one is ever going to attack Russia and do a regime change. Any attack on Russia would lead to the end of civilization. For that matter, no one is ever going to attack China, either.

And aren't you being equally hypocritical? China's pov is also that they alone have security concerns and should never be criticized.

@eoten: China has not invaded Tibet, it is part of China also recognised by the UN. Besides, Tibet was a awful place where eight families controlled the entire region under feudalism.

China didn’t sell nukes to North Korea and it’s also an independent country. As I said, China has a non-intervention policy.

Under the One Country Two Systems principal signed between China and The U.K. Hong Kong needed to install a National Security policy as part of its agreement. It didn’t. So China rightly implemented it. Moreover, if you read the news it’s China saving Hong Kong at the moment!

Regarding territory disputes, yes many countries have them. But I’m not so stupid to make an assumptions about them.

Great, now Tibet is an awful place where one man head of a one-party system rules the entire region under a communist authoritarian dictatorship. What an upgrade. China really did everyone a favor whether they wanted them to or not.

As predicted, this thread is nothing but a right-wing circle jerk where they shower their adoration on communist autocratic regimes. For a party that spends all their time calling everyone else socialists and communists, they sure love embracing communists.

By the way, there's reports of Putin moving his family to a nuclear bunker in Siberia. Not sure if this is truth or not.

This. The big stink about Ukraine is how easy this could escalate to a global conflict. Yemen didn't have that going for them.

Also, an invasion of a country versus a bombing is seen as much worse.

@eoten: Guess you’ve never been to Tibet!

And yes it’s far better now!

I'm sure Russia will make that same claim if they manage to take over Ukraine. But we can clearly see the people do not prefer it. All you've done so far is pedal CCP propaganda on the subject. You're clearly not able to think clearly, or freely on the subject.

@eoten: Sorry to hear that you support feudalism, serfdom, slavery and crippling taxation for the masses.

An apt description of the PRC for sure.

@eoten: Sorry maybe I should trust the documentary, “Seven Years in Tibet”

Or you could actually go and search online, how French and British explorers described the horrendous Feudalistic conditions of Tibet.

@kadin_kai: I've seen online the horrific conditions in china. Do you have any proposition to solve that?

It IS true that Tibet used to have some extremely barbaric codes of law, but by the time of 1951, when China annexed the region. The feudalism and slavery had already ended.

@ghost_of_phobos: I’m in China. I’ve seen a country from poverty to become a prosperous nation. I’ve seen how much happier and content people have become.

I’ve seen how people who used to worry about if they have food on the table to how people worry about what to eat.

I’ve seen government programmes in China going to every village to help the poor. I’ve seen universities and government positions reserved for ethnic minorities.

Meanwhile I’ve seen how other countries increasingly rely on food banks to survive, gun violence, drug addicts sleeping on the streets.

Geopolitics. The US and NATO have aspirations in Russia. Propaganda follows. That's the short version.