The Other Side of Signalgate : Rozina Ali / The New Yorker

Articles shared by John Gilmartin

There is a great deal written about the signal chat group of senior officials discussing the merits of bombing Yemen in March. Here is the New Yorkers story of the people on the receiving end of this air strike. Im also sending the Times report on the actual text of the group chat, with annotations by the Times staff.

For me there are two issues aside from the severe injury death and damage delivered upon a group of mainly women and children. The first issue that's not discussed is why the senior staff of the military were not included in this discussion? This was the first strike by the new Trump administration, it came with no warning and primarily hit civilians. Has the new administration started a new war with Yemen without discussion in congress, or confirming with military leadership that this strike at this time, was the best choice of options to consider?

The second issue is what is the urgent issue that forces the decision to strike immediately? In Pete Hegseth's later discussion of why now, he clearly is concerned that 'if the US doesn't strike, Isreali will first.' Isreal has been at war with Yemen, and has been under airstrikes from Yemen for years. Hegseth is clear from the discussion that this strike could wait another month or more.

These two articles, The New Yorker and the Times require some reading, I'm sorry this isn't a shorter message.

It worries me that the savage nature of the injuries inflicted on children and mothers, and the poverty of the Yemeni's targeted are rarely demonstrated to Americans who follow the news.

John

Click here for the article in the New Yorker
Click here for the NYTimes article

Summary of the New Yorker article
This article centers on the devastating civilian consequences of a U.S. airstrike in Yemen, ordered after a casual exchange among Trump administration officials in a Signal group chat—a scandal dubbed “Signalgate.” The strike, ostensibly targeting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, instead killed 15 civilians, most of them children. Masha Gessen uses the story of Mosfer Roga’ah, a Yemeni man who lost his wife and four children in the attack, to expose the human cost of U.S. military decisions made with alarming informality and questionable legal justification. The piece critiques the erosion of accountability in American foreign policy and the dehumanization of those affected by it.

Quotes
“The air strike that killed his family was ordered in a Signal chat by men who seemed to treat the decision like a fantasy football pick.”
“In Yemen, the American war has always felt far away and intimately close. Drones hum in the sky, distant and deadly.”
“If this was deterrence, then the message was clear: civilian life in Yemen is expendable.”

Summary of the NYTimes article

The article presents annotated excerpts from the chat, offering insights into the decision-making process behind the U.S. airstrikes in Yemen and revealing candid remarks about international allies.