The Brutal, Unauthorized War In Yemen Must End

Tell your Senators and Representative to override Trump’s veto of the bipartisan Joint Congressional Resolution that would apply the War Powers Act to end the ongoing U.S. involvement in the War in Yemen. The resolution passed both Houses of Congress, but Trump’s veto means the bloodshed will continue unless you act now!

At a press conference announcing the resolution, Senator Sanders said, “Many Americans are unaware that the people of Yemen are suffering today in a devastating civil war with Saudi Arabia and our allies on one side and Houthi rebels on the other. Many Americans are also not aware that US forces have been actively involved in support of the Saudis in this war providing intelligence and aerial refueling of planes whose bombs have killed thousands of people and made this crisis worse. The time is long overdue for Congress to reassert its constitutional authority.”

The Nation Magazine reports: “The three-year, Saudi-UAE-led war on Yemen has, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, resulted in what is currently ‘the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.’ The blockade on imports to Yemen has, according to a senior UN official, brought 8.4 million Yemenis “a step away from famine,” while UNICEF reports that Yemeni children are dying at the rate of one every ten minutes from preventable diseases.”

The Nation adds, “And yet the Saudis continue their blockade on Yemen, even in defiance of their most committed Western sponsor, President Donald J. Trump, who as recently as December 2017 called for the cessation of ‘all hostilities’ and an end to the blockade and ‘completely allow food, fuel, water, and medicine to reach the Yemeni people who desperately need it.’”

The Nation explains, “The joint resolution calls for ‘the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress.’ The resolution claims that ‘no specific statutory authorization for the use of United States Armed Forces with respect to the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis in Yemen has been enacted, and no provision of law explicitly authorizes the provision of targeting assistance or of midair refueling services to warplanes of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates that are engaged in such conflict.’”

(The Nation: “Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy Invoke the War Powers Act to End US Involvement in Yemen,” by James Carden, March 1, 2018.)

The time has come for Congress to perform its duty under the Constitution and order the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress.