Why US Senate Won’t End Saudi War on Yemen

Rasa - The US Senate has voted overwhelmingly to support a resolution to get the US out of the war in Yemen by stopping US military support for Saudi Arabia.

News ID: 441825

Date: 01 December 2018 - 10:19

RNA - This new political charade does in no way mean that the US will now switch sides and stop the ongoing Saudi-led assault on the poorest country in the Arab world. Far from it, this is only intended to limit the pressure of global community on Washington for its ongoing support of Saudi atrocities in Yemen and to ‘punish’ Riyadh for murdering Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 - by ‘milking’ it more. That’s all really.

On the other hand, the decision by some Western governments, including the Trump administration, to impose travel ban on 15 to 18 Saudi agents and officials who were directly involved in the grisly murder of Khashoggi is all there is to it. They will never hold the Saudi regime and Crown Prince MBS to account. They will never change their mind and seek a full accounting of the murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi.

After all, they don’t want to lose their lucrative arms contracts with Saudis worth billions of dollars. It’s bad for their arms trade. Besides, if they stop the war, the Saudis will have to stop their bombing campaigns and they won’t need new Western arms as they would have nowhere else to drop them.

In the prevailing environment, it is up to the international community and the United Nations to step in to end this madness. The good news is that the UN aid chief has done just that. UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock has appealed for a halt to fighting in Yemen amid intense diplomacy to end the ongoing Saudi aggression that has pushed millions to the brink of famine.

Lowcock made appeal during a press briefing after arriving in the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Thursday. He said, “I'd like to see a cessation of hostilities, especially around the key infrastructure, especially around Hudaydah.”

These are fine words but they need to be backed by a firm resolution at the UN to force the Saudis to stop the fighting and the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in the war-ravaged Arab country. Such resolution should also force the US and other Chief participants to the conflict to end their military support and complicity in the Saudi war crimes. The resolution should further call for a halt to fighting in the vital aid port of Hodeidah, including lifting the blockade.

According to Fars News Agancy, Yemen is dying and there is no hope for peace because it is still a low priority for the world community, and because pro-Saudi lobbying groups have been able to buy politicians and governments in Europe and the United States through lucrative arms deals and ‘political’ contributions. They have received financial contributions from firms representing Saudi interests as well, according to a recent investigation by the Centre for International Policy, and they have all voted against UN and national resolutions, which, if passed, would have forced the US and the EU to end their support for the Saudi war on Yemen, the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.

Which is to say, there is only one expeditious way for Saudi Arabia to end this counterproductive war, and that is for the UN to sanction and force the regime to stop its military campaign. Doing so will not end all of the suffering inside Yemen. But it will create the conditions necessary for peace talks and reconstruction efforts to gain traction.

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