Senate Votes to End US Support for Saudi War on Yemen: What Next?

Rasa - On Thursday, December 13, the United States Senate passed S.J. Resolution 54.

News ID: 442106

Date: 15 December 2018 - 13:47

RNA - The resolution is a War Powers Act challenge to the unauthorized US involvement in the failed Saudi-led war on Yemen, and would require the US to cease its military support - if a complementary bill passes in the House.

The bill includes a prohibition on refuelling Saudi warplanes, as both the Trump administration and opponents argue that doesn’t count as war! The political class in Washington claims the success of this challenge is historic. Indeed, it would be if:

1- The sound minds on the Capitol Hill wouldn’t allow the Republican leadership to challenge or derail the new vote, as the Yemen War has repeatedly been derailed in the past changing rules at the last minute to deny it a proper vote. This almost certainly means no House version will be entertained until January at the earliest, when the new Congress takes over. But not all hope is lost.

2- The Trump administration, which argues that the Saudi-led war and arms transfers “create American jobs”, has loudly opposed this challenge to the Yemen War, arguing simultaneously that it’s not really a war and that US support for Saudi Arabia is so critical that it shouldn’t matter how bad the war is or how many innocent civilians it has killed. The rising number of civilian casualties, the famine, the humanitarian crisis, as well as the growing international anger and outcry at the Saudis over the grisly murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 should be enough to drive further support for this bill.

3- Fresh off of the Yemen War vote on Thursday, the Senate unanimously and without objection passed a resolution condemning Saudi Arabia’s murder of Khashoggi as well, expressing the Senate’s sense that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for that murder. This particular resolution shouldn’t just rebuke Saudi Arabia and MBS for the murder, or worse, see negotiations trying to compromise on it. The Trump White House refuses to criticize the Saudis and blame MBS over the murder, much less hold them to account - despite the CIA expressing “strong confidence” that MBS ordered the murder. It is about time the Trump administration made such a statement and the Congress acted and made its own position known through deeds and not just words. This is the least they could do for justice to be served.

4- The Pentagon regime plans to bill Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates $331 million after undercharging them for US aerial refuelling of their aircraft in the Yemen War. This is not about “reviewing Pentagon records and finding errors in accounting where they failed to charge the Saudis and Emiratis adequately for fuelling and refuelling services,” as Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a Pentagon spokeswoman, would like to suggest. This is about US forces being complicit in Saudi-Emirati war crimes in Yemen. By refuelling their warplanes, the Americans helped the Saudi-led despots murder thousands of innocent civilians, including school children. They should acknowledge their direct involvement and be held to account, including paying compensation for their victims.

5- The Yemeni peace talks in Sweden ended on a high note on Thursday, with an agreement for more talks in January, and most importantly, a deal for a ceasefire in the vital aid port of Hodeidah. Under the deal, both sides have agreed to withdraw all fighters from the area around Hodeidah within the next 21 days. The UN will oversee the withdrawal and is expected to play a role in monitoring the port. The US should respect this deal as it proves beyond any doubt that the people of Yemen don’t want to see a continuation to the US-Saudi-Emirati atrocities in the war-torn country. They want to determine their own fate and come up with a framework for a political settlement of the war. This round of talks got a lot more done than anyone expected, and has many hopeful about the next round. Both the Saudis and their American masters should refrain from derailing this important process which is destined to also put an end to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions.

6- According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the continued US-backed, Saudi-led violence has killed over 60,000 killed, including a staggering 28,182 killed so far in 2018. The toll has been rising calamitously in recent months, but without official acknowledgement in Washington, it’s largely gone unacknowledged. This needs to change too, as no more innocent lives need to be lost for the Saudis and Emiratis' hegemonic agenda.

According to Fars News Agency, those who have the final say on the Senate’s S.J. Resolution 54, therefore, should take note. This new figure is, incidentally, only those killed violently, and doesn’t include the even larger number of deaths from the Saudi-led naval blockade and the deliberate mass starvation that is still ongoing. Save the Children has estimated 85,000 starvation deaths since 2016, and the number is rapidly rising.

It is not, then, an overstatement to say that the official class on the Capitol Hill will have Yemeni blood on their hands: (a) if they don’t challenge the unauthorized US involvement in the Saudi-led atrocities; (b) if they don’t require the US government to cease its criminal involvement in the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth today; (c) and if they don’t pass a complementary bill in the House that includes a prohibition on refuelling Saudi warplanes. The world is watching the House and history will judge them harshly.

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