End the War on Yemen

Beginning in 2015, Saudi Arabia, assisted by other autocratic Gulf states as well as the United States and United Kingdom, has been conducting a military campaign in Yemen, aimed at ousting the Houthi faction and installing a more pliable government in the neighboring country. The Saudi strategy of starving and terrorizing the Yemeni people into submission involves indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets, including hospitals, schools and water treatment plants, as well as the blockading of Yemeni ports.

These war crimes – committed largely with weapons purchased from the U.S. – have resulted in a humanitarian crisis of the first magnitude. In addition to the many thousands of direct casualties in this one-sided war, hunger and illness are rife in Yemen, due to the inability to import food and the destruction of vital infrastructure. The United Nations has declared that Yemen constitutes “the world’s biggest hunger crisis.” According to OCHA estimates,  130 Yemeni children are dying every day of malnutrition and disease.

Since the Saudi-led intervention began, the U.S. has been providing intelligence and logistical aid, without which the campaign could not long continue. This military support, never authorized by Congress, includes participation in naval blockades, mid-air refueling of coalition aircraft, targeting assistance and more. Additionally, the U.S. continues to sell billions of dollars of advanced weapons to coalition states, which will be used to wreak further havoc on the long-suffering Yemeni population.

Despite the passage of a War Powers Resolution — which was subsequently vetoed by Trump — U.S. participation in this unauthorized and unconstitutional war continues in Yemen, and the effort to halt the U.S.-Saudi war, directed largely against defenseless civilians, continues to gain momentum. Only activists committed to bringing pressure on our government can end this war. By spreading the word, organizing and putting pressure on our elected representatives, we can bring this brutal, shameful war on Yemen to an end.