Just Foreign Policy Welcomes House Rejection of Saudi-UAE War in Yemen
– Calls on President Trump to Heed House Votes on Davidson, Nolan NDAA Provisions and End Refueling of Saudi, UAE Planes Bombing Yemen
– Urges Senate to Adopt Davidson, Nolan Prohibitions on U.S. Participation in Saudi-UAE War in Yemen
– Urges Congress to Explicitly Prohibit U.S. Refueling of Saudi, UAE Planes Bombing Yemen
July 14, 2017
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved two amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act [NDAA] that would prohibit U.S. participation in the catastrophic Saudi-UAE war against the Houthi-Saleh alliance in Yemen.
Just Foreign Policy welcomes the House votes repudiating U.S. participation in the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen, calls on President Trump to immediately end the U.S. refueling of Saudi and UAE warplanes bombing Yemen, calls on the Senate to adopt the Davidson and Nolan provisions in the Senate version of NDAA, and calls on Congress to explicitly prohibit the U.S. refueling of Saudi and UAE warplanes bombing Yemen.
The Davidson [R-OH] amendment prohibits U.S. military action in Yemen not authorized by the 2001 AUMF. U.S. participation in the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen is not targeting Al Qaeda or ISIS and is not authorized by the 2001 AUMF. Davidson’s amendment would block the U.S. refueling of Saudi and UAE warplanes bombing Yemen.
The Nolan [D-MN] amendment prohibits the deployment of U.S. troops to participation in Yemen’s civil war. Nolan’s amendment would block the U.S. refueling of Saudi and UAE warplanes bombing Yemen.
The Saudi-UAE war in Yemen, in which U.S. participation was never authorized by Congress, has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, with the worst cholera outbreak in the world, with the UN on the verge of giving up on vaccination against cholera in Yemen because of the war.
The Saudi-UAE war in Yemen has also strengthened Al Qaeda and ISIS. Indeed, Al Qaeda’s Yemen branch is allied with the Saudis and the UAE against the Houthi-Saleh forces.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has said, "The Saudis simply could not operate this bombing campaign without us. Their planes can’t fly without U.S. refueling capacity." Yet the U.S. has doubled the amount of fuel it provided to Saudi and UAE bombers since October. Most of the bombers refueled by the U.S. are UAE bombers, according to the Pentagon. The Pentagon apparently has little oversight or concern about who or what it is helping to bomb:
“We provide refueling totals for the Saudi-led Coalition on an on-demand basis,” said CENTCOM spokesperson Maj. Josh Jacques. “They request refueling and we provide it. I will refer you to the Saudi-led coalition as to the reasons why they requested the amounts of fuel.”
"Congressional action to end U.S. participation in the catastrophic Saudi-UAE war in Yemen, which has never been authorized by Congress, is long overdue," said Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy. "We call on President Trump to heed the House votes and end U.S. refueling of Saudi and UAE planes bombing Yemen immediately."
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