Does Wednesday's House Vote bring us 1/3 of our journey
towards ending US support for the Saudi war on Yemen?
By mickielynn on 2019-02-15 07:56:35
After several years of trying to challenge US military, intelligence, re-fueling of Saudi aircraft, mercenary and troop
support on the ground and massive weapons sales since the Saudi/Emirati war against the people of Yemen began in March
of 2015 we may finally have the beginning of a breakthrough. (as promised by the new
House leadership) a vote was taken to use the restrictions of the 1973 War Powers Act to end this support. It was passed by
This somewhat bipartisan vote on House Joint Resolution 37 included yes votes by 230 Democrats
and 18 Republicans. In a sense this represents a “do over." Although the Senate passed a bipartisan bill in
with similar provisions, [mainly to rebuke the Trump administration for its support of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, now widely regarded mastermind of the assassination of US resident, journalist Jamal Khasogghi] the House of
Representatives leadership blocked a house discussion or vote.
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Yemen, Action Corps NYC, December 21, 2017 with Granny Peace Brigade [caption id="attachment_ 12160"
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January 2, 2019
Demonstration against the War on Yemen, in front of US Mission to the United Nations. Photo by Sophia Ko[/caption] On
one level it seems that this might be the first step in a legislative process that could begin with the passage of H.J.Res.37 and
then proceed to a vote in the Senate on S.J.Res. 7, which may actually happen during the month of February. Then on to the
president for a signature or a veto and that would be that. Of course the president still says he takes the crown prince's word
that he was not involved in Khashoggi's murder. In his typical lawless manner, Trump has now missed 2 congressionally
mandated deadlines to report to Congress on the status of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. In addition he's also missed the
deadline to announce sanctions against specific Saudi officials who were ruled responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's death.
[caption — 12155" align="alignnone" width="600"]
PRG ents
=i A protester dressed as Saudi
Arabian crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and another dressed as U. S. President Donald Trump, demonstrate with
members of the group Code Pink,[/caption] It's clear that one obstacle will be to get veto proof votes for the congressional
resolutions. This will probably require a great deal more work with our representatives and much lobbying to accomplish
this. [caption id="attachment_12150" align="alignnone" width="600"]
ed The front of the US Capitol
east on a sunny day. Photo from World Beyond War[/caption] The optimistic point of view, expressed by persistent house
sponsor, Ro Khanna is that even passing bipartisan and bicameral legislation will send messages to Congress that we need
to take the route of ending the blockade and famine that has been creating the world's in the last
half century. [caption id="attachment_12161" align="alignnone" width="476"]
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Yemen is Starving, Action
Corps NYC, November 20, 2017[/caption]
Loopholes in the legislation:
Unfortunately even if we were to pass this legislation and if it led to peace negotiations on a very serious basis there are still
many /oopholes in the legislation as it now is written. In addition to those in David Swanson's article linked here. The
Washington Post article adds another one:
...But before the resolution passed the House, lawmakers attached an amendment to it stating that the measure
would not restrict the collection and sharing of intelligence as the president deems appropriate. Intelligence
sharing is a major piece of U.S.-Saudi cooperation, particularly since the administration ended the practice of
refueling planes last year.[...]
Repealing the 2001 AUMF which has been used for Endless War without Congressional Authorization
For many years now, Representative Barbara Lee has been introducing resolutions to repeal and replace the very destructive
AUMF passed in 2001 in response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Since then (according to her media
release this week) "According to the Congressional Research Service, the 2001 AUMF has been used to justify US military
action at least 41 times in 19 countries." Today her office released a version of the AUMF repeal legislation for the current
116th Congress. In part it reads:
Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced legislation to repeal the 2001
Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) and force a debate on our endless wars around the world.
The legislation would sunset the 2001 AUMF after 8 months, giving Congress ample time to debate and vote on
anew AUMF. “For far too long, Congress has abdicated its constitutional responsibility to debate and vote on
matters of war and peace,” said Congresswoman Lee. “It’s time to stop kicking the can down the road. Congress
owes it to the American people — and our brave men and women in uniform — to do our job and repeal this blank
check for war.”
This repeal and replacement with a much more specific and time limited AUMF could also help Congress to end
unauthorized wars of choice such as that in Yemen and now possibly looming in Venezuela.
Qaeda and Iran
In this exclusive CNN report titled “Sold to an ally, lost to an enemy" you can read a well documented and striking
description of the drawbacks to US weapons sales and sharing of weapons with various factions in Yemen [and we've seen
the same thing in Syria as well] So even if you're not moved to end this war out of care and compassion for the Yemeni
people this is another reason why we need to change our policies about weapons sales to ruthless dictators, blatant violators
of human rights, or to violent factions in proxy wars. This is a direct antidote to Trump's approach of bragging about how
much money the United States makes from weapons sales while putting our troops and our allies in grave danger. Finally,
today *Thursday, 2/14*, while I'm writing this *Link to 9 minute interview with Mabel Leon* Grannies for Peace has
been demonstrating against continued support for this murderous war in Yemen that puts millions at risk of starvation and
disease. We are doing a very small part of the ongoing work that needs to continue until US complicity ends and there are
genuine and effective peace negotiations.
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