Neocons are Giving Trump Bad Advice on Yemen

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On March 13, 2019, the Senate stood against Trump over the Saudi military campaign in Yemen, setting the stage for a veto showdown with the Executive Branch.

In a 54-46 vote, Senators passed a resolution demanding that the president withdraw troops in or “affecting” Yemen within a 30-day timeframe unless they are fighting Al-Qaeda.

Republican Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Steve Daines (Montana), Mike Lee (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Jerry Moran (Kansas), Rand Paul (Kentucky), and Todd Young (Indiana) joined Democrats voting for this resolution.

The Senate initially passed the resolution in December, but the resolution could not make it out of the GOP-controlled House before the 115th Congress concluded and was introduced again this year.

The Senate vote took place after the White House threatened to veto the resolution, contending that resolution was based on a “flawed” and “erroneous premise.”

Just like last time, the resolution still needs to make it out of the U.S. House.

The Yemeni Civil War, which began in 2019, involves a conflict between the Yemeni government led by internationally recognized leader Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi rebels, along with international allies. Both of these combatting factions claim to be the official government of Yemen.

The Middle East is a region that has been mired with ethnic and religious conflict over the past thousand years, and that trend will not end anytime soon. The Yemeni Civil War is a conflict that should be settled between these two factions, however the U.S.’s military-industrial complex always has to have a piece of the action.

President Trump should follow his same “America First” instincts that he used for military campaigns in Syria and Afghanistan, and pull out of the Yemeni campaign altogether.

Right now, Trump is taking bad advice from the neoconservatives that remain present in the DC Swamp.

America First means getting out of all direct or indirect foreign entanglements.

The Yemeni conflict absolutely fits this criterion.

Trump should join Congress in withdrawing out of this foreign policy quagmire altogether.