In the mad rush to oppose the policy proposals of President Donald Trump, the US House and Senate are inadvertently becoming peace mongers in Yemen.
The Senate voted on Wednesday to approve a resolution forcing President Trump to remove US troops from hostilities pertaining to Yemen within 30 days unless explicit Congressional approval is given. The House previously approved a similar resolution, and is expected to sign off on the Senate version in the upcoming days.
“Our office is working with leadership and the [Congressional Progressive Caucus] to finalize a date of when we will pass the Senate [War Powers Resolution] and send it to the president’s desk,” said the office of Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who pushed the House version of the resolution.
Trump is expected to veto the measure, as it would impact his relationship with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are committing these war crimes in Yemen with the help of the US, who funnels weapons into the region to help the bottom line of defense contractors. This support may create blowback that will hurt national security priorities, but the military-industrial complex isn’t very concerned about that, and Trump is impotent to stop them.
Because of his expected veto, Trump’s political opposition for the 2020 presidential race are scoring political points at his expense.
“Yemen is now experiencing the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said. “And today, equally important, we can finally begin the process of reasserting Congress’ responsibility over war making.”
“I am deeply troubled that the UAE, in the midst of this conflict, reportedly paid a team of American mercenaries to conduct targeted killings, possibly with the knowledge of U.S. government officials,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote in a letter to a Trump administration official.
“I am also disturbed by the possibility that the U.S. Government may have endorsed, or tacitly allowed current or former servicemembers to engage in this kind of ‘militarized contract killing’ abroad, despite the apparent applicability of U.S. law to their targeted lethal actions,” wrote Sen. Warren in a different letter.
President Trump is expected to turn his back on his own ‘America First’ agenda to do the bidding of the Saudis. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is certainly very pleased at Trump’s decision.
“We should not use this specific vote on a specific policy decision as some proxy for all the Senate’s broad feelings about foreign affairs,” Sen. McConnell said.
The swamp, at least the portion of it that is controlled by the Saudis, will never be drained as long as Trump is President. The US will likely continue supporting war crimes in Yemen throughout the entirety of his administration.
