On Sept. 12, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made what was probably one of the most ill-informed and disingenuous foreign policy decisions of the Trump administration’s 20-month tenure. Pursuant to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, Pompeo certified to Congress that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were taking enough action to “reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure” in the course of the Arab coalition’s military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen.

For those of us who have been monitoring the war in Yemen since its eruption over three years ago, the claim is ludicrous. Even more ludicrous, however, was Defense Secretary James Mattis’ press statement following Pompeo’s certification: “The governments of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are making every effort to reduce the risk of civilian casualties and collateral damage to civilian infrastructure.”