On Thursday, the House joined the Senate in rebuking continued U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s civil war. Lawmakers are right to say enough is enough, and President Trump should join them.
The bipartisan resolution, first passed by the Senate last month, signals increasing concerns about Washington’s partnership with Riyadh. Although U.S. support for the Saudi coalition in the war in Yemen began under the Obama administration, it was thrust into the spotlight after the Saudi regime’s brutal murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Washington subsequently faced renewed scrutiny for its trust in the Saudi government. And rightly so — high numbers of civilian casualties from U.S.-assisted airstrikes and illegal transfers of U.S. equipment to third-party combatants are proof enough of how little respect the Saudis have for America’s friendship.
More importantly, the war itself has become a devastating humanitarian crisis with millions facing starvation, more than 60,000 dead, and little prospect of a peaceful resolution.
As concerns about the conflict and Washington’s role in it mounted, the Pentagon ended aerial refueling for Saudi planes in November, although it has continued to provide intelligence and other services to the coalition.
U.S. involvement in the coalition also prompted a bipartisan group of lawmakers to work to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi coalition. The goal of their legislation was to invoke the War Powers Act, meant to check the power of the president to wage war without the consent of Congress, to end U.S. involvement.
Now that that legislation has passed the House, it is headed to Trump’s desk. As Trump considers a veto, he should also consider that even if Saudi Arabia is an ally, that does not mean that the U.S. should just play along with whatever Riyadh wants, especially when it comes to war.
