US lawmakers seek to pass a draft resolution to withdraw military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Al Jazeera reported today.
The draft seeks to trigger the War Powers Act of 1973, which enables US Congress to override the authority of the president and end war where it deems it unauthorised.
We believe that, as Congress has not declared war or authorised military force in this conflict, the US involvement in Yemen is unconstitutional and unauthorised and US military support of the Saudi coalition must end
Senator Bernie Sanders said at a news conference yesterday.
“Many Americans are unaware that the people of Yemen are suffering today from a devastating civil war with Saudi Arabia and their allies on one side and Houthi rebels on the other.”
“Many Americans are also not aware that US forces have been actively involved in support of the Saudis in this war, providing intelligence and aerial refuelling of planes, whose bombs have killed thousands of people and made this crisis far worse,” Sanders continued.
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A similar act of political correctness took place last year, when Congressman and representative for California’s 17th District Ro Khanna supported to file a resolution to end the war in Yemen. Although it was passed, it did not withdraw US military support for war in Yemen.
US war in Yemen unlawful
The United States is not officially at war in Yemen. It passed an Authorisation for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) back in 2001 after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York; to go after Al-Qaeda and its affiliates everywhere it can be found. But lawyers and human rights groups have argued that the AUMF 2001 has become stale, rendering it void and unlawful to engage in Yemen.
Despite the legal and political quandary, the US has continued its drone attacks and counter-terrorism raids in Yemen since 2002. Some 1,341 Yemenis have been killed and 300 injured, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Air strikes yesterday killed nine civilians, wounding at least six by the Saudi-led coalition in two separate attacks in northern and western Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Arab states to neutralise territorial threats posed by the Houthis, who currently control swathes of territory from northern Saada to Sana’a. It joined the civil conflict in March 2015 following a request from the internationally recognised President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in the civil war, while more than 11 per cent of the country’s population has been displaced.
