SHAFAQNA- 23 members of U.S Congress will introduce a resolution to force Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from helping the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the catastrophic war in Yemen.
California Democrat Ro Khanna introduced the resolution on Wednesday, invoking the 1973 War Powers Act. The Resolution Directs US President Donald Trump “to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress”, RT reported.
Based on 1973 War Powers Act, a Vietnam War-era law, the president should withdraw forces from “hostilities” after a 60-day time limit unless Congress explicitly authorizes continued action.
This resolution has supported by big name Dems, such as Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee; Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; and Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern (Mass.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Michael Capuano (Mass.), Yvette Clarke (N.Y.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.).
“It’s critical that the United States not choose sides in this war, and any American involvement can and must be debated transparently,” the Democrats said Thursday. “For every Yemeni civilian killed in an airstrike, countless more perish from hunger and disease triggered and sustained by the war. The Saudi-led coalition, and all parties involved, must be held accountable for their actions contributing to this ongoing crisis”, The Hill reported.
If the resolution voted, will give Congress the power to force the president to withdraw its support for the Saudi-led intervention. However, it does not effect on fighting US forces to attack against Al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Previously, The U.S. Senate voted 55-44 against taking up the similar resolution to end US support for the Yemen conflict, backed by senators from across the ideological spectrum, including independent Bernie Sanders, Republican Mike Lee, and Democrat Chris Murphy.
Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman met coincided with The vote.
“The relationship is probably the strongest it’s ever been,” Trump said. “Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation and they’re going to give the United States some of that wealth, hopefully, in the form of jobs, in the form of the purchase of the finest military equipment anywhere in the world.”, The Guardian reported.
It face stiff opposition from the Trump administration, despite the supporter of the resolution within Congress. Trump’s supporters have claimed that US backing the Saudi-led coalition lead to reduce the number of civilian deaths.
Yemen’s civil war has raged since 2015 between the Houthis, and a Sunni government backed by the Saudi-led coalition when the Houthis from the country’s north, seized the nation’s capital and ousted the Saudi-backed ruler. Saudi Arabia began its bombing campaign to restore Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power that has led to the deaths of more than at least 10,000 civilian and displacing millions of Yemenis.
In three years since, the US has not formally backed the Saudi-led coalition, but it has provided the intelligence, reconnaissance and midair fighter refueling and tens of billions of dollars in weapons.
According to United Nations report, Yemen war is the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises and all parties in the conflict may be responsible for war crimes.
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