On Wednesday, the Senate voted 54-46 in favor of ending US military involvement in Yemen, on the grounds that there was never a Congressional authorization for the US to be involved in the first place.
The warring factions within Yemen, unsurprisingly had a split reaction to the news,
and to the prospect that the United States might not continue to play a
part. The Shi’ite Houthi movement embraced the move, saying US
involvement in arming and assisting the Saudis had already prolonged the
war.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government tried to mirror the narrative of
Senators who opposed the bill, arguing it would “embolden Iran” for the
US to exit Yemen. Iran, of course, is not directly involved in the Yemen
War.
But because the Houthis are Shi’ites, and Iran is Shi’ite, even though
they’re two distinct types of Shi’ites with little history of
interaction, the Saudis have positioned the Houthis as effectively Iran
in the narrative, both to sell the war domestically, and within the US,
where most politicians are hostile to Iran as a matter of course.
During Wednesday’s debate ahead of the Senate vote, talking points among
the opponents were generally that leaving Yemen would be bad for Israel
and good for Iran. Even if neither nation is involved in the war, it
seems even Yemen’s government is going to try to sell the myth that they
are in hopes of encouraging a veto of the Senate bill.
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