Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told The Intercept on Monday that he could bring a Yemen War Powers Resolution to the floor of the Senate for a vote “hopefully next week.”
The resolution would end US support for the brutal Saudi-led war and blockade on Yemen. According to the UN, the war and blockade have killed at least 377,000 people, more than half of which are children under the age of five.
A version of the resolution has been introduced in the House and Senate, and both have received strong bipartisan support, with over 100 co-sponsors in the House. When asked by The Intercept if he will have enough votes to pass the resolution, Sanders said, “I think we do, yes.” A similar resolution made it through Congress in 2019, but the measure was vetoed by President Trump.
Americans can call 1-833-Stop-War to get connected to their senators and representatives and urge them to support the legislation that could bring an end to the over seven-year war. Go to 1833stopwar.com for more information and for helpful prompts on what to say when connected.
Violence has been down in Yemen this year thanks to a ceasefire that was enacted from March to October. Since the ceasefire expired, there have been no reported Saudi airstrikes in Yemen or Houthi attacks inside Saudi Arabia. But there has been increased fighting on the ground, and while the blockade has been eased since the ceasefire, it hasn’t been fully lifted.
Sanders’s plan to bring the resolution to a vote comes after influential Democrats called to fundamentally change the US-Saudi relationship in response to the OPEC+ cuts in oil production that were announced in October.
Cutting off US support for Riyadh would effectively ground the Saudi air force since it’s so reliant on US maintenance. Since the war started in 2015, the US-backed coalition regularly bombed civilian targets in Yemen, and civilian casualties spiked earlier this year, right before the ceasefire was reached in March.
right then. maybe he just woke up from his 8 year nap.
because that’s how long saudi has been bombing yemen.
1. A similar resolution was passed in 2019 but vetoed by Trump.
2. Before the 2016 midterm election it was impossible to get a majority for this resolution.
It seems to me that you are napping.
State Department approves $5 billion in missile defense for UAE, Saudi Arabia – Breaking Defense.Aug 2, 2022
yes i must be dreaming in my sleep.
those would be the patriot missile systems.
GO TEAM RAYTHEON!
“According to the UN, the war and blockade have killed at least 377,000 people, more than half of which are children under the age of five.”
I was reading about 400,000 dying within the next year while Trump was president. And now I’m told 377,000 total??? Please.
“I think we do, yes.”
I am not sure I agree with Sanders’ optimism. It just seems to me that deference to the MIC is so ingrained in government policy-making, that SOMETHING has to go wrong, even if it were just a surprise veto by Biden if both houses of Congress actually passed the resolution.
I sincerely hope that I am wrong on this one.
Go, Bernie! He still rocks at the age of 81.
I hope he keeps on rocking because we need all the help we can get…!
“surprise veto by Biden”
I, for one, would not be surprised.
“I, for one, would not be surprised.”
I think in my own tangled way, that’s sort of what I meant. A veto would be a “surprise” for those of us who did not understand how the system actually works, but would almost be required by the people pulling the strings if the resolution was scripted to be passed by Congress. If I didn’t know any better, I would say it’s designed that way just to torture us with false hope.
Biden is not to be trusted to do anything that is focused on peaceful resolutions to conflict. He makes it clear every day the killing in Ukraine continues.
I wouldn’t hold your breath.