With Vote Looming, Anti-War Groups Call on Nation to Demand Congress End US-Backed Slaughter in Yemen

With a vote expected later on Tuesday, and as the Senate debates a joint resolution that aims to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen, peace advocates are urging Americans to immediately call their representatives in Congress to back the legislation.

Senate Joint Resolution 54 is sponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah). It would mandate "the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress."

Sanders advocated for the bill on the Senate floor Tuesday:

On the 15th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Sanders compared U.S. complicity in Yemen with the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, which he called "the two most significant foreign policy disasters in the modern history of the United States."

"The American people were misled by the Bush administration into believing that the Iraq War was necessary to prevent another 9/11," Sanders said. "And Congress did not challenge them on those claims in a way that Congress should have--with disastrous consequences."

Murphy called the pending vote a "gut check moment for the Senate," pointing to the disastrous humanitarian crisis Yemen has experienced as a result of the Saudi-led coalition conducting air strikes--with U.S. military assistance--and blocking access to essential food and medical aid.

"Should it pass, Senate Joint Resolution 54 would not only be a major blow to the Saudi and U.S. war effort, but it would also signal an historic challenge to the unchecked power of the executive branch to wage war without debate," noted R.L. Stevens, director of the Democratic Socialists of America's new Anti-War Think Tank. Stevens concluded that no matter the outcome of Tuesday's vote, "the struggle against the war on Yemen and U.S. military aggression overall must continue."

The vote comes as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MbS, is visiting the United States on a "whitewash" tour to reaffirm U.S. military support for the coalition. The prince is meeting Tuesday with President Donald Trump.