A Win for Antiwar Activists on Yemen

This is an important step forward in ending the indefensible U.S. role in the wrecking of Yemen.

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Annelle Sheline comments on the passage of Rep. Ro Khanna’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would cut off all assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war on Yemen:

The House voted today to pass Rep. Ro Khanna’s amendment to end US support for Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen. The amendment passed with 11 Republicans voting in favor, and 11 Democrats voting against, with a final vote of 219 to 207. The passage of the amendment represents a win for those that have pushed to end American complicity in the war on Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition began its aerial bombardment in 2015.

The passage of the amendment is good news, and it shows that the antiwar coalition that opposed the war under Trump is still intact and committed to ending US involvement. As Sheline mentions, Khanna’s amendment may end up being stripped from the final bill, but it is imperative that it remain part of the legislation.

The amendment, H. Amdt. 113, represents a significant tightening of restrictions on US assistance to the Saudi coalition. If it becomes law, it would block funding for intelligence-sharing, maintenance, and logistical support for Saudi coalition governments for carrying out strikes against targets in Yemen. The amendment includes a broad prohibition on funding for any involvement in the conflict inside Yemen. By adopting Khanna’s amendment, the House is finally using the power of the purse to try to rein in unauthorized US involvement in an atrocious war. Antiwar activists will need to keep the pressure on to make sure that this is included as part of the final bill, but this is an important step forward in ending the indefensible US role in the wrecking of Yemen.

Read the rest of the article at SubStack

Daniel Larison is a weekly columnist for Antiwar.com and maintains his own site at Eunomia. He is former senior editor at The American Conservative. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.

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