[pjw] NEWS: House votes to end US support for Yemen war (BBC 4/4)

[Peace and Justice Works]

Supporters of peace:
Yesterday marked 51 years since the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., who 
at the time was advocating for the end of the Viet Nam war.

It was also the day that the US Congress first used the War Powers 
Resolution to call an end to an unjust US war-- or at least its support 
for the Saudi war on Yemen.

Unfortunately, neither the Senate (which, as we reported earlier, voted 
54-46 on March 13) nor the House (where the vote was 247-175) seems to 
have the votes to overcome a Presidential veto, which may be inevitable.

Still, it's something to celebrate.

Unfortunately, despite his earlier vote to remind the President there is 
no declared US war in Yemen, Rep Greg Walden was the only member of 
Oregon's delegation to vote no.

Antiwar.com (whose politics are sometimes much more libertarian than 
progressive) put out this call for action:

  https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2019/04/04/call-the-white-house-sign-the-yemen-war-powers-resolution-dont-veto/feed/

Call the White House: Sign the Yemen War Powers Resolution, DON?T VETO
    Eric Garris Posted on [18]April 4, 2019

    Today the House of Representatives passed SJRes7, to stop the US from
    continuing to support the Saudi war against Yemen. The bill now goes to
    President Trump?s desk. Trump has indicated he will veto this historic
    bill.

    President Trump is known to change his mind. Let?s help change it:
    Invest a phone call for peace, call the White House and tell President
    Trump to sign SJRes7.

    Call 202-456-1111: The comment line is staffed from 9am to 4pm Eastern
    time Monday through Friday. Be ready to talk.

    Or fill out the comment form: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
    But phone calls are more effective.


Here's the BBC's report on the vote.
--dan h
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47814423
Yemen war: US House votes to end support for Saudi-led campaign
      * 4 April 2019

    The House of Representatives has voted to end US involvement in Yemen's
    civil war, rejecting President Donald Trump's support of a Saudi-led
    campaign there.

    Lawmakers voted 247 to 175 in favour of the bipartisan resolution,
    which was passed by the Senate last month.

    The text will now head to Mr Trump, who is expected to veto it.

    Opposition in Congress to his policy on Yemen grew last year after
    Saudi agents killed the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi
    consulate in Istanbul.

    A UN special rapporteur has said the evidence shows that Khashoggi, a
    US resident, was "the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing,
    planned and perpetrated by officials of the state of Saudi Arabia".

    US senators have accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of
    ordering the murder, but Saudi prosecutors have insisted it was a
    "rogue operation" and that the agents not acting his orders.

    Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in March 2015,
    when the rebel Houthi movement seized control of much of the west of
    the country and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.


    Alarmed by the rise of a group they saw as an Iranian proxy, the UAE,
    Saudi Arabia and seven other Arab states intervened in an attempt to
    restore the government. The US, UK and France provided logistical and
    intelligence support to the coalition and sold it weapons.

    The UN says at least 7,025 civilians have been killed and 11,140
    injured in the fighting, with 65% of the deaths attributed to Saudi-led
    coalition air strikes.

    Thousands more civilians have died from preventable causes, including
    malnutrition, disease and poor health.

    About 80% of the population - 24 million people - need humanitarian
    assistance and protection, and almost 10 million who the UN says are
    just a step away from famine. Almost 240,000 of those people are facing
    "catastrophic levels of hunger".