With a bill, the Democrat-led House of Representatives wants to end the military support for Saudi Arabia in the Yemen War. The White House threatens with a veto.
Representatives in the US House of Representatives want to end Donald Trump’s support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen. In a bill, they called on the US president to cease all military support for the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in Yemen within 30 days.
Without a corresponding draft in the Senate and Trump’s approval, the demand does not become binding. The White House has threatened a veto Trumps against such a bill.
After the midterm elections in November, the Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives. But not only they want to limit the cooperation with Saudi Arabia: The Senate controlled by Trump’s Republicans had passed a similar bill at the end of last year with the votes of both parties. Since a new legislative period has begun in January, the Senate would have to vote again.
Around 10,000 civilian victims in Yemen
The Saudi Arabia-led military coalition supports the Sunni government in Yemen, which is fighting against the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi militias. The United Nations estimates the number of civilian casualties in the ongoing since 2014 civil war to about 10,000 people. The US troops provide the coalition headed by Saudi Arabia among other target data for bombardment and fuel their aircraft in the air.
Trump has made it clear in the past that he does not want to move away from the ally Saudi Arabia. Following the assassination of Saudi Arabian government critic Jamal Khashoggi at the Consulate in Istanbul, the Republicans criticized this approach. A special detachment from Riyadh had killed the journalist. Congressmen and senators from both parties are convinced that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is involved.
Trump rejects consequences for the Saudi Arabian leadership, however. He points out that Saudi Arabia is an important ally in its crackdown on Iran, and that the Riyadh government has awarded billion-dollar contracts to the US. In Saudi Arabia, a trial of eleven defendants is underway because of the killing of Khashoggi, but the judiciary has not yet published its name. Mohammed bin Salman is considered the future ruler of the Islamic conservative country.
