TEHRAN, Apr 04 - The US House of Representatives has approved a resolution to end US support for the Saudi Arabia-led war against Yemen, rebuffing President Donald Trump’s policy of continued support for Riyadh and curtailing a president's war-making powers.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -The lower chamber of Congress voted 247 to 175 to approve a resolution that directs the president "to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen" within 30 days.
Sixteen Republicans joined the majority Democrats in backing the rare use of the War Powers Act, which limits the president’s ability to send troops into action.
As the resolution had already passed the Senate, the vote in the Democratic-led House sends the measure to Trump.
Trump has promised to veto the measure, which would be the second veto of his presidency. Neither the votes in the House or Senate, where Republicans have a slim majority, would be enough to override a veto.
"Today we took a clear stand against war and famine and for Congress's war powers by voting to end our complicity in the war in Yemen," Senator Bernie Sanders, a lead author of the resolution and a 2020 US presidential candidate, said after the House vote.
Backers of the resolution argued that US involvement in Yemen violated the constitutional requirement that Congress, not the president, should determine when the country goes to war.
Getting the measure passed took months, despite international outrage over the civilian toll in Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of about 56,000 Yemenis.
The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.
The UN has warned that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the worst global famine in more than 100 years.
US lawmakers have escalated their opposition to Saudi Arabia after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
Khashoggi relocated to the United States in June 2017 and began writing for The Washington Post in September of that year.
Some members of Congress have publicly stated that they suspect that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was directly responsible for Khashoggi’s killing, based on the CIA's conclusions.
Republicans and Democrats lawmakers alike have bristled over the Trump administration’s apparent embrace of the kingdom and its leadership.
Source: Press TV
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