Congress: Stop using our tax dollars to illegally fund Saudi war crimes in Yemen

UN investigators say Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have killed thousands of civilians in Yemen in airstrikes, tortured detainees, raped civilians and used child soldiers as young as 8, actions which are likely war crimes. Their report said Saudi and Emirati airstrikes had hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, jails, boats and medical facilities. They accused Saudi-UAE of routinely having failed to consult their own “no-strike list” of civilian sites in Yemen, including refugee camps and hospitals. The chair of the experts panel that produced the report said “there is little evidence of any attempt” by Saudi-UAE to minimize civilian casualties. [1]

The UN report on Saudi-UAE war crimes in Yemen makes a mockery of claims by Defense Secretary James Mattis that the Pentagon is helping Saudi Arabia and the UAE reduce civilian casualties. On the contrary: by arming Saudi Arabia and the UAE, by refueling their warplanes during their bombing runs, by providing targeting intelligence, and by providing diplomatic protection for their war at the UN, the Pentagon is complicit in Saudi-UAE war crimes. But incredibly, Mattis insists that “we have not seen any callous disregard by the people we're working with,” and so the Pentagon “will continue to work with them." [2]

Congress can stop this crime. In violation of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war was never authorized by Congress. That means that under the War Powers Resolution, any Member of Congress can force a vote on ending the war, as Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy did in March. [3] Urge your Representative and Senators to force a vote on ending the war by signing our petition.

References:
1. “War Crimes Report on Yemen Accuses Saudi Arabia and U.A.E.,” Nick Cumming-Bruce, New York Times, Aug. 28, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/world/middleeast/un-yemen-war-crimes.html
2. “US to Continue Backing Saudi Coalition in Yemen War,” Associated Press, Aug. 28, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/08/28/us/politics/ap-us-mattis.html
3. “Why Congress must vote on the United States’ role in Yemen,” Mike Lee, Bernie Sanders and Chris Murphy, Washington Post, February 28, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-congress-must-vote-on-the-united-states-role-in-yemen/2018/02/28/2ce853b4-1cc8-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html