@Jonathan_Ebel, @BetsyforIL, @ErikJones4IL, @EverForwardIL, @davidgill2018: Oppose U.S. Role in S...

There will be a forum featuring 5 Democratic candidates for the 13th Congressional District seat at 6 pm Tuesday 9/5 in Noyes Lab Room 100 at the UIUC campus. The forum will feature candidates Jon Ebel, Ben Webb, Betsy Londrigan, Erik Jones and David Gill. All 5 intend to be candidates in the Democratic primary in March, to run against Rep. Rodney Davis. [1]

The Saudi-UAE war and blockade in Yemen has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine and ignited the worst cholera outbreak on record, with a million malnourished children at risk from cholera. [2] According to UNICEF, every 10 minutes at least one child in Yemen dies of preventable causes like malnutrition and diarrhea. [3] In addition to supplying weapons Saudi Arabia and the UAE are using in Yemen, the U.S. is a direct participant in the Saudi-UAE war by providing targeting information and by refueling Saudi and UAE warplanes bombing Yemen. [4] The Saudi-UAE warplanes can't conduct their bombing runs without U.S. refueling. [5] UNICEF director Anthony Lake was clear when asked by AP about how to end the disaster: "Stop the war." [6]

Congress never authorized U.S. participation in the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen against the Houthi-Saleh alliance, as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Corker has acknowledged. [7] Whatever one thinks of the U.S. war on Al Qaeda and ISIS, the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen against the Houthi-Saleh alliance is indisputably not part of that; on the contrary, the Saudis and the UAE are allied with Al Qaeda in Yemen against the Houthi-Saleh alliance [8], and the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen has strengthened Al Qaeda in Yemen, [9] as the State Department acknowledged in a July 2017 report on terrorism. [10]

Urge the five Democratic candidates to oppose U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen and to challenge Rodney Davis to oppose it by signing our petition.

References:
1. http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/baseball/2017-08-30/tom-kacich-war-chant-rooted-theme-song-1950s-cartoon.html
2. http://www.npr.org/2017/08/02/541181026/one-million-malnourished-children-at-risk-of-cholera-in-yemen
3. https://www.unicef.org/yemen/reallives_12051.html
4. https://theintercept.com/2017/07/13/u-s-doubled-fuel-support-for-saudi-bombing-campaign-in-yemen-after-deadly-strike-on-funeral/
5. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/24/534236954/yemen-now-faces-the-worst-cholera-outbreak-in-the-world-u-n-says
6. http://www.npr.org/2017/08/02/541181026/one-million-malnourished-children-at-risk-of-cholera-in-yemen
7. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/03/congress-raise-alarm-us-confrontation-yemen-houthis.html
8. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/al-qaeda-group-leader-claims-fighting-alongside-us-backed-coalition-forces-yemen-a7713321.html
9. http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/yemen-aqap/
10. https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/272488.pdf