Senate advances bid to end support for war in Yemen

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a resolution Wednesday to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition's war in Yemen, thwarting efforts by the Trump administration to convince lawmakers to vote against it.

Senators voted 63-37 in favor of the resolution spearheaded by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee Chris Murphy. The vote marks a victory for its supporters and a reversal by the Senate, which only managed to garner 44 votes in support of the same resolution back in March.

“In my mind, it is imperative today that the United States Senate tell Saudi Arabia and tell the world that we are not going to be continuing to be part of that humanitarian disaster,” Sanders said. “We have to make the decision as to what happens in the war in Yemen and our role in that, and that’s what the vote today is about.”

The resolution will now move on to the Senate floor, where it will be debated on next week.

The vote marks a blow to efforts by the Trump administration to bolster support for U.S. backing of the war after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis were both sent to brief senators on Yemen behind closed doors.

Pompeo told reporters that the vote was "poorly timed" when the U.S. was working to create a ceasefire between the parties currently battling in Yemen.

Trump has been facing heavy criticism in Washington for his decision to maintain relations with Saudi Arabia after the CIA concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After initially saying he had left the consulate alive, Saudi Arabia admitted weeks later that he was killed there.