Trump Objects to Congress Measure Ending US Support for Saudi War on Yemen

TEHRAN (defapress) – The Trump administration threatened to veto an effort in the US Congress to end US military support for the Saudi-led coalition in its war on Yemen, continuing a stand-off with lawmakers over policy toward the kingdom.

News ID: 75550

Date: 12 February 2019 - 14:16

Democrats and Republicans re-introduced the war powers resolution two weeks ago as a way to send a strong message to Riyadh both about the humanitarian disaster in Yemen and condemn the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The administration said the resolution was inappropriate because US forces had provided aircraft refueling and other support in the Saudi war, not combat troops. It also said the measure would harm relationships in the region, Reuters reported.

The White House has angered many members of Congress, including some of President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans, by failing to provide a report by a Friday deadline on the murder of Khashoggi last year at a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Khashoggi was a US resident and columnist for the Washington Post.

“It’s hard to feel any affection or some obligation to a regime that does that kind of stuff,” Democratic Representative Ed Perlmutter said at a House of Representatives hearing on the resolution on Monday.

The United States has supported the Saudi-led air campaign with mid-air refueling support, intelligence and targeting assistance.

The Republican-controlled US Senate passed the war powers resolution in December, the first time such a resolution had passed even one house of Congress. But Republicans, who then controlled the House, did not allow a vote in the lower chamber.

After sweeping election victories, Democrats now have a House majority. They intend to take up the resolution this week.

However, the resolution would struggle to garner the two-thirds majorities needed in both the House and Senate to overcome a Trump veto. Republicans still hold a slim majority in the Senate.

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