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US Congress to end support for Yemen war due to Khashoggi’s murder: Pundit

Thursday, 31 January 2019 10:24 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 31 January 2019 10:29 AM ]

This picture taken on December 27, 2018 shows a view of the rubble at the former house of Yemeni girl Buthaina al-Rimi, whose home was destroyed by a 2017 air strike in the capital Sana’a, killing all her family members and injuring her face. (Photo by AFP)

American lawmakers would not seek to end US President Donald Trump’s support for Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen if it were not for the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, says an academic.

“If it wasn’t for the rather brutal assassination of the Saudi journalist in Istanbul, this probably would not be an issue for Congress. There was a long time when the United States was aiding the Saudis to destroy Yemen … but it was only after the journalist was assassinated, murdered and that journalist worked for The Washington Post, lived in the United States that things got really heated. So I wouldn’t interpret this too much as a reaction to the war as such as to combinations of things including the journalist’s assassination,” Lawrence Davidson, professor at West Chester University, told Press TV in an interview on Thursday.

American lawmakers are making efforts to end Trump’s support for Saudi Arabia’s war on impoverished Yemen.

The lawmakers seek to end US involvement in the war, incessantly pounded by the Saudi military, Republican and Democratic senators and representatives said.

A war powers resolution had previously passed 56-41 in the Senate but had to be reintroduced to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to go forward.

The brutal murder of Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul has also served as a boost to the lawmakers' resolve to take on the Saudi royal family, which has a very close connection with Trump.

Some other Western countries are also complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the former Saudi-sponsored government back to power.

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 around 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 already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.