Today’s Action: End our illegal war in Yemen

Two weeks ago in Yemen, a US-backed bombing killed 40 school children and 11 adults. It is a horrific tragedy in the ongoing war the United Nations has called “the worst man-made humanitarian crisis of our time.”

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been sieging Yemen with airstrikes and intentionally causing starvation for years — a Yemeni child under five dies every ten minutes. And the US has provided the weapons and air-strike-support to Saudi Arabia, despite never being authorized by Congress or debated by the public. More than 22 million citizens now urgently depend on international aid to survive, thanks to US military support.

But investigative journalism has recently made clear the US isn’t *just* selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Now, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is publicly calling for answers regarding the US military’s active involvement in strategy and oversight, despite their previous denials.

This past spring, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced a resolution to withdraw our unauthorized military support. But most Senate Republicans, joined by ten Democrats, voted to shove it under the rug without debate.

Today’s action is two-fold:

1. Check your Senator’s voting record. A YEA vote was the vote to continue the war in Yemen without discussion.
2. Call or email your Senators. Tell the NAY’s thank you – and urge them to push again for the resolution, and require answers from our military on their involvement. Ask the YEA’s why they’re comfortable letting 1.8 million children under 5 remain on the brink of starvation, and allowing the U.S. military to lie to the American public.

Our Constitution gives only Congress the power to declare war. And yet, without even seeking approval, the US continues to participate in a war that has left more than 10,000 civilians dead, 40,000 wounded, fifteen million without access to clean water, and nearly 60 percent of the population with no reliable access to food.

Our participation in this crisis is unconscionable and inhumane, and it needs to stop now.