US Senator Bernie Sanders backed down from requesting a vote on a resolution to end US government support for the war in Yemen, disappointing supporters. Although the story has been focused on Bernie, this should serve as a moment to open up a new conversation about the brutal Saudi-coalition’s war in Yemen.
Sen. Bernie Sanders seemed poised to introduce a war powers resolution last Wednesday, which would have challenged US support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen. However, owing to pressure from the White House, the Vermont Senator decided to enter into dialogue with the US Biden administration and withdrew his decision the bring to resolution to a vote. “I look forward to working with the administration who is opposed to this resolution and see if we can come up with something that is strong and effective. If we do not, I will be back”, said Sanders.
Since the announcement from Bernie Sanders that he would not be introducing the resolution, which would have effectively banned US support for Saudi offensive action against Yemen, an online debate has been stirred as to the true intentions of the Senator. Bernie defenders have argued that his decision was made in good faith, whilst others have challenged the idea, claiming instead that he is a bad faith actor or simply operates without a spine.
Regardless of where Bernie Sanders sits on the spectrum of this debate over his intentions, the war powers resolution is gone for now. If, as Bernie claimed was the case, the resolution had the potential to pass, his decision to withdraw may have handed the Biden administration another get out of jail free card.
What This Says About Biden’s Yemen Policy
As revealed by the Intercept, the White House was making a number of arguments against Sen. Sanders’ war powers resolution. Amongst other ideas, such as impeding military support for Ukraine, the Biden administration attempted to argue that the resolution would only ignite tensions and get in the way of their attempts to reach a long-term truce.
The US Biden administration attempted to use the near 9-months of relative calm in Yemen (ignoring the manufactured ongoing famine) as an argument as to why the resolution is counterproductive and that the diplomatic efforts of the US are ongoing in an attempt to end the conflict through a negotiated peace. The reality is, however, that the United Nations negotiated the 3-month ceasefire — later extended to 6 months — between Saudi Arabia and the Ansarallah government in Yemen, not the US. The ceasefire ended on the 2nd of October and constant violations of the truce are being committed, meaning that all-out war could break out at any moment.
The US government was not only absent as a primary player in negotiating the relatively effective ceasefire, but its argument that removing its support for Saudi offensive operations would cause an uptick in the violence is baseless. In fact, in February of 2021, when US President Joe Biden pledged to end “relevant arms sales” in support of Riyadh’s offensive action, this did not trigger an escalation, only later in the year after it was clear that the Biden administration was not serious about ending the conflict did a major escalation occur. The Ansarallah movement then decided that it had to launch an offensive to capture the last northern strong-hold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces in resource rich Maarib.
If anything, it is US pandering to Saudi Arabia that makes an escalation in the conflict all the more likely. Ali al-Qahoum, a member of Ansarullah’s Political Bureau, told Al-Mayadeen TV on Tuesday that Washington is playing a “dangerous game” by impeding a peace process and that “the presence of US troops in the Bab al-Mandab and off the coast of Yemen poses a serious threat to maritime navigation”. Pro-Ansarallah news agencies have repeatedly documented the use of US drones and even alleged that American boots have been deployed on the ground in some cases. Whilst the evidence seems to be there for drone usage it is more difficult to confirm the latter, although private-contractors have been used in the conflict.
It is clear that without US-UK logistical support, as well as US servicing of Saudi fighter jets, that the vast majority of offensive operations would be rendered unsustainable. It is telling that what the resolution was set to do was ensure that the Biden administration actually held to its promise of ending its support for Saudi offensive action. It is telling that Washington will claim that it no-longer supports offensive action, whilst any attempt to implement this is robustly challenged and lobbied against.
This has served as another exposure of the true intentions of the Biden administration in Yemen, they simply decided to re-frame Saudi Arabia’s offensive actions as defensive in nature. Just one day after Sen. Sanders backed down on putting his war powers resolution to a floor vote, the Saudi-led coalition again seized two more Yemen-bound fuel shipments. The routine theft of Yemen’s natural resources, by both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, is a major driving force behind Ansarallah’s justification of launching its own offensives against the Saudi-led coalition, so it is telling that the US simply sits back as fuel shipments to Yemen are seized.
Unfortunately, Sanders’ decision to back down on the resolution vote may actually have the effect the White House was warning the resolution would have had. According to the ‘Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft’, Sanders’ decision “may embolden the many members of Washington’s foreign policy elite who would like to ensure that the president’s capability to unilaterally wage war remains unchallenged by Congress’s constitutional prerogative over matters of war and peace.”
The Saudi-coalition’s war effort has resulted in the murder or maiming of 11,000+ children in Yemen, since 2015 when the war began, according to UNICEF, with others placing that statistic much higher. This as 2.2 million children remain malnourished, owing to the US-backed Saudi besiegement of the country. The stakes really couldn’t be higher, yet the Biden administration is choosing now to strengthen ties with Riyadh.
US President Joe Biden decided to pardon Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, protecting him from prosecution for what US-intelligence stated was his direct involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The US government feigns concern over alleged human rights abuses in Iran, whilst refusing to challenge Saudi Arabia, making it clear regionally where the US stands morally. The Ansarallah movement sees all of this, it understands the Biden administration’s pandering to Saudi Arabia, hence it views this war as a US-led war against Yemen. Ansarallah is very clear that it believes the US-UK-Israel alliance is behind the war and it has evidence on its side to back up this claim.
Whether Bernie Sanders decided to cave to the pressure due to a genuine belief in a hidden benevolence of the Biden administration, or he simply caved to pressure due to his partisan leanings toward the Democrat establishment, his decision is a horrific one. The US Biden administration continues to pander to Riyadh, it continues to support Saudi offensive action under the guise of defence and now Bernie has given the government a get out of jail free card for the time being, during which the conflict could again escalate. As Bernie Sanders engages in useless dialogue with the war-hawk criminals of the Democrat Party, the children of Yemen starve to death, and that is why his lack of a spine in this regard is truly abhorrent. The problem remains, that even when the most progressive leaning politicians in Washington mess up, there is no people’s movement to hold them to account and without pressuring these politicians they will never be forced to take the right decisions.
The majority of the US public don’t know a thing about what is going on in Yemen. Under the US Obama administration is when this war started and the majority of US media only decided to give any attention to it when Trump took office — now they remain silent once again. This is pure partisan hackery, however, without a solid anti-war movement that prioritizes genuine anti-war struggle (and not a ridiculous culture war) there will be no one there to hold the political elitist’s feet to the fire. Therefore, it is not just the politicians that are to blame, it is also anti-imperialists and anti-war advocates who have sunken into meaningless online feuds and decided to take a self-aggrandizing approach to politics that has resulted in the powerlessness of today’s anti-war advocacy. Although there are genuine groups and circles that are battling to end the war in Yemen, the movement is divided and powerless, completely misunderstanding politics and how it works.
If we are to mount a successful effort to pressure the US government, or any other government supporting this war, the first thing we must do is understand that our only power is through a people’s struggle and not our own online egos. In Yemen, the people starve to death, whilst the so-called activists in the West bicker over who is the purest in the fight. Anti-war activists do not have the money or goodwill of politicians to rely on, so their only strength is in numbers. While petty divisions are being created, another Yemeni child starves to death or dies in their beds as a result of explosives that were made in a Western country. The bickering has to stop, the goals have to be set, and the Bernie Sanders of the world will have to be forced by the power of the people to put through these types of resolution, fearing the people more than they do the other political elitists above them.
