US senators in rebuke to Trump with Yemen vote
WASHINGTON: The US Senate took a defiant stance against President Donald Trump’s White House on Wednesday, advancing a measure that would end American military support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.
Senators voted 63-37 in favour of the proposal just hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had implored them not to curtail US assistance to the Saudi military, arguing that pulling back would worsen the war.
Thevotewasastrikingdeparture from earlier this year, when the measure failed, and marks a new bipartisan desire in the Senate for Trump’s administration to take a harder line on Saudi Arabia.
Lawmakers are exasperated with Trump’s reaction to the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which has been linked to Riyadh, and by the mounting humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Yemen.
“The Saudis have gone off the rails. They’ve killed more civilians this year than any year prior in the Yemen war,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told AFP.
“They obviously made a giant strategic error in abducting and murdering Jamal Khashoggi. So, a lot has changed in the last few months to get us to this point.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he switched his vote in favor of the resolution because CIA Director Gina Haspel did not testify and could not be grilled on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was aware of the plan to kill Khashoggi.
“The question for me is whether or not the CIA supports the conclusion, with a high degree of confidence, that the crown prince was complicit in the murder of Mr Khashoggi,” Graham told reporters.
“I’m not going to be denied the ability to be briefed by the CIA.”
Both Mattis and Pompeo said that, after carefully reviewing the intelligence, they could find no direct evidence linking Khashoggi’s murder to the crown
The Saudis have gone off the rails.They’ve killed more civilians this year than any year prior in the Yemen war. Chris Murphy, Democratic Senator
prince, who is also known as MBS.
“There is no smoking gun,” Mattis told Pentagon reporters, stressing he still believes those responsible should be punished.
“We have not changed, (in) that accountability for the murder is our expectation of everyone involved in the murder.”
Saudi Arabia has acknowledged the Washington Post columnist, a US resident, was killed inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in October but has blamed his death on a ‘rogue’ operation.
Trump last week called Saudi Arabia a ‘steadfast partner’ and said it was unclear whether MBS was aware of the plan to kill Khashoggi.
He has also cast doubt on the CIA’s reported conclusion that MBS was behind the killing.
Further debate and votes on the measure are expected next week.
Should it ultimately pass the Senate it would have little chance of clearing the House this year. But extended debate could serve as a powerful symbolic step – and allow lawmakers to address alternative paths in US-Saudi relations.
Peace talks aimed at ending the war in Yemen have been set for early December in Sweden, between Huthi rebels and the UNrecognised government.
Mattis and Pompeo worry a move to cut US support to the Saudis ahead of the summit is poorly timed and could embolden Huthis not to negotiate.
Senator Murphy, however, said Pompeo and Mattis’ testimony may have been counterproductive.
“They lost votes this morning. They just had no good answers for why Gina Haspel wasn’t there. They had no plan to end the war in Yemen,” he said. — AFP