U.S. Senate Paves the Way for Resolution to End Military Support for Saudi Coalition

On Wednesday, December 12, U.S. Senate representatives voted positively to pave the way for the approval of a resolution to end U.S. military support for the Saudi coalition in the Yemen war. According to Reuters, American senators also promised to impose sanctions against Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, on the same day, the House of Representatives approved an amendment that blocks any resolution against military cooperation with Saudi Arabia in Yemen until the end of this month. Eleven Republican senators joined Democrats to secure the 60 votes needed to consider a resolution in the Senate. This vote was conducted under Senate rules and opened the way for the consideration of the resolution to end military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and to vote on it. President Donald Trump had previously warned that he would veto such a resolution. On the same day, an amendment was passed in the House of Representatives that blocks the approval of any resolution calling for the cessation of U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition this year. The Republican Party holds a majority in the House, with only 18 members voting against this amendment. The amendment was passed with 206 votes in favor and 203 against. According to Reuters, those U.S. senators who voted positively for this resolution stated that Wednesday's vote sends a message that the U.S. Senate is unhappy with the humanitarian disaster in Yemen and is angry about the lack of a decisive response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government. According to this report, both Democratic and Republican senators have stated that in the coming month, January 2019, when the new Senate session begins, they will take severe sanction actions against Saudi Arabia. These sanctions will include human rights sanctions and arms sales restrictions. Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, stated in a press conference that if you want to buy weapons from us, you must accept certain commitments. How you use these weapons matters. This Republican senator emphasized that a person, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who is so toxic, weak, and deceitful, that I cannot imagine I can have relations with Saudi Arabia as long as he is in power, unless there is a change there. Lindsey Graham had previously held Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, responsible for Khashoggi's murder, stating, 'It is harmful for the United States to cooperate with Mohammed bin Salman and the regime of murderers.' Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post and a critic of the Saudi Crown Prince, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to register his marriage but never left the building. The murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has pointed fingers at Mohammed bin Salman, which Riyadh vehemently denies despite substantial evidence.