WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – White House advisers recommended on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump veto a resolution to end Washington’s support for the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen.
The White House statement of administration policy came as the U.S. Senate prepared to vote on the matter, one of several efforts by lawmakers to push Trump to toughen his policy toward the kingdom.
Backers of the resolution, who include some of Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, said they are optimistic about its chances of passing the Senate.
However, the Senate’s Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, denounced the war powers resolution on Wednesday as he opened the Senate, calling it "inappropriate and counterproductive.”
The White House warned last year that Trump would veto the resolution even if the measure passed the Democratic-controlled House.
The brutal murder of Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul has served as a boost to the lawmakers' resolve to take on the Saudi royal family, which has a very close connection with Trump.
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.
The US along with some Western countries are complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.