Congressman Campaigns to “Stop the Madness” of U.S. Support for Saudi Bombing in Yemen

[AZJoe]

Congressman Campaigns to “Stop the Madness” of U.S. Support for Saudi Bombing in Yemen
https://theintercept.com/2016/08/22/...bing-in-yemen/

Ted Lieu, a Democrat representing Los Angeles County, served in the Air Force and is a colonel in the Air Force Reserves. The brutal bombing of civilian areas with U.S.-supplied planes and weapons has led him to act when most of his colleagues have stayed silent.

“I taught the law of war when I was on active duty,” he told The Intercept. “You can’t kill children, newlyweds, doctors and patients — those are exempt targets under the law of war, and the coalition has been repeatedly striking civilians,” he said. “So it is very disturbing to me. It is even worse that the U.S. is aiding this coalition.” … “Many in Congress have been hesitant to criticize the Saudis’ operational conduct in Yemen,” …

On August 13, the coalition bombed a school in Haydan, Yemen, … “The indiscriminate civilian killings by Saudi Arabia look like war crimes to me. In this case, children as young as 8 were killed by Saudi Arabian air strikes,” he wrote. “By assisting Saudi Arabia, the United States is aiding and abetting what appears to be war crimes in Yemen,” Lieu added. “The administration must stop enabling this madness now.” … mere minutes after his office sent out the statement … The coalition had just bombed a hospital operated by the international medical humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders … That was the fourth MSF medical facility that the Saudi-led coalition … has bombed in the past year in Yemen. …

The Saudi-led coalition had just bombed two weddings, killing more than 150 Yemenis. … “No progress has been made, tragically,” Lieu said. “A year after we first began seeing reports of widespread Saudi-led coalition bombings on civilians, the coalition is still bombing schools and hospitals.” … The State Department never responded to his requests. …

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented a slew of war crimes committed by the coalition. Both released reports on incidents in which the coalition bombed civilian areas with cluster bombs that were manufactured in the U.S., U.K., and Brazil. …

A report released by a U.N. panel … documented “that the coalition had conducted air strikes targeting civilians and civilian objects, in violation of international humanitarian law, including camps for internally displaced persons and refugees; civilian gatherings, including weddings; civilian vehicles, including buses; civilian residential areas; medical facilities; schools; mosques; markets, factories and food storage warehouses; and other essential civilian infrastructure, such as the airport in Sana’a, the port in Hudaydah and domestic transit routes.” …

In June, Lieu … joined Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., in introducing H.J. Res. 90, a bill that would bar the transfer of air-to-ground munitions from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia. Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., have also been critical of U.S. support for the bombing, and introduced the Senate companion to the legislation, S.J. Res. 32. Both of the bills were referred to their respective chambers’ foreign affairs committees, where they still sit.

On Aug. 8, the U.S. State Department announced to Congress that it had approved a $1.15 billion sale … to the kingdom – on top of the approximately $110 billion in arms deals the Obama administration has done in the past. …

“The United States is complicit in this carnage. It has enabled the coalition in many ways.” … “Experts say the coalition would be grounded if Washington withheld its support.” …

“By aiding a coalition that is killing civilians, the U.S. is going to create another generation of people who hate the U.S. and who are going to want to do very bad things to us,” he said.

[enhanced_deficit]

As a nation of free traders and capitalists... we have to deliver them the goods if they have paid the prices.

[Origanalist]

I support his resolution but he should be run out of office for his gun grabbing proclivities. He would protect those sabroad from our government while leaving those at home defenseless.