U.S. Should Use Its Leverage to End the War in Yemen

The scenes from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are heart-rending — the bombing of hospitals and civilian neighborhoods, the killing of children by Russian forces, and the driving of millions of Ukrainians from their homes. The carnage in Ukraine has rightly sparked an international coalition to stop the destruction and roll back the Russian invasion.

There is another conflict where the aggressor nation has bombed hospitals, civilian neighborhoods, basic infrastructure, a funeral, a wedding, and even a school bus, causing thousands of civilian casualties in the process — the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which marks its seventh anniversary later this month. But unlike Ukraine, the United States has done more to enable the conflict in Yemen than it has to end it.

It is hard to overstate the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the intervention of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. There have been at least 18,000 civilian casualties caused by coalition airstrikes, and a Saudi air and naval blockade has severely limited the import of fuel and humanitarian aid. Almost 400,000 people have died from direct and indirect causes since the start of the war. A Jan. 21 Saudi airstrike on a detention center in the northern part of the country killed at least 91 people and wounded 226 others.

As soon as he took office, President Joe Biden pledged to do all he could to end the Yemen war. In his first foreign policy speech as president, he promised to end support for “offensive operations in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”

Read the full article in Stars and Stripes.