Briefing: New Analysis on Impact of US Military Support to Saudi-led Coalition's War on Yemen
Channel: Demand Progress
Date: 2022-06-30

Panelists:

Hassan El-Tayyab – Legislative Director for Middle East Policy, Friends Committee on National Legislation (moderator)
Shireen Al-Adeimi – Yemeni activist and Michigan State University professor
Priyanka Motaparthy – Director, Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict, and Human Rights Project, Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School
Tony Wilson – Founder and Director, Security Force Monitor
Marcus Stanley – Advocacy Director, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft


Event Description:
 
New analysis by The Washington Post and Security Force Monitor at Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute (SFM) provides the most complete picture yet of the depth and breadth of U.S. support for the Saudi-led air campaign, revealing that a substantial portion of the air raids were carried out by jets developed, maintained and sold by U.S. companies, and by pilots who were trained by the U.S. military. This panel features the authors of the groundbreaking study.

In Yemen, a fragile UN-brokered truce has temporarily succeeded in pausing Saudi airstrikes, which had escalated dramatically in late 2021 and early 2022. However, efforts to ease the Saudi aerial and naval blockade on food, fuel, medicine, and travel remain tenuous. In May, Reps. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Nancy Mace (SC-01), and Adam Schiff (CA-27) introduced H.J.Res.87, a Yemen War Powers Resolution to end U.S. participation in the Saudi-led coalition's war and blockade in Yemen. The resolution has over 85 bipartisan cosponsors. 

This report and legislation come as the Biden administration has announced a Middle East trip that includes a controversial stop in Saudi Arabia and an expected meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), despite previous campaign promises to make Saudi Arabia "a pariah."
 
At this event, panelists will: offer insights on new analysis of the depth and breadth of US support for the Saudi air campaign in Yemen; updates on the war and blockade, the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and the US's role; highlight stories from the ground in Yemen; analyze the Biden administration's policies; and offer perspectives on what role Congress can play in ending extending the truce and ending U.S. involvement in the war.