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Rand Paul: Unconstitutional Saudi War in Yemen Is Not In Our Interest, Congress Should Vote

Rand Paul: Unconstitutional Saudi War in Yemen Is Not In Our Interest, Congress Should Vote
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Local Editor

Last week, on the Senate floor, Senator Rand Paul [R-KY] called out US participation in the Saudi war in Yemen.


Rand Paul: Unconstitutional Saudi War in Yemen Is Not In Our Interest, Congress Should Vote

Senator Paul affirmed that US participation in Saudi Arabia's Yemen war has never been authorized by Congress - in violation of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution - and demanded that Congress vote on it:

We're at war in Yemen. We are aiding and abetting the Saudi war in Yemen. And yet they're been no vote on it. 17 million people live on the edge of starvation, because of the Saudi blockade and bombing campaign. We are aiding and abetting that, and yet there's been no vote here in Congress.

Paul further charged that US participation in the Saudi war in Yemen is not in the interests of Americans, but is in fact harmful to the interests of Americans:

Does anybody in America think that the war in Yemen is in our vital interest? Most people don't know where Yemen is, much [less] think it's in our vital interests. Guess what? The war in Yemen may actually be opposed to our vital national interest. It may be making it worse.

He also charged that US support for Saudi Arabia's war has fueled the world's worst outbreak of cholera and help push 17 million people to the edge of starvation:

17 million people, as we speak, live on the edge of starvation. 17 million people! They're having the largest outbreak of cholera. Where's most of this happening? Where's most of starvation, most of the killing, most of the cholera? It's in areas that are being bombed by the Saudis. They have bombed the infrastructure into ruins, and there is no clean water. So you have cholera being spread. War is probably the most common and most important precipitating factor in humanitarian disasters. If you look at humanitarian disasters around the world, you'll find the number one cause is war. And Yemen was already a poor place to begin with. But you're fighting the war and nobody asked your permission. You're fighting a war in Yemen through the proxy of Saudi Arabia and no-one has asked my permission...we have no business in Yemen. We've not voted to go to war in Yemen.

The Saudis bombed a funeral procession. A funeral procession! Of civilians! They killed 150 people and they wounded 500. Do you think they're ever going to forget about it? ... They will talk about the day the Saudis came and bombed civilians. And they will also say in the next breath, guess who gave them the bombs? The Americans. Guess who helped guide the planes? Guess who refueled the planes in the air? The Americans refueled the Saudis the day they came to bomb a funeral procession. So in the end we killed a hundred and fifty people...Well, do you think we killed 150 and that's the end of it? Or do you think those who are wounded that survived went back to their villages tell every one of their neighbors and everyone in the village about the day the Saudis came with the American bombs? So we have to ask ourselves, are we making things better? Is Yemen in our vital national interest? Are we making things better or are we making things worse? Is there a possibility that we lead to such chaos, that al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula rises up and becomes a real threat to us?

Source: The Huffington Post, Edited by website team

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