US Congresswoman Renews Call to End Support for Saudi Arabia

Local Editor

Member of the US Congress and Representative Tulsi Gabbard renewed calls on Thursday to end support for Saudi Arabia.

Speaking on the House floor, Gabbard urged Congress to end support for Riyadh’s “genocidal war in Yemen”.

“Congress must […] exercise our constitutional authority over matters of war and stop putting profits of the military-industrial complex before the lives of the American people and people around the world,” the lawmaker said in a speech in recognition of 100 days since the murder of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“They spend billions of dollars spreading the extreme Wahhabi Salafist ideology that fuels terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda around the world,” she said. “Saudi Arabia is not our friend.”

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing Hadi’s regime back to power and crushing the country’s Ansarullah movement.

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.

According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team