Last
week, many celebrated the advancement of Senate Joint Resolution
(SJR) 54, which had been introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT),
as a sign that the U.S. Congress was finally willing to act to reduce
the U.S.’ culpability for the situation in Yemen, currently the
world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The
bill, which will be voted on by the Senate this week, has been
praised by many within the anti-war movement for its bid to “end”
U.S. military involvement in Yemen. Passage of the bill would,
however, do no such thing.
Much of
the media coverage of the bill has noted that the resolution invokes
the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which prohibits the president from
deploying U.S. troops into armed conflicts without congressional
approval. Though that resolution has been ignored many times since
its passage, particularly since the War on Terror began in 2001, SJR
54 has been promoted as a “progressive” effort to bring the U.S.’
military adventurism to heel at a time when Saudi Arabia — one of
the two countries leading the war against Yemen – is under
increased scrutiny.
Yet, the
text of the bill itself reveals that SJR 54 invokes the War Powers
Resolution in name only. Indeed, while the bill claims to be aimed at
achieving “the removal of United State Armed Forces from
hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by
Congress,” it contains a major loophole that will allow the
majority of U.S. troops in Yemen – if not all – to stay.
As the
bill states, it will require the president to remove troops “except
United States Armed Forces engaged in operations directed at al Qaeda
or associated forces.” Notably though, the only U.S. troops “on
the ground” in Yemen that are involved in “hostilities” (i.e.,
combat operations) are those that are allegedly involved in
operations targeting Al Qaeda — operations that the U.S. frequently
conducts jointly with the countries waging war against western Yemen,
such as the United Arab Emirates.
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report:
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