KT edit: Trump is right on Yemen veto

What Democratic lawmakers in the US fail to understand is this: Yemen is a problem caused by Iran which requires an Arab solution.

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Published: Wed 17 Apr 2019, 7:45 PM

Last updated: Wed 17 Apr 2019, 9:46 PM

The US Congress resolution to end the country's role in Yemen's war was plain folly. President Donald Trump was right in vetoing it as the House failed to take into consideration that the conflict in the country is stoked by an enemy who is playing the sectarian game. There are no active US troops on the ground in Yemen that is fighting to get rid of the Houthi rebels. Millions have been displaced and thousands have died in the fighting that began more than three years ago when the Houthis ousted the government. The Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE are pushing back Iran's proxy from strategic locations, and hopes for peace are rising with the UN's special envoy Martin Griffiths and his team making good progress in their endeavour to get the process of talks moving. A pullback deal for the port city of Hodeidah has also been reached.
What Democratic lawmakers in the US fail to understand is this: Yemen is a problem caused by Iran which requires an Arab solution. The US has provided logistical support to the Arab coalition that has put boots on the ground. That's what traditional partners do against a common foe - offer moral and logistical support. The US president has used his veto powers twice so far. On the first occasion, it was to block a resolution by Democrats opposing his proposal for a border wall along Mexico. That decision was controversial but not without merit. Tuesday's Yemen veto was necessary because a section of lawmakers were unable to sift fact from fiction in the Middle East, or closed their eyes to the security situation in the region. So here's the fact: Iran is the aggressor and Arab countries are fighting to take back what is theirs.
Trump said the resolution is "unnecessary" because US forces are not "commanding, participating in, or accompanying military forces of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis in hostilities in or affecting Yemen." An override of the president's veto in the GOP-controlled Senate is unlikely and House speaker Nancy Pelosi urged the president to put "peace before politics." For the Middle East those are empty words which show a lack of awareness about Gulf countries' concerns on the Iran threat. The Obama administration tried in vain to bring Tehran from the cold with the (now defunct) nuclear deal. Iran used the opportunity to accelerate its missile proliferation while reactivating its proxies in the region. Yemen is where the regime has been countered militarily and directly by the Arab coalition. US economic sanctions have begun to hurt the regime. It's time to finish the job and not get bogged down by silly resolutions.
 


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