Iran Press/ Middle East: The Senate voted Wednesday to begin debate on a measure that would end US military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, a historic step fueled by bipartisan outrage over the kingdom's role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, USA Today reported.
The 60-39 vote marks the first time Congress has held a full-fledged debate on invoking the War Powers Act, a Vietnam-era law designed to limit the president's power to start or escalate military engagement. Eleven Republicans broke with the Trump administration to support advancing the measure, including Sen. James Risch, the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who is usually a reliable ally of the president.
Unlike other bills, the measure is not subject to a filibuster, so it needs a simple 51-vote majority to pass.
“If we end up getting over 50 votes on a war powers resolution, that’s historic,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who sponsored the Yemen resolution with Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.
It would be the first time either the House or Senate “has ever used the war powers to pull the United States out of hostilities overseas,” Murphy said.
Senators may vote on a separate resolution, still in the works, naming Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, as responsible for Khashoggi's death.
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Khashoggi, 59, an outspoken critic of Mohammed bin Salman, disappeared after he entered the Saudi diplomatic mission in the Turkish city on October 2 to complete some paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.
After 18 days of silence and rejecting claims that Khashoggi was killed, the Saudi government finally bowed down to international pressure on October 20th and claimed the prominent journalist was killed in a fist-fight inside Istanbul consulate.
Recently, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Irfan Fidan said the ill-fated journalist had been strangled upon his arrival in the consulate, and then his body was dismembered and destroyed.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is working on the resolution that would implicate MBS. Wednesday, Corker said he would push for a vote on his proposal after the Yemen debate concluded.
Sanders said the war is "destroying" Yemen, noting that about 85,000 children have died of starvation because of the conflict.
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"What I hope today is that we send a loud and powerful message ... that we’re going to get out of Yemen (and) that we’re going to use our resources to bring peace to that country," he said.
The Senate defeated the Sanders-Lee-Murphy resolution this year, but the Khashoggi killing changed the political climate. Republicans and Democrats alike are eager to rebuke the kingdom, arguing that if the United States fails to do that, the crown prince and other autocratic rulers will see that as a green light to commit other extrajudicial killings to silence their critics.
Murphy said he hopes Trump's refusal to punish Saudi Arabia will spark a broader effort by Congress to reassert itself on foreign policy.
"We’ve been sitting in bipartisan meetings for the last week trying to find a way for Republicans and Democrats to reset American policy towards Saudi Arabia," he said. If the Yemen vote is successful, "maybe we can do that on other issues as well." 103/207
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