Behind closed doors, Mattis and Pompeo warned lawmakers that withholding support would damage the nascent diplomatic negotiations led by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, and could even increase civilian casualties by depriving Saudi Arabia of U.S.targeting expertise.
Mattis made the case briefly in his opening statement, calling it “a key point” that the U.S. is not “operationally involved in hostilities in Yemen’s civil war.”
“Our military efforts are in accordance with the War Powers Resolution’s provision that U.S. forces do not ‘command, coordinate, participate in the movement of, or accompany regular or irregular military forces of any foreign country or government when such military forces are engaged, or there exists an imminent threat that such forces will become engaged, in hostilities,’” he said.
The White House went even farther in a Wednesday statement, arguing that the “fundamental premise” of the resolution is flawed because ”United States forces are not engaged in hostilities between the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi forces in Yemen.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of the authors of the legislation, dismissed the notion that the United States is not engaged in hostilities in Yemen.
“Nobody in that room is buying the idea that what is happening in Yemen today doesn’t qualify as hostilities under the War Powers Act,” he told Defense One. “They admit that we are helping them select targets. We may not give the order but we are actively involved in helping the Saudis pick targets.”
“That is the definition of hostilities: picking who you kill and who you don’t kill.”
Murphy also dismissed the notion that defining U.S. activities in Yemen as “hostilities” under the War Powers Act would create a de facto principle that could improperly constrain the president’s authority in other partnered operations.
“It’s certainly an interesting case because it does call into question other relationships we have and whether that’s hostilities or not, but you would take these up on a case-by-case basis,” he said. “There no automatic precedent that gets set if you call this ‘hostilities,’ there is no process by which the administration would be bound by this vote.”
No matter its fate, the procedural vote on Wednesday was historic. Critics of military support to the Kingdom have for years sought to get legislation to the floor to curtail American involvement in the Yemen conflict. Republican leadership in the House shot down a similar effort just weeks ago.
The Trump administration, led by White House Senior Advisor and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, views Saudi Arabia as a key ally in its efforts to constrain Iran in Middle East and combat terror and has been reluctant to shift that relationship. In an extraordinary statement last week that sent shock waves rippling through Washington, the president reaffirmed the U.S.commitment to “standing with Saudi Arabia” even though “it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of” Khashoggi’s murder. The CIA, led by Haspel, has reportedly concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing, fueling speculation on Capitol Hill about why she was apparently not allowed to appear. (Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. said that “the most persuasive presence at this briefing was an empty chair.”)
But the international firestorm over the grisly killing helped stoke simmering frustration with mounting civilian deaths in Yemen’s civil war. In August, a U.S.-purchased bomb dropped by the Saudi coalition killed 40 school children on a bus; in the end, it was Haspel’s failure to appear that seemed to shift the political winds.
“This is B.S.,” Graham told reporters. “I want the CIA to brief me.”
***More:
https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/11/senate-rebukes-trump-historic-vote-curtail-support-saudi-yemen/153121/?oref=defenseone_today_nl
***Katie Bo Williams is the senior national security correspondent for Defense One, where she writes about defense, counterterror, NATO, nukes, and more. She previously covered intelligence and cybersecurity for The Hill, including in-depth reporting on the Russia investigations and military detention issues. Prior to her journalism career, Katie Bo worked in thoroughbred horse racing, helping breed, sell, and prepare the next generation of Kentucky Derby winners. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia. A native of Goochland County, Virginia, she now lives in D.C. and can usually be found haunting one of the various bookstores on Capitol Hill.