Jack Reed's other excuse for starving Yemeni children

Use the Demand Progress number to tell Jack Reed to end the Yemen war:

202-899-8938

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Yesterday I responded to one of Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed’s excuses for continuing to enable the starvation of Yemeni children by the Saudi regime: there’s no point in trying to cut off U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen in the National Defense Authorization Act, Jack Reed claims, because Trump might veto the bill. I noted that it is extremely unlikely that Trump will veto the NDAA because the NDAA “funds the troops,” and it would be extremely bad press for Trump to veto the bill that “funds the troops” over a stubborn desire to keep helping the Saudi regime starve Yemeni children to death. I also noted that even if Trump did veto the NDAA, the Earth would not stop spinning on its axis. It would just be another round in the negotiation between Congress and Trump over the provisions of the bill. At the end of the day, Congress is going to fund the Pentagon and its contractors in a bill that Trump will sign. Who believes that Congress and Trump won’t eventually come to an agreement so that Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin can keep gorging themselves on our tax dollars? Be serious. 

Today we will consider another Jack Reed excuse for not doing his job: “Now that the UAE is pulling out of the war, the Saudis will have to end the war anyway.”  

It is certainly true that even if Congress does nothing, the war will eventually end. Wars don’t go on forever. Its war in Yemen is costing the Saudi regime money and it’s costing the Saudi regime business deals. In a wide swath of humanity, its war and blockade in Yemen have made the Saudi regime politically radioactive. 

But this sort of “therapeutic nihilism” is not how Members of the United States Congress, whose salaries we pay with our tax dollars, are supposed to view their Constitutional responsibilities. The NDAA is a unique opportunity to end the war. The next such opportunity will come roughly twelve months from now. Twelve months is a long time to continue enabling the Saudi regime to starve Yemeni children to death. 

The UAE isn’t pulling out of the war because they recently had a spiritual conversion experience. They’re pulling out of the war because of international pressure. “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” The Emiratis are tired of being blamed for helping enable the Saudi bombing and blockade. The Emiratis care more than the Saudi regime does about their international reputation. If you’re watching Serena Williams play tennis in the U.S. Open, you may have noticed the words “Emirates Airlines” over her shoulder as she prepares to serve. Emirates Airlines is wholly owned by the UAE government. Every time you see those words, you’re watching an ad for the UAE government, like the swoosh on Serena Williams’ jersey is an advertisement for Nike. A government spending money to advertise itself in the U.S. Open is a government that cares more about its international reputation than the Saudi regime does. 

Every movement in the Trump Administration’s involvement in the Saudi war on Yemen came about as a result of Congressional pressure. The Trump Administration “voluntarily” stopped refueling Saudi warplanes bombing Yemen just before the Senate voted to prohibit it. Now the Trump Administration is talking about opening talks with the Houthis to end the war. Why is this happening now? Because Congress is poised to end the war if it includes the House-passed Smith-Khanna-Schiff-Jayapal amendment in the NDAA that is sent to Trump. 

Have you ever helped organize a union? I helped organize three of them. Here’s a pattern: when the boss thinks the union is on the cusp of organizing a majority of the workers, Mr. Mean may suddenly become Mr. Nice. You guys don’t need a union. We can solve all our problems by Working Together. The boss is trying to pick off enough swing voters to defeat the union organizing drive. If the union organizing drive is defeated, Mr. Mean will soon return. 

This is what will happen if Congress passes up its unique opportunity to end the Yemen war on NDAA. The Trump Administration will lose interest in ending the war through diplomacy. The war will drag on for another year. And the Saudi regime will starve more Yemeni children to death. 

Call Jack Reed now at 202-899-8938. This phone number, set up by Demand Progress, connects you first to Jack Reed’s DC office, then to his two Rhode Island offices in succession, finally to the office of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Of course you can stop whenever you want. A script is suggested that you can follow. Here’s what I said when I made my calls:

“I’m calling to urge that Senator Reed ensure that the NDAA that is sent to Trump includes the Smith-Khanna-Schiff amendment to end U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen that passed the House.” 

Only one of the four people I talked to asked for my “address in Rhode Island.” I cheerfully gave my address in Illinois. The staffer accepted it without complaint. 

A good thing about using the Demand Progress number — 202-899-8938 - is that it allows Demand Progress to say that X number of people have called Reed and told him to end the war on NDAA. The last I heard, Reed’s office was getting fifty calls a day. Let’s try to get that up to a hundred. Please also report your call in the comments below this post, to help inspire others to call. Then please share the post. 

Thanks for all you do to help U.S. foreign policy become more just,

Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy

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