The Biden administration announced an end to US support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. This is in larger part thanks to the constant activism and mobilization of peace groups around the US. Guest host Greg Wilpert talked to Hassan el Tayyab, the Legislative Manager for Middle East Policy of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, shortly before the announcement was made. He outlines the background of the war, the history of US support, what an end to US support would mean, and what further steps need to be taken to put an end to the devastation in Yemen.

Transcript

Welcome to the Analysis News podcast. I'm your guest host, Greg Wilpert. On Thursday, February 4th, President Joe Biden announced that the United States will withdraw its support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. The announcement comes five years after the Obama administration began supporting the effort, which was continued throughout the Trump administration. The war in Yemen, led by Saudi Arabia in coalition with eight other Arab states, represents the world's most serious humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

So far, the war has cost 230000 deaths, most of them from indirect causes such as lack of access to food, health services and infrastructure. 24 million Yemenis depend on food assistance. The U.S. supported the effort by supplying Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with tens of billions of dollars in advanced weaponry, mid-air refueling capacity and bomb targeting. The outgoing Trump administration made the situation even worse when it declared the government in Yemen to be a foreign terrorist organization, a declaration that took effect only one day before Biden's inauguration.

Greg Wilpert

I conducted the following interview with Hassan El Tayyab a few days before the Biden administration announced with the withdrawal of U.S. support for the war effort, even though the announcement will significantly change the course of the war. I believe that the issues we discuss in this interview, such as the sanctions, the foreign terrorist organization designation and the importance of a new War Powers Act resolution are still valid. Hassan is the legislative manager for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, which has been spearheading the effort for Congress to invoke the War Powers Act resolution with regard to the U.S. support for the war in Yemen. Thanks for joining me, Hassan.

Hassan El Tayyab

Thanks so much for having me, Greg.

Greg Wilpert

So, before we get into the latest developments, let's go over what's brought us here so far, that is with regard to the war in Yemen. Briefly, what's the U.S. involvement been like and what has Congress done and how did all of this get started?

Hassan El Tayyab

Yeah, thank you so much. It's a really it's a really horrible thing that's going on in Yemen right now. It's the world's worst humanitarian crisis on the planet and what the U.N. considers the worst place in the world to be a child. This started in 2011 when the Arab Spring took, you know, spread all over the Middle East, including Yemen. And the people nonviolently ousted the then president dictator, President Saleh and Saleh, you know, was allowed to stay in Yemen and move around freely.

Hassan El Tayyab

And they appointed a Hadi to be the interim president as they move to a more representative form of government. There's you know, it's kind of complex. There was corruption charges. There is still a lot of poverty. And the the Houthis rose up and ousted President Hadi with the help of the former President Saleh.