The US Holds the Power to End the War in Yemen
It’s time they use it.
The Yemeni civil war is the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Since its onset in 2014, the conflict has killed over 377,000 people, 70% of which are children under five. Projections show that if the conflict continues until 2030, the death toll will reach 1.3 million. Over 9 million Yemeni people will suffer from malnutrition and over 22 million will be living in poverty. The United States holds the power to end this conflict. It’s time they use it.
Conflict in Yemen began in 2014, when the Houthi rebels, representing the country’s Shia Muslim minority, launched an uprising against President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The Houthis won control of northern Yemen and made their way south to the capital, Sanaa. Saudi Arabia, as well as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sudan, and other Sunni-majority countries, feared the expansion of a militant Shia group with close ties to Iran. The Saudi Arabian-led coalition began an air campaign aimed to quickly defeat the rebels.
Over the past seven years, however, the coalition and the Houthis have been in a dead-locked civil war. Although the Saudi-led coalition has been able to push the Houthis out of the capital, they have been unable to regain control of northern Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition air strikes and combat with the Houthis has been responsible for 40% of the deaths in Yemen. The majority of the deaths have been caused by the Saudi-led land, sea, and air blockades surrounding Yemen, designed to prevent Iranian weapons from reaching the Houthis. Unfortunately, the blockade has also prevented aid, food, and medicine from reaching Yemeni civilians. Saudi Arabia also transfers American weapons to terrorist groups and militant factions across Yemen, including al-Qaeda, further destabilizing the Arabian peninsula.
Despite multiple rounds of U.N.-backed peace negotiations, fighting has not deescalated. Ceasefire negotiations fail because Saudi Arabia has little incentive to make concessions and refuses to lift the blockade. Even in instances where ceasefire negotiations have been successful, Saudi Arabia has broken the agreement shortly after.
The United States has the power to force the Saudi-led coalition to stop the air campaign, lift the blockade, and begin good-faith negotiations with the Houthis. The United States and its NATO allies are responsible for nearly all of the arms sold to Saudi Arabia and its allies. Saudi Arabia does not have the ability to domestically manufacture its own military supplies. Despite promising to “end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen,” during his campaign, President Biden has done the opposite. He has continued arms sales to the coalition, and recently approved a large sale of fighter jets to the UAE. American weapons have been used in over 90 illegal strikes aimed at civilians, making the United States complicit in Saudi Arabia’s war crimes.
Halting weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and its allies, at least until they implement a genuine peace deal with the Houthis, is the only way to resolve the conflict without hundreds of thousands more deaths. A US arms embargo would end servicing for Saudi Arabia’s aircraft, immediately grounding the air campaign. The United States also provides the coalition with the necessary supplies to maintain its blockade surrounding Yemen. By withdrawing support for Saudi Arabia, not only would Biden save thousands of civilians from being killed in airstrikes, but he can also force Saudi Arabia to the negotiating table. With a grounded air force and no supplies for the blockade, the coalition will be forced to make concessions to the Houthis, creating the first chance for a lasting peace in Yemen.
Although some worry that concessions to the Houthis will allow Iranian expansion and threaten Israel, these concerns are overblown. The Houthis are not Iranian proxies. American support for the coalition has forced the Houthis to turn to Iran out of necessity, not out of shared ideological or religious ties. The Houthis have repeatedly ignored Iran, such as when they took Sanaa despite explicit Iranian advice not to. Although there are legitimate reasons to fear Houthi expansion given their violent history and extremist ideologies, continued support for the coalition will not eliminate the Houthis. Rather, the best hope for peace on the Arabian Peninsula is for Saudi Arabia and its allies to engage in good-faith negotiations with the Houthis.
