Some Wars Aren’t Our Wars

The editors of the New York Times reach the correct conclusion about Saudi Arabia’s war with Yemen:

The Saudis’ brutal campaign in Yemen has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with at least eight million people on the brink of famine, one million suspected of being infected with cholera and two million displaced from their homes. Legal and human rights experts say the killing of thousands of civilians and the humanitarian aid deprivations, most blamed on Saudi Arabia, could be war crimes in which the United States would be complicit.

The war began in 2014 when Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh took control of the capital, Sana, and much of the rest of the country. In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition, with President Barack Obama’s backing, launched blistering attacks, including thousands of airstrikes, against the Houthi-Saleh forces in support of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

While the war is effectively stalemated, Saudi Arabia’s rising new leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seems committed to a military victory despite the horrors caused by the fighting. He has been emboldened by Mr. Trump, who has been willing to sell the kingdom almost any new military hardware it wants.

As the Houthi missiles attest, Saudi Arabia is less secure now than when it began its air campaign three years ago. Only a peace agreement is likely to bring the fighting and the killings to an end.

Although neither Prince Mohammed nor Mr. Trump seem seriously interested, the United Nations is planning to put forward a new proposal to restart peace negotiations. Congress could improve the chance of success by cutting off military aid to Saudi Arabia and voting to bar the use of American troops against the Houthis in Yemen.

without addressing some of the key issues.

• President Obama’s drone war was enormously counter-productive. It relied too heavily on local intelligence for identifying targets which had the inevitable effect of making targets of anyone who opposed local governments. Not only was it illegal and immoral but it also had little or no effect in making us safer or punishing the perpetrators of the attacks on 9/11. It did, however, destabilize the government of Yemen.
• The Saudis have never produced any evidence that the Iranians were supporting the Houthi rebels prior to the Saudi attack other than their vague belief that all Shi’ites are in cahoots.
• The Saudis’ war is illegal and immoral.
• Far from supporting them we should be condemning them in the Security Council.

Some wars just aren’t our wars. Even if the Saudis are making a hash of it we should butt out.