Trump wrong to escalate war in Yemen – Daily News
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced the United States would conduct an ongoing bombing campaign in Yemen against the Houthi movement. Call us old fashioned, but such an order should require an act of Congress, not just at the whim of whoever is in the White House.
Just one year ago, then-candidate Trump denounced President Joe Biden for bombing Yemen as “a failed mentality.”
“It’s crazy. You can solve problems over the telephone. Instead, they start dropping bombs. I see, recently, they’re dropping bombs all over Yemen. You don’t have to do that. You can talk in such a way where they respect you and they listen to you,” he told podcaster Tim Pool.
Yet, here we are. Dozens of people lost their lives, including, reportedly, children, as Trump does what he criticized Biden for doing.
He has also continued his saber-rattling, declaring on Monday, “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible.”
We look forward to the displays of mental gymnastics of the supposedly “anti-war” supporters of Trump to try and rationalize all of this.
But the plain fact is that Trump is as much of an abuser of American military might as his predecessors Biden and President Barack Obama.
Trump’s campaign in Yemen has drawn only some criticism so far. “I’ll say it again,” said former Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan on X. “It is unconstitutional for Pres. Trump to engage in acts of war in Yemen. It doesn’t matter how appropriate you think it is for the U.S. to take on Houthis or terrorists or anyone. Congress has not authorized war in Yemen. Engaging in war there is unlawful.”
While many supporters of the president then rushed to invoke the War Powers Resolution as empowering Trump to wage war as he pleases, Amash reminded people to read the actual text of the War Powers Resolution.
If they did, they would see the following, “The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”
None of those apply to Trump’s attacks in Yemen.
Further, as former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has reminded us, if Trump really wanted an “America first” foreign policy, he would keep America out of Middle East conflicts rather than be stuck in them.
Trump should stop becoming just another mindless war hawk and keep us out of conflicts we don’t need to be involved in.
