Washington 0
15 March 2019

Discussing a 13 March Senate vote against continued U.S. assistance to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Secretary Pompeo remarked that "we all want this conflict to end... but the Trump administration fundamentally disagrees that curbing our assistance to the Saudi-led coalition is the right way to achieve those goals". "If you truly care about Yemeni lives", Pompeo suggested, "you'd support the Saudi-led effort to prevent Yemen from turning into a puppet state of the corrupt, brutish Islamic Republic of Iran. If we truly care about Saudi lives, you'd want to stop Iran-backed Huthis from launching missiles into Riyadh. If you truly care about Arab lives in the region, you'd support allied efforts to prevent Iran from extending its authoritarian rule from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea and on down to Yemen. And if we truly care about American lives and livelihoods, and the lives and livelihoods of people all around the world, you'd understand that Iran and its proxies cannot be allowed to control the shipping lanes that abut Yemen". "The way to alleviate the Yemeni people's suffering", he went on to argue, "isn't to prolong the conflict by handicapping our partners in the fight, but by giving the Saudi-led coalition the support needed to defeat Iranian-backed rebels and ensure a just peace". 

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