CODEPINK & Roots Action & Middle East Monitor – 2019-01-23 23:47:52
https://www.codepink.org/greennewdeal
ACTION ALERT:
Tell the Democrats to Exit Syria
CODEPINK
(January 20, 2019) — Ever since Trump announced US withdrawal from Syria, the forces of war have been having a temper tantrum, trying to reverse the decision. Their latest attempt is a vote to fast track legislation to impose new levels of sanctions with unrealistic conditions that would have to be met before the penalties could be suspended.
H.R. 31, the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act, sponsored by Democrat Eliot Engel, would make it even more difficult to negotiate a ceasefire agreement and reach a diplomatic settlement to the long and bloody conflict.
House “suspension” fast-track procedures are supposed to be used only for “noncontroversial” legislation. But fast track consideration of this bill is nothing short of an attempt to keep us in Syria. Insisting that the US must stay in Syria forever is anything but “noncontroversial.”
The only way to end the carnage in Syria is through a political solution, not by sanctions that hurt the people. Rather than imposing new sanctions and appealing to Trump to continue military involvement, Congress should take every opportunity to encourage a UN-led political negotiation process.
The people of Syria need constructive proposals for resolving one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our times.
Towards peace across the world,
Medea and the entire CODEPINK team: Ann, Ariel, Brienne, Carley, Caroline, Jodie, Kelly, Kirsten, Lily, Mark, Nancy, Paki, Ryan, Sarah, Tighe and Ursula
ACTION ALERT:
Tell Congress to End the Yemen War
And Save 24 Million Lives
Roots Action
(January 21, 2019) — Last month, on December 13th, the US Senate voted to end US participation in the war on Yemen by a vote of 56 to 41. But the House passed a bill, by a three-vote margin, that included a ban on taking such a vote in 2018.
Now it’s 2019. The House is led by a different party. We’ve heard a lot about there being a new Congress in town. Yet weeks have gone by without a new vote on Yemen — while the Pentagon continues to provide major help to the Saudi-led slaughter of Yemeni people.
In recent weeks, the Saudi murder of a US journalist has faded from the headlines, but the mass killing in Yemen has continued. Meanwhile, US claims to not be training UAE forces for the war on Yemen have been disproven.
Yemen continues to be the worst humanitarian disaster on earth, with tens of thousands dead and far worse looming if action is not taken. A ceasefire in the key port of Hodeida is encouraging, but the World Health Organization (WHO) just reported that 24.4 million Yemenis, 80 percent of the country, are in need of humanitarian assistance, millions of children are suffering, and 16.6 million people lack water and sanitation services.
“While Yemen is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world,” WHO reports, “the situation is getting worse year by year.”
As in other recent US wars in the Middle East, a result is increased terrorism. Along the way, the US and its allies have in fact sometimes partnered with Al Qaeda. A primary US ally in the region is, of course, Saudi Arabia, a government whose brutality and violence can match that of any entity on earth.
Congress has swallowed enough lies and empty promises from the White House and Pentagon. If this Congress is even the slightest bit more humanitarian than the last one, it will end the US role in the war on Yemen immediately, an action which would make it difficult for Saudi Arabia to continue the war alone. Every moment counts.
ACTION: Click here to email your Representative and Senators to demand a new vote. Please forward this to everyone you can and ask them to do the same.
P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former US Senator James Abourezk, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.
WHO: 24.4 Million in Yemen Need Humanitarian Assistance
Middle East Monitor
(January 18, 2019) — The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that 24.4 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance, 80 per cent of the country’s 28-million-strong population.
Writing on Twitter, the WHO said that “while Yemen is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, the situation is getting worse year by year. By the end of 2018, 24.4 million Yemenis — 80% of the total population — were in need of humanitarian assistance”.
On Sunday, the WHO announced that millions of Yemeni children continue to suffer in what has been called the greatest humanitarian crisis ever, pointing out that 45 per cent of health facilities in the country are out of service. Further, 16.6 million people lack water and sanitation services.
For nearly four years, Yemen has witnessed fierce fighting between forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Houthi militants, who control several provinces including the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
