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MONTPELIER On the day after Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations widely seen as helpful to efforts to end the civil war in Yemen the Vermont Progressive Party State Committee unanimously endorsed resolutions calling on Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., to introduce legislation to permanently stop U.S. complicity in the Yemen war.

The resolution fell on the heels of Yemen war protests in Brattleboro, Burlington and Norwich, calling on Sanders, Balint and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., to introduce a new Yemen War Powers Resolution. Vermont protests were planned in coordination with similar protests across the country.

The Vermont Progressive Party calls on Vermonts congressional delegation to lead the way in reorienting U.S. foreign policy to peace and justice, prioritizing human life and global cooperation over domination and exploitation, the partys state committee resolved earlier this month. It further resolved: The Vermont Progressive Party calls on Sen. Bernie Sanders to reintroduce the Yemen War Powers Resolution in the U.S. Senate before the 8th anniversary of the war on March 25. Furthermore, the party calls on Rep. Becca Balint to co-lead the introduction of this resolution in the House before March 25th.

Olga Mardach-Duclerc, the chair of the Libertarian Party of Vermont, said her party urges Senator Sanders and the rest of the Vermont delegation to stand up to the warmongers in D.C., in true representation of the will of Vermonters, and reintroduce the Yemen War Powers Resolution. ... The Libertarian Party continues to call for an immediate end to U.S. support of genocide.

If the Yemen War Powers Resolution is brought to the floor for a vote, Congress could order the president to end U.S. participation in the conflict. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Sanders sponsored last years bipartisan bill, which was cosponsored by over 130 members of Congress.

Activists say starvation and disease are a daily presence in Yemen; millions of children are malnourished and two-thirds of the country is in need of humanitarian aid. Saudi Arabias blockade is said to drive the crisis. For example, almost no containerized goods have been able to enter Yemens principal port of Hodeida since 2017, depriving the Yemeni people of medical supplies and other essential goods.

The Saudi-led war on Yemen could not have started or continued, for eight years, without U.S. support. The war was announced from Washington, D.C., and it is time that its end is also announced from D.C., said Dr. Aisha Jumaan, founder and president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation.

Organizations that signed the call to protest the war included the foundation, the Yemeni Alliance Committee, About Face: Veterans Against War, Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, the Libertarian Institute, Avaaz, CODEPINK, Peace Action, United for Peace and Justice, Democratic Socialists of America International Committee, Womens League for International Peace and Freedom, U.S. section, among others.

Saturday will mark the eighth anniversary of the beginning of the Saudi-led coalitions bombing of Yemen. To mark the occasion, at noon that day, Action Corps will join Peace Action, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, Yemeni groups, and others from the U.S. and U.K. for an online rally to build momentum to end the war in Yemen. Confirmed speakers include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Dr. Shireen Al-Adeimi, and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis.

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Vermont's Progressive and Libertarian parties call for Yemen ... - Brattleboro Reformer