Gareth Porter returns to the show to discuss his article for The American Conservative Magazine, “When Did Congress Vote to Aid the Saudi’s Yemen War?” Porter explains why, despite there being zero national security interest at stake, the U.S. is involved in the aerial war in Yemen. He and Scott then discuss the clearly misleading fatality figures which they suspect are being vastly underreported by the U.N. Porter then gets to the crux of his article: how members of Congress are attempting to use the War Powers act to end U.S. involvement in Yemen. Scott delves into the history of the War Powers Act and explains why it’s been utterly misinterpreted. Finally, Porter touches on the Saudi blockade which, with help from the U.S. Navy, is stopping needed supplies from arriving to help the desperate Yemenis.
Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.
Discussed on the show:
- “Quiet Support for Saudis Entangles U.S. in Yemen” (New York Times)
- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
- Houthis
- “‘It is not a war, it is kinetic military action’: National security adviser finally puts title on Libya” (The Daily Mail)
- “Bipartisan Group to Force Vote on U.S. Involvement in Yemen War” (The Intercept)
- The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)
- War Powers Act
- “Yemen cholera cases exceed half a million as civil war prevents effective aid” (The Independent)
- H.Con.Res.81
- “The Hurricanes You Control Vs. The Hurricanes You Don’t,” by Jason Ditz (The Daily Caller)
- “US involvement in the Yemen war just got deeper” (PRI.org)
- “The Houthis Are Not Hezbollah,” by Joost Hilterman (ForeignPolicy.com)
- Walter Jones
- Thomas Massie
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