US political analyst to ST: Senate needs to draft a bill to withdraw all US forces from all conflict zones

The American Author and geopolitical analyst Dean Henderson has said that the US Senate needs to draft a comprehensive bill which calls for the withdrawal of all US forces from all conflict zones, including Syria.

His remark was made during his interview with the Syria Times e-newspaper about the resolutions passed by the US Senate to end US backing for Saudi war on Yemen.

The US analyst has made it clear that the reason of the 56-41 vote to end military assistance to the Saudi destruction of Yemen lies in the second resolution which the Senate passed in a unanimous vote, “to hold  Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia personally responsible for the death of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi”. 

“The butchering of Khashoggi has shown the world the barbaric nature of the House of Saud, which some of us have been documenting for decades. It could be a watershed event in a shifting geopolitical arena,” Henderson said, indicating that Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders co-sponsored the bill and called Yemen the world’s biggest humanitarian disaster.

“Sanders called the Saudis a “despotic government”,” the analyst added, asserting that the US president Donald Trump will be forced to end US backing for Saudi war on Yemen by the bipartisan popularity of this measure nationwide.

“If the US president vetoes it, the Senate would need only four more votes (60) to override the veto…. If Trump goes against the Senate, finding those votes will get easier,” Henderson stated.

He reckons that the US will stop providing Saudi Arabia with arms since it is a powerful bipartisan group of senior Senators proposing it.

“Sanders nearly became the Democratic nominee for President. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Georgia Republican Lindsay Graham chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Graham (R-GA) said, “We get 9% of our oil from Saudi Arabia. They need us a lot more than we need them,” the analyst said.

He concluded by saying: “The Senate needs to draft a comprehensive bill which calls for the withdrawal of all US forces from all conflict zones, followed by the closure of the vast majority of US military bases in the world. The Congress surrendered their Constitutionally-mandated war powers to the executive branch long ago. They need to reassert this duty and show leadership. The bipartisanship is especially surprising and could make these things possible.

Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour