March 14, 2019 10:16 AM UTC

Gardner Votes To Let Saudis Keep Bombing Yemen

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Denver Post’s Justin Wingerter reports:

Colorado’s U.S. senators split Wednesday over whether to end America’s involvement in Yemen’s civil war.

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Denver Democrat considering running for president in 2020, voted in favor of a resolution ending assistance to Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Yuma Republican, voted against the resolution, which passed the Senate 54-46…

After Democrats took control this year, the House passed a similar measure in February, with only one Colorado member, Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, opposed to the resolution. Two other Colorado Republicans, Reps. Scott Tipton of Cortez and Ken Buck of Windsor, joined all four Colorado Democrats in support of that resolution.

First of all, it’s universally expected that President Donald Trump will veto this resolution once it reaches his desk, and based on the vote in the Senate there aren’t enough votes to overturn that veto. But two factors combine to make this a morally questionable position for Sen. Cory Gardner to take–the growing condemnation of civilian casualties in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen’s ongoing civil war, and anger over the role of the Saudi crown prince and government in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Like so many other hot-button issues Gardner has tried to have it both ways on relations with Saudi Arabia, claiming support for an investigation into Khashoggi’s death but unwilling to back up that concern with criticism of Saudi Arabia that might jeopardize relations with our “key ally”–let alone votes that might actually motivate the Saudis to be more forthcoming, like voting to end support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.

It looks like once again the action to match Sen. Gardner’s lip service will have to wait for another day.