A serial code found among the death and debris

The villagers of Arhab were celebrating. They’d just struck water on a new well when a precision-guided missile detonated — 31 died, many more were maimed.

The serial code found among the death and debris showed the missile’s origin: Tucson, Arizona.

This missile ONLY landed in Yemen because for *five* years the United States has given the greenlight to the Saudi and UAE war there: approving arms sales, fueling fighter jets, and providing intelligence. And it gets worse: just days ago the Trump administration upped the ante, announcing plans to sell 7,500 MORE bombs to Saudi Arabia — including the very same kind that devastated Arhab.

The U.S. government is directly culpable for helping create the world’s largest humanitarian disaster and in 2021, we’re doubling down on every single strategy we’ve got to ensure this ENDS: piling pressure on Congress and the new administration, using constant and creative tactics to keep Yemen in the headlines, taking Yemeni voices to D.C. so decision makers hear the devastating impact directly, and more.

It'll be a HUGE lift for our small team of 12 — even longer hours, early morning meetings, and late-night calls to Congress — but we know this is what it takes, so we want to be ready.

The U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen is nothing short of a disaster. The weapons built in the United States, approved by the U.S. government, and delivered by U.S. military transportation are regularly used to commit apparent war crimes, have repeatedly fallen into the hands of violent non-state actors, and have served only to prolong the conflict. 

The only way to end the war in Yemen is a peace deal, and there’s no question that’s a tough ask. The incoming Biden administration seems to get the urgency and importance of making this happen, but there are two huge obstacles in their way.

First, a Trump administration that in its final days in office has stopped at nothing to continue to arm Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while removing any pretense for holding them accountable. Second, are the morally and literally corrupt arms dealers who know peace is bad for their business.

These multi-billion dollar companies, and the politicians they’ve spent millions in donations courting, are what we’re up against. But TWICE in 2018 we took on this David and Goliath battle and won, only to be vetoed by President Trump. Our next step is to ensure the next administration follows through on President-elect Biden’s promise to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen, but it won’t be easy.

It is a national shame that the United States has any involvement with the war in Yemen. We should not be in the business of rewarding human rights abusers with billion-dollar arms sales. We should not be making it harder for diplomats to pull Yemen back from a catastrophic breaking point.

But the possibility to change course on ALL these fronts will be in play in 2021. We know we can remake our foreign policy into a tool for good, but we must act together and we have no time to lose.

Thank you for working for peace,

Amy, Abbey, Erica, and the Win Without War team