Yemen

"Limited military engagements can often create a lot of space by which the president can act without even really having to deal with Congress."

By placing the war [in Yemen] solely as an Iranian-created conflict, Trump is trying to absolve the Saudis of responsibility.

This [the decision to end refueling of Saudi-coalition aircraft in the war in Yemen] marks the first time that the United States has taken a concrete measure to rein in the Saudi war effort. Two administrations have basically given the Saudis a blank check to do whatever they wanted. Now it will be harder for the Saudis to carry out airstrikes deep into Yemeni territory, going after the capital, for instance.

The Saudis have escalated; they have intensified the war [in Yemen]. It is a very public rebuke of both the secretary of state and the secretary of defense by the Saudis. The administration has not said anything about that. But curtailing air refueling would be their response.

The Yemen war has underscored Sultan Qabus’s richly deserved reputation for statesmanship in a region where that is rare. The Sultan refused to join the Saudi and Emirati reckless decision to intervene in a civil war. It's obvious in retrospect that the war is a terrible tragedy with a horrific human cost. Muscat has enhanced its reputation as a regional peace maker.

Now is the time for Congress to take the big step and compel an end to this war… There is an opportunity in all this for us. Refocus attention on Yemen and on quitting the war as quickly as possible... [The United States needs to] find a way to bring the regional conflict to a halt, [but] recognize that [Yemen’s] internal conflict is not likely to end.