Thread by @shireen818

Those of you contemplating voting for Elizabeth Warren, please read this.

In 2015, I was living in Massachusetts & Warren was my senator. The military intervention began in Yemen, my country of birth, & was wreaking havoc on civilians. But this wasn't just Saudi's war.

President Obama had bypassed Congress – an unconstitutional act – to support the Saudis in their war against #Yemen. He was providing weapons, mid-air refueling, training, target support, and anything else the Saudi-UAE coalition needed to bomb and starve Yemen.

Within months, @PMaurerICRC noted, "Yemen after 5 months looks like Syria after 5 years." Yet, media outlets were barely covering the conflict, & when they did, they inaccurately presented it as a Saudi-Iran proxy war. The US' role was often ignored.
ctvnews.ca/world/yemen-af…

I joined Twitter the day the war began to keep up with news coming from Yemen. My extended family along with 28 million others were being bombed daily. Food supplies ran short. Diseases like cholera spread. Famine was looming. Yet, here in the US, few dared question Obama's war.

Feeling helpless, I decided to write a letter to my senator, Elizabeth Warren. As a progressive senator, I hoped she would take the lead in calling for an end to US intervention in Yemen. I hoped she would defend the Constitution and protect innocent lives. I was wrong.

She replied, noting the US was "working through the United Nations to reach a political solution." This was a blatant lie. Political solutions don't involve bombs.

She declared support for the Saudi-led bombing: "I support U.S. efforts, in cooperation with our allies..."

As I read her letter, I was devastated. If this was the response from one of the most progressive Senators in Congress, what hope is there for this unconstitutional war to end? I took my letter and launched a change.org petition, urging Americans to speak out.

I was then contacted by @StephenProducer, who saw my petition and letter, and wanted me to speak about this issue on air. At first I refused, then nervously agreed to give an interview. This is what I said: pri.org/stories/2015-0…

For a while, the situation was hopeless. Trump inherited the war & continued business as usual.

Then in 2017, Rep. @RoKhanna gave me & millions in Yemen hope when he passed the War Powers Act of 1973 in the House, declaring the US' role unconstitutional: politico.com/story/2017/11/…

Months later, @BernieSanders invoked the War Powers Act in the Senate along @ChrisMurphyCT & @SenMikeLee. Never had Congress before then, asserted its constitutional authority over war. I watched Bernie encounter countless hurdles, yet never giving up on the bill.

Finally, in 2019, Congress passed this historic bill calling for the removal of US armed forces from the war in Yemen: vox.com/2019/4/4/18293…

And while Senator Warren supported the bill's historic passing, this position was mainstream among Democrats by then:

All Democrats in the House and Senate, 16 House Republicans, and 6 Senate Republicans voted in favor of the WP bill.

By 2019, 85,000 children between the ages of 0-5 had starved to death. At least 90,000 Yemenis were killed. One child was dying every 10 minutes. 80% of the population was in need of humanitarian assistance.

Yemen was, and still is, the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

When I think about Warren's response to my letter, I have to stop myself from resenting her & all those who actively supported this war. They chose party politics over human lives. They prioritized their support for Saudi allies over the Constitution they swore to uphold.

Unlike Warren, @BernieSanders fought for this still relatively unknown war to end. His progressive policies are not limited to our country's borders, and for that reason, I became a citizen two weeks ago to vote for Bernie in the Michigan primary next week. #Bernie2020

If you've read this far, thank you. I wrote this up (with more context) for @inthesetimesmag just now: inthesetimes.com/article/22341/…