Despite this carnage, the Obama administration just announced an additional $1.15 billion in Saudi weapons sales.
In the week following that announcement, the Saudis bombed a Yemeni potato chip factory, a school, a residential neighborhood, and a Doctors Without Borders-run hospital. Most of the dead and wounded were women and children.
But it's not too late for Congress to stop this madness.
By law, they have 30 days after arms sales are announced to stop or modify the deals. And despite the overall apathetic response to the crisis in Yemen, not all members of Congress are turning a blind eye to the violence.
California Democratic Congressman Ted Leiu, for example, is ready to take a stand. "When Saudi Arabia continues to kill civilians, and in this case children, enough is enough," he said.
Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul have also come out against the sale. But for the sake of thousands of innocent civilians who could be slaughtered with these weapons, many more members must act quickly.
It's high time for Congress to answer the Pope's challenge to stop the arms trade and help prevent more Yemeni bloodshed.
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