At first glance it was surprising. Weeks earlier both secretaries defended the coalition’s conduct. Mr Pompeo certified to Congress that it was trying to avoid civilian casualties, a prerequisite for continued American support. (Human-rights groups and the United Nations disagree with him.) President Donald Trump has hitherto given the Saudis freedom to do as they please.
But the war itself has become indefensible. The UN says Yemen is on the brink of famine, with 8m people in danger of starving. Cholera has killed at least 2,000 Yemenis. Estimates of the conflict’s death toll range from 10,000 to 60,000.
Diplomats liken Yemen to Somalia: no longer a coherent state but a collection of fiefs. In June the coalition started a push to capture Hodeidah, the main Red Sea port. Four months later the city is still outside its grasp. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the fighting. Even if the coalition does capture the port, the Houthis will still have the capital, Sana’a, and their strongholds in the northern mountains. The fighting there will be harder, so the coalition wants to avoid it.
Messrs Mattis and Pompeo had one other consideration: domestic politics. Doveish Democrats have long wanted to end American support for the coalition, which includes aerial refuelling and intelligence-sharing. But lately even centrist lawmakers are fed up. In September a bill to end America’s involvement drew more than 50 sponsors, including Steny Hoyer, the second-most-senior Democrat in the House. That was before October 2nd, when Saudi assassins murdered a dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The killing of Mr Khashoggi, an American resident, has done lasting damage to the kingdom’s reputation in Washington. Even some of its closest allies in Congress now want to impose sanctions.
The call for a ceasefire is overdue, but fraught with difficulties. America wants the Houthis to blink first, halting missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Only then does it expect the coalition to stop striking Yemeni cities. But the Houthis are loth to act unilaterally. Even if they agreed, any truce would be shaky. Mr Pompeo’s language suggests something less than a full ceasefire. He did not ask the parties to stop fighting, only to kill fewer civilians.
Getting them to negotiations is another challenge. The Houthis did not show up for a peace conference in September, in part because the coalition refused to let them bring their wounded fighters to Europe for treatment. The UN envoy, Martin Griffiths, is respected by both sides. But he can do little if he is talking to a half-empty room.
This article appeared in the
Middle East and Africa section of the print edition under the headline
"Time for a truce"
