Officials cautioned against withdrawing military support, and sought in one case to decouple concerns about Saudi Arabia in the war from the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials urged senators against withdrawing American military support for the war in Yemen in an aggressive warning on Wednesday that doing so could embolden Iran and endanger the United States.
The forceful and coordinated effort came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis briefed the Senate in a classified discussion where they also faced questions about the killing of the Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, who was a United States resident.
Mr. Khashoggi’s death, in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, has raised new questions about the United States’ longtime alliance with Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is leading the yearslong assault against Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
In written remarks released just before the Senate briefing, Mr. Mattis defended the Pentagon’s role in the war as necessary “for the good of innocent people in trouble.” He also said the United States could not afford to cast aside its partnership with Saudi Arabia, and should not cut weapons sales to the kingdom.
“I must note we are seldom free to work with unblemished partners,” Mr. Mattis said in the statement.
The Senate is expected to vote, either later Wednesday or Thursday, on a measure to force the withdrawal of all American military efforts in Yemen — except those directly targeting Al Qaeda, which is a separate campaign from the war against the Houthi rebels.
Since the complex civil war ramped up in early 2015, an estimated 85,000 children may have died of hunger and 14 million more people have been put on the brink of starvation.
