American Weapons Transfers Blowback-- Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, al Qaeda, Trump, UAE...

Right now, Blue America has a mobile billboard riding up and down the highways of two adjacent California congressional districts, CA-22 and CA-16, both centered in the Fresno area. Those are Devin Nunes' and Jim Costa's districts, the first a corrupt reactionary Republican and the second a corrupt reactionary Blue Dog Democrat. Both have backed continued U.S. arms sales and logistic support for the Saudi/Emerati genocide in Yemen-- the reason for the mobile billboard:

When Ted Lieu (D-CA) first began working to end the U.S. participation in the civil war in Yemen, it wasn't a popular decision. Most Republicans like wars in general and Democrats only oppose wars when Republicans are leading them. When the U.S. first got involved in Yemen, Obama was president but in 2015 Lieu was already calling attention to the beginnings of what has turned out to be a 21st Century genocide. Long before Trump was elected he had already introduced the first resolution (H.J. RES 90) to provide limitations on the transfer of air-to-ground munitions from the United States to Saudi Arabia and stating flatly that "The United States needs to send a clear message to Saudi Arabia: the continued civilian casualties in Yemen are completely unacceptable. The Saudis need to do everything in their power to eliminate the risk to innocent civilians in this conflict and until they do the U.S. should not be supporting their military actions there." It was a beginning. By 2017 he had introduced legislation to place conditions on all air-to-ground munitions sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The three conditions relate to avoiding civilian casualties, facilitating humanitarian aid, and targeting U.S.-designated terrorist organizations such as AQAP and ISIS. The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act signed by Trump includes two of Lieu's provisions on Yemen, one to bring congressional oversight to the conflict there, requiring the Departments of Defense and State to report to Congress on whether the Saudis and Emiratis are abiding by their commitments in Yemen and another one requiring Trump to submit a detailed report that contains a military and diplomatic strategy for Yemen. Last month he followed up with a bill to prohibit the U.S. from conducting aerial refueling of Saudi-coalition jets in support of the Yemen conflict. On top of that, his 2018 bill to give Congress more oversight of arms sales was just reintroduced by Lieu and Jim McGovern as H.R. 332. This morning he told me that "The fact that US weapons have been found in the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists and Iranian-backed rebels should infuriate every American. This is exactly why the US should not be engaged in the Yemeni civil war-- certainly not without congressional authorization. I fail to see how U.S. personnel supporting possible Saudi war crimes in Yemen is in our national interest. Over the past 50 years Congress has slowly and consistently ceded its  war-making power to the Executive Branch. It is long past time we took some of it back."

CNN reported yesterday that the U.S. is, far and away, the top supplier of weapons systems to both countries and without U.S. support, the war against Yemen, now the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis, would end rapidly. CNN's team reported that "US lawmakers are trying to pass a resolution ending the Trump administration’s support for the coalition. But there is scant evidence that the White House wants to listen, despite evidence that the actions of a key US ally may be making Americans less safe. In the wake of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi murder last year, Trump said it would be foolish for the US to cancel multi-billion dollar arms deals with the Saudis. 'I don't want to lose all of that investment being made into our country,. he said."

The point of the blockbuster CNN report, Sold To An Ally, Lost To An Enemy, addresses an urgent American national security threat that has come to light in regard to these weapons transfers-- the Saudis and Emeratis have been giving U.S. weapons to al Qaeda in violation of their agreements with the United States.

The weapons have also made their way into the hands of Iranian-backed rebels battling the coalition for control of the country, exposing some of America's sensitive military technology to Tehran and potentially endangering the lives of US troops in other conflict zones.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its main partner in the war, have used the US-manufactured weapons as a form of currency to buy the loyalties of militias or tribes, bolster chosen armed actors, and influence the complex political landscape, according to local commanders on the ground and analysts who spoke to CNN.

By handing off this military equipment to third parties, the Saudi-led coalition is breaking the terms of its arms sales with the US, according to the Department of Defense. After CNN presented its findings, a US defense official confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into the issue.

The revelations raise fresh questions about whether the US has lost control over a key ally presiding over one of the most horrific wars of the past decade, and whether Saudi Arabia is responsible enough to be allowed to continue buying the sophisticated arms and fighting hardware.  Previous CNN investigations established that US-made weapons were used in a series of deadly Saudi coalition attacks that killed dozens of civilians, many of them children.

...[S]ome of America's "beautiful military equipment," as U.S. President Donald Trump once called it, has been passed on, sold, stolen or abandoned in Yemen's state of chaos, where murky alliances and fractured politics mean little hope for any system of accountability or tracking.

Some terror groups have gained from the influx of US arms, with the barrier of entry to advanced weaponry now lowered by the laws of supply and demand. Militia leaders have had ample opportunity to obtain military hardware in exchange for the manpower to fight the Houthi militias. Arms dealers have flourished, with traders offering to buy or sell anything, from a US-manufactured rifle to a tank, to the highest bidder.

And Iran's proxies have captured American weapons they can exploit for vulnerabilities or reverse-engineer for native production.

...Amid the chaos of the broader war, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) made its way to the frontlines in Taiz in 2015, forging advantageous alliances with the pro-Saudi militias they fought alongside.

One of those militias linked to AQAP, the Abu Abbas brigade, now possesses US-made Oshkosh armored vehicles, paraded in a 2015 show of force through the city.

Abu Abbas, the founder, was declared a terrorist by the US in 2017, but the group still enjoys support from the Saudi coalition and was absorbed into the coalition-supported 35th Brigade of the Yemeni army.

“Oshkosh Defense strictly follows all US laws and regulations relating to export control," the firm told CNN.

And there are deadlier forms of weaponry that have made their way into the city. In October 2015, military forces loyal to the government boasted on Saudi- and UAE-backed media that the Saudis had airdropped American-made TOW anti-tank missiles on the same frontline where AQAP had been known to operate at the time.

Local officials confirmed that the airdrop happened, but CNN's attempts to conduct further interviews were blocked and the team was intimidated by the local government. A local activist joked that the weapons had probably been sold on.

..."The United States has not authorized the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates to re-transfer any equipment to parties inside Yemen," Pentagon spokesman Johnny Michael told CNN. "The US government cannot comment on any pending investigations of claims of end-use violations of defense articles and services transferred to our allies and partners."

Last October, Ro Khanna and Elizabeth Warren penned a joint OpEd about the Trump Regime's complicity in the unfolding catastrophe in Yemen. They wrote that "in August, the world watched in horror as a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in Yemen claimed the lives of 40 innocent children. The boys, many under the age of 10, were killed when their school bus was bombed during a class trip. The weapon used in that deadly bombing was made in America."

It was not the first time. In June, airstrikes hit a cholera treatment center run by Doctors Without Borders, even though it was clearly identified as a medical facility.

In April, 20 civilians, many from a single family, were killed while celebrating a wedding in a village in northwest Yemen.

As a result of this conflict, at least 10,000 Yemenis have died, 2 million more are displaced, and 22 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. To make matters worse, a man-made famine has brought nearly 8 million people in Yemen to the brink of starvation.

This humanitarian catastrophe didn't happen overnight. For more than three years, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has been bombing Yemen as part of a proxy war to counter the Iran-supported Houthi militias.

During this period, the United States has been quietly providing intelligence and military advice to the Saudi-led coalition. Our government refuels Saudi coalition warplanes in midair. Our government provides advice and assistance. Our government authorizes the sale of US-made bombs and missiles the coalition uses to conduct this war.

There is no doubt that Iran's actions in Yemen are destabilizing. Iran's government supports militias that attack Saudi territory and undermine the internationally recognized central government of Yemen. But we can no longer turn a blind eye to the actions of the Saudi coalition-- or our own role in the suffering of the Yemeni people.

There is a growing push in Washington to seek an end to this civil war. In this year's defense authorization bill, Congress threatened to cut off US support for the Saudi-led coalition's operations in Yemen until the Trump administration certified the coalition was making "an urgent and good faith effort" to reduce civilian casualties, alleviate the humanitarian crisis, and negotiate an end to the civil war.

But rather than using this opportunity as leverage to hold our partners accountable, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rubber-stamped the Saudi-led coalition's actions. Secretary of Defense James Mattis asserted that the coalition was making "every effort" to prevent civilian casualties-- even as the United Nations reported that the coalition was responsible for the majority of the children killed in Yemen last year.

The administration's decision to double down on US support for the bombing campaign makes a mockery of congressional oversight authority. Overlooking the Saudi-led coalition's apparent disregard for international norms and laws of armed conflict does nothing to improve US standing in the world. And continuing to support an ill-conceived proxy war in Yemen does not make America safer.

The framers of our Constitution believed that the decision to involve ourselves in a conflict like the one in Yemen requires the consent of the people, expressed through their elected representatives. But Congress has never authorized our involvement in this conflict. That's why we have supported bicameral, bipartisan efforts to end the US involvement in Yemen's civil war unless Congress specifically authorizes it.

While counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda and its affiliates would continue, support for the Saudi coalition's military operations against the Houthis would stop.

The crisis in Yemen is worsening, and the United States can do something about it. We can hold the Saudi coalition accountable. We can demand that all parties cease the violence. We can support UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths' peace negotiations.

The Yemeni people are suffering. Instead of supporting more bombing, the United States can help bring peace to the region. Congress has an urgent responsibility to act.

Time Magazine's report about Trump's lack of interest in and ability to comprehend U.S. intelligence reports-- coupled with his kleptocratic self-interest in the name of U.S. foreign policy-- makes these weapons transfers even more dangerous to American national security. John Walcott reported that intelligence officials, citing multiple in-person episodes, say "Trump displays what one called 'willful ignorance' when presented with analyses generated by America’s $81 billion-a-year intelligence services. The officials, who include analysts who prepare Trump’s briefs and the briefers themselves, describe futile attempts to keep his attention by using visual aids, confining some briefing points to two or three sentences, and repeating his name and title as frequently as possible. What is most troubling, say these officials and others in government and on Capitol Hill who have been briefed on the episodes, are Trump’s angry reactions when he is given information that contradicts positions he has taken or beliefs he holds. Two intelligence officers even reported that they have been warned to avoid giving the President intelligence assessments that contradict stances he has taken in public."

Ro Khanna has taken the lead on Yemen de-escalation in the House. When I spoke with him yesterday morning about the the revelations of what the Saudis have been doing with American weapons, he seemed quietly angry and eager to prevent more of that from happening. He jotted me a note a could share here:

One of my first major op-eds as a congressman was with Senator Rand Paul. In our broader case for restraint, we cautioned about the the Saudi-led war in Yemen. In addition to highlighting the awful humanitarian catastrophe the war created, we made the case this war was making the US less safe. We wrote, "What makes matters worse is that the Saudis have formed a temporary alliance of convenience with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as AQAP, to fight the Houthi rebels. AQAP is our enemy. The group claimed credit for the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, the "underwear bomber" in 2009 and the intercepted plot to send bombs to Jewish organizations in Chicago in 2010."

Today, we learned that not only are the Saudis allied with AQAP, but they are actively giving our weapons to them. This is unconscionable and confirms our original reservations that the Saudis are not to be trusted. They showed their blatant disregard for the truth and human rights when they murdered Khaghoggi and lied to us about what happened. This is just more proof of why we cannot trust them.

I think this news and realization will give our war powers resolutions great momentum and show why we need to end all US involvement with the Saudis in this war. This will be the first time in our nation's history that Congress will take back its war-making powers and pass a war powers resolution through both chambers.