Michigan Republican Justin Amash is leading an effort to stop the sale-- and he's been joined by a strong bipartisan coalition that initially was made up of Mark Pocan (D-WI), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Walter Jones (R-NC) and Jim McGovern (D-MA). Federal law gives Congress 30 days to review arms deals to non-NATO countries and Amash and his colleagues are focussing in on the sale of precision-guided munitions and other advanced offensive weapons in the deal. They proposed a joint resolution of disapproval (H.J. 102).
Many in Congress are concerned that there will be nothing left of Yemen if the Saudis get these weapons. On Thursday Amash said in a statement that "Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records and has supported many of the extremists terrorizing the people of the Middle East and the world. These arms sales extend a reckless policy from the Obama administration and prior administrations, and they come at a time when the Saudi government is escalating a gruesome war in Yemen."
Madison, Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan is the lead Democratic co-sponsor. He added that "Trump's proposed $110-billion weapons sale sends the wrong message to Saudi Arabia. In addition to regularly dropping U.S. bombs on Yemeni civilians, Saudi Arabia appears to have every intention of using the U.S. weapons from this sale to enforce a blockade on Yemen that prevents food and medicine from reaching millions of people on the brink of starvation. For months, my colleagues and I have been demanding answers to the most basic questions on the U.S. role in the disastrous war in Yemen and have been met with deafening silence from the White House. As we introduce a resolution of disapproval against this unprecedented weapons sale, we are concerned about U.S. complicity in the world’s largest humanitarian crisis now consuming Yemen. Our bipartisan group of lawmakers will be urging our colleagues to take seriously our constitutional duty to vigorously debate the merits of arming the Saudis even further."
Amash, who was very outspoken in his opposition to Obama selling the Saudis one billion dollars worth of these deadly weapons, noted that Trump's deal is a hundred times bigger (and more deadly).
A bipartisan companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Rand Paul (R-KY), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Al Franken (D-MN). We asked two of our favorite southern California congressional candidates, Katie Hill in a district just north of L.A. and Doug Applegate in a San Diego/Orange County district he nearly won against Darrell Issa (1,600 vote gap) in 2016. Katie asked a key question we all need to ask ourselves-- even if Trump and her opponent, Steve Knight won't: "This deal goes against our values as a country. How can we be fighting a war on terrorism and then provide weapons that we know will be used against civilians-- all in the name of profit?"Doug Applegate, was a Marine colonel and is a very savvy national security expert who worries about Trump's lack of experience and chops in this crucial area. He told us this morning that "U.S. weapons should come with binding obligations to adhere to the Law of War and Geneva Conventions. That contingency should also include appropriate training of Saudi armed forces. To do otherwise makes America the world’s arms dealer no different than Russia. Once again Darrell Issa is MIA despite having Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in the middle of his Congressional District. What do you say to the Marines, Darrell?"
Bonus: Jimmy Kimmel has been ON FIRE lately:
It is pointless to mention any democrap/t who will object to anything this admin does. They are irrelevant. all of them. period.
ReplyDeleteIf you are concerned about sunni terrorism around the world, then any arms sold to the Saudis is a problem since some of them may end up in the hands of isis or al quaida or some other similar group. They ALL get most of their money and a lot of their arms from the Saudis.
You know who does NOT get money and arms from the Saudis? The Iranians.
But we are always told that Iran is the problem over there. How stupid we are.
As long as some rich bastard makes a dollar, who cares who dies? Certainly not Trump!
ReplyDeleteUS power in the world is based, in large part, on the US dollar being the dominant reserve currency. The dollar dominates because it is the currency in which oil trading is done.
ReplyDeleteSaudi Arabia is the dominant member of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting nations. "As of 2016, the 14 countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 73 percent of the world's "proven" oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by American-dominated multinational oil companies." (tinyurl.com/ybwc2prz)
The US government has intervened to influence OPEC, with a combination of a) groveling before Saudi Arabia (and ignoring - or is that abetting- its terrorism activities) while b) making/threatening war, or attempting coups, against other OPEC members: Iraq, Libya, Iran, Venezuela. Check the latest news of "unrest" in Africa against the names of the African OPEC members.
In the perfect example of corporate welfare, all this murderous chaos has been done for the benefit of those poor, upstaged "American-dominated multinational oil companies."
For an insight into the real "crime" committed by Russia/Putin, consult the chart in the above-cited article, under the heading "2014–2017 oil glut." Since Putin assume power, Russia, a non-OPEC member, has effective overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's leading oil-producing country.
Note that the Obumma administration initiated this, or similar, arms-deal with Saudi Arabia, with a little help from SA contributions to the Clinton Foundation. So again, His Hairness is hardly initiating anything new in regards US presidents promulgating international idiocy/atrocities.
John Puma