Biden administration reverses Trump’s weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE
BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy tweeted:
But he ignored Iran’s role in the Yemen civil war which started in 2014, “when Houthi insurgents—Shiite rebels with links to Iran and a history of rising up against the Sunni government—took control of Yemen’s capital and largest city.”
Weeks ago, Yemen pleaded for the UN, the international community and human rights organizations to “take a clear position on the war crimes and brutal violations committed by the Houthi militia in Yemen.”
Although Saudi Arabia is heavily engaged in the Yemen war, it does not take much insight to observe the Iranian regime’s trajectory if it is allowed to continue pursuing its objectives unimpeded. Iran is a perpetual menace and threat, which is why Trump took a stand against this common enemy by favoring Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Biden administration, on the other hand, is in the process of eroding Trump’s efforts as part of its very different “strategic objectives”; these include a re-engagement of the disastrous Iran deal while leaving Israel out of the talks. Iran is now waiting for the Biden Administration to lift sanctions.
The Biden administration has in effect continued along the same lines of the Obama administration, which strengthened Iran and weakened Israel and American interests.
Biden administration pauses arms sales to Saudi Arabia and UAE,” by Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood, CNN, January 27, 2021:
Washington (CNN)The Biden administration has paused arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as it conducts a wider review of agreements worth billions of dollars made by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told CNN Wednesday.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken confirmed that pending arms sales are under review, as is typical at the start of a new administration, “to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives, and advances our foreign policy.”
He did not reference any specific sales or countries in his remarks, which were made at his first State Department news conference as top US diplomat.
The move to freeze the pending sales to the Gulf allies could signal a change in approach by the Biden administration after the Trump administration approved major sales in the last months of its tenure.
Gulf nations that have sales in the pipeline had expected some sort of pause for the administration to review but the practical impact isn’t clear yet, a source familiar with Gulf nations’ thinking said.
A State Department official earlier described the pause as “a routine administrative action typical to most any transition, and demonstrates the administration’s commitment to transparency and good governance, as well as ensuring US arms sales meet our strategic objectives of building stronger, interoperable, and more capable security partners.”…
Democrats in Congress immediately came out in favor of the move.
“The weapons we sold to Saudi Arabia and UAE have been used to kill schoolchildren, transferred to extremist militias, and fueled a dangerous arms race in the Middle East,” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy. “This is the right move. The time is now to reset our relationships with Gulf allies.”….