Not Looking Like Leverage: The False Promises of Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

Jordan Cohen andJonathan Ellis AllenIn June, the State Department issued a report suggesting that poor oversight over U.S. weapons in thewar in Yemen directly led to civilian casualties, starvation, and displacement. On September 7, Senators Bernie Sanders (I ‑VT), Elizabeth Warren (D‑MA), and Mike Lee (R‑UT)sent letters in response arguing that the U.S. role in this conflict is “an unacceptable failure” and that the “United States may be complicit to in Yemen would represent a failure in the Biden administration ’s stated prioritization of human rights and our core democratic values.”An estimated 15,000 civilians have been killed in airstrikes carried out by the Saudi ‐​led coalition. Beyond that, the coalition has executed more than 22,000 airstrikes, 33 percent of which struck nonmilitary sites, including schools, factories, and hospitals, according to theYemen Data Project.Despite not directly contributing troops to the fighting, the United States has played a pivotal role in the conflict. At least 80 percent of theSaudi pilots who executed these frequent strikes in Yemen received U.S. training. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the United States ’ toppurchaser of weapons and has been so for the past 10 years. Unfortunately, it has also ranked as one of the riskiest customers of U.S. weapons in every edition of the Cato Institute ’sannualArms Sales Risk Index.Three successive U.S. administrations contend that weapons s...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs