Paul Ryan with his Saudi Daddies on April 6, 2016-Al Arabiya. (Establishment Republicans like Ryan love hob nobbing with the greatest sponsors of global Islamic terror. Back home and calling the headslicers "our allies," Ryan protects Saudis from litigation from 911 families)
The
visit comes on the same week where US Secretary of State John Kerry
visits Bahrain to hold talks with GCC foreign ministers on regional
security issues.
The visit also ahead of a
scheduled visitby US President Barack Obama, who is attending a GCC
summit in Riyadh on April 21, where Washington’s policies towards the
Middle East are likely to come under the microscope.
A version of this article first appeared in the Saudi Gazette on Apr. 07, 2016." ......
House Speaker Paul Ryan expressed caution about unintended consequences of
the legislation, which would clear the way for suits over Riyadh's
alleged role in the terror attacks, and said the House would not rush
the bill....
"I think we need to look at it," Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said in
response to a question at a news conference. "I think we need to review
it to make sure that we're not making mistakes with our allies and that
we're not catching people in this who shouldn't be caught up in this."...
Saudi Arabia has long denied any role in the 9/11 attacks, but victims'
families have repeatedly sought to bring the matter to court. In the
past they've been rebuffed after Saudi Arabia has invoked legal immunity under current law."...
"When President Obama visits Saudi Arabia this week for a meeting with representatives from the Gulf Cooperation
Council countries, he should avoid doing what he did at Camp David last
May, the last time he met with them: promise more arms sales.Since Mr.
Obama hosted that meeting, the United States has offered over $33
billion in weaponry to its Persian Gulf allies, with the bulk of it
going to Saudi Arabia. The results have been deadly. ......
The
Saudi-American arms deals are a continuation of a booming business that has developed between Washington and Riyadh during the Obama years. In
the first six years of the Obama administration, the United States
entered into agreements to transfer nearly $50 billion in weaponry to
Saudi Arabia, with tens of billions of dollars of additional offers in
the pipeline. ......
The Pentagon claims
that these arms transfers to Saudi Arabia “improve the security of an
important partner which has been and continues to be an important force
for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”
Recent Saudi actions suggest otherwise. ......
A
prime example of what’s wrong with unbridled American weapons transfers
to the Saudi government is the Saudi-led war in Yemen. According to the
United Nations, more than 3,200 civilians have been killed since Saudi
bombing began last March. A majority of these deaths have been a result
of airstrikes, many of which have been carried out with aircraft, bombs
and missiles supplied by the United States and Britain, including United
States-supplied cluster bombs. .........
The use of cluster bombs is of particular concern. These munitions are
banned by an international treaty — a treaty that neither the United
States nor Saudi Arabia has signed. The United States also provides
logistical support to the Royal Saudi Air Force for its airstrikes in
Yemen.
The
Obama administrationsays that it has urged restraint from the Saudis,
but that doesn’t appear to have worked. Human Rights Watch has reported
that two Saudi strikes on a market in the Yemeni village of Mastaba in
mid-March killed at least 97 civilians, including 25 children. This was
just one in a series of Saudi strikes on marketplaces, hospitals and
other civilian targets, attacks that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have said may constitute war crimes. ..........
But
American arms transfers to Saudi Arabia are questionable not only on
human rights grounds. They also have negative strategic consequences.The Saudi-led incursion against Houthi rebels in Yemen has opened the
way for jihadist groups to gain territory and influence. Al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula is now firmly entrenchedin the Yemeni city of
Mukalla and has reportedly used its position there to raise over $100
million by looting banks and charging fees for the use of the local
port. ................
One
justification that has been put forward for the continued flow of
weaponry from the United States to Saudi Arabia is that it provides
reassurance to the kingdom’s leadership that Washington won’t tilt
toward the Iranians in the wake of the deal reached last year over
Iran’s nuclear program.
But if demonstrating a commitment to the Saudi government entails
supporting deadly and reckless initiatives, like the war in Yemen, the
policy is not worth the price. ...........
Another
reason the arms deals with Saudi Arabia keep coming is that they are a bonanza for American arms makersthat need foreign markets to make up
for a leveling off of Pentagon procurement. But domestic economic
concerns should not be allowed to override American security interests
in the Middle East. ..............
Senator
Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, and Senator Rand Paul,
Republican of Kentucky, have introduced legislation that would stop
transfers of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia until the kingdom
focuses its efforts in Yemen on attacking terrorist organizations and
takes “all feasible precautions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians
and civilian infrastructure.” This is a good start. .............
Mr.
Obama should also use his trip to press King Salman to adhere to a
newly imposed cease-fire in Yemen and agree to permanently end his
country’s indiscriminate bombing there as part of United Nations peace
talks. And the president should make clear that transfers of (US) bombs and
missiles to the kingdom will stop until King Salman does so. That should
be the first step ina much-needed re-evaluation of the security
implicationsofopen-ended arms sales to Saudi Arabia."
"William D. Hartung
is the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for
International Policy and a senior adviser to the Security Assistance
Monitor."
"President Obama with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, center, and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in May 2015.Credit
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP"
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