The UK should never have been arming and supporting the Saudi dictatorship or the wider coalition that is bombing Yemen. First, arms sales are signals that cut through the noise of the international system. The United States has supported Saudi’s efforts with “weapons sales, aerial refueling, intelligence, and targeting support,” BuzzFeed News reported. The decision comes after the release of an intelligence dossier linking the monarchy to a prominent journalist's assassination and amid the kingdom's ongoing war in Yemen. President López Obrador has scored some points, but the already precariously weak rule of law in Mexico, and thus the Mexican people, will suffer. Despite the wide-ranging concerns in the U.S. and the United Kingdom about Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen, both Washington and London continued to export arms to Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2019. Protesters urge Canada to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia amid ongoing crisis in Yemen Steven Chase Senior parliamentary reporter Published January 25, 2021 Updated January 25, 2021 It continues support for Saudi air defenses against missiles and drones, but does it halt support for air strikes on missile batteries? “The Biden administration’s decision to temporarily freeze and review arms sales to the U.A.E. The war costs Saudi Arabia a fortune, it is likely that Iran will encourage the Houthis to keep fighting. Iran’s militia allies in Iraq may now also be launching attacks on Riyadh. A total of 73% of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports came from the U.S., and 13% from the U.K. Biden Freezes U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Wall Street Journal) Trump administration pushes forward on $500 million weapons deal with Saudi Arabia (Washington Post) Follow me on Twitter . Scores of anti-war and human rights organizations and individuals from across the US issued a joint letter on Thursday, February 11 demanding the US government to cancel arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Related Content His other moves to bend the justice system to his will include a reform that lowered the salary of judges but did not improve the quality of prosecutors and his unwillingness to allow an independent selection of the attorney general, with López Obrador himself retaining the power of appointment. The Houthis have moved closer to Iran as the war progressed, and Iran has significantly more clout in Sana’a today than six years ago. The Biden administration has issued a temporary freeze on pending arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as it reviews Trump … Saudi-Israeli relations: The curious case of a NEOM meeting denied Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Ending the Yemen war is both a strategic and humanitarian imperative, Saudi-Israeli relations: The curious case of a NEOM meeting denied, Restore US-Mexico seafood trade and save the vaquita, Conservation leadership is key to pandemic prevention. At the end of last year, the Trump administration pushed through a number of high-dollar arms sales to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi tied to the Abraham Accords, which were agreements to normalize relations with Israel. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the preeminent think tank tracking arms sales, Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest arms importer from 2015 to 2019, the first five years of the Yemen war. Today, President Biden announced an end to support for “offensive” operations by the Saudis. and Saudi Arabia is a prudent first step towards reorienting U.S. arms transfer policy after the reckless policy of promoting weapons exports at all costs pursued by the Trump administration,” William Hartung of the Center for International Policy said in a statement. Democrats in Congress immediately came out in favor of the move. A total of 73% of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports came from the U.S., and 13% from the U.K. Saudi Arabia signed billions of dollars of deals with U.S. companies in the arms industry and petroleum industry, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton, Honeywell, McDermott International, Jacobs Engineering Group, National Oilwell Varco, Nabors Industries, Weatherford International, Schlumberger and Dow Chemical. In the five years before the war, U.S. arms transfers to Saudi Arabia amounted to $3 billion; between 2015 and 2020, the U.S. agreed to sell over $64.1 billion worth of weapons to Riyadh, averaging $10.7 billion per year. Barack Obama could have stopped the war at its start in 2015 by cutting off military, diplomatic, and intelligence support for the Saudi-led coalition that imposed a blockade on Yemen and began deadly air strikes on civilian targets. Three weeks ago, the United States issued a temporary freeze on pending arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as part of an effort to end the civil war in Yemen. Order from Chaos WASHINGTON – The Biden administration has reportedly temporarily frozen U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the sale of F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates as it reviews billions of dollars in weapons transactions approved by the Trump administration. "We're taking a very urgent and very close look at that. By Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood, CNN. "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. A decade and a half after Mexico initiated its justice system reforms, 95 percent of federal cases still go unpunished. The Biden administration has already paused pending Trump-era arms sales to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, calling the move a “typical” re-evaluation by a new administration. "The President-elect has made clear that we will end our support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Zaldívar will be setting the council’s and, thus, the whole judiciary’s, agenda and priorities for two years. Italy has now taken the lead in taking concrete steps to stop the war, by cutting off all military sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These are the right choices and should become permanent. The Trump administration also authorised $290m worth of small munition sales to Saudi Arabia at the end of December of last year. Sales to other belligerents in the war, like the United Arab Emirates … It would be useful to know more about the debate inside the Obama administration during the start of the war. This is true not just in the case of Saudi Arabia, but also in the Philippines, where the Duterte regime has killed thousands of civilians under the guise of its “war on drugs”; and in Turkey, where US-supplied arms are being used in the invasion of Syria. "This is the right move. And I think we will work on that in very short order, once the President-elect is president," he said at the hearing a day before the inauguration. Tuesday, December 1, 2020 Newly released figures show Canada sold nearly C$3bn (US$2.2bn) worth of military equipment to Saudi Arabia in 2019 – more than double the … Zaldívar is also the president of the powerful Federal Judiciary Council. Wednesday, November 25, 2020, A how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era. In the five years before the war, U.S. arms transfers to Saudi Arabia amounted to $3 billion; between 2015 and 2020, the U.S. agreed to sell over $64.1 billion worth of weapons to Riyadh, averaging $10.7 billion per year. Does it mean an end to the blockade, which is the most important element in the malnourishment of Yemenis? His administration has halted arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE — at least temporarily, for review — including the $35 billion deal to sell Abu Dhabi F-35 fighter jets. Two American administrations have enabled the war. 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. The war in Yemen is America’s war. CAAT’s Andrew Smith said: “These arms sales should not have been approved in the first place. The former administration also issued an emergency declaration in 2019 in order to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in circumvention of congressional concerns. Blinken to State Dept. Leading UK arms dealer BAE Systems has sold Saudi Arabia £15 billion ($18.7 billion) worth of arms and services as the kingdom continues to wage a crippling war in Yemen now in its fifth year. In January 2021, the new US administration announced that it was suspending some licences for arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, adding to the pressure on the UK Government. As a candidate, Joe Biden promised to end American support for the Saudi war. Ending the Yemen war is both a strategic and humanitarian imperative Ending arms sales will also reassert American authority in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, an allied state that benefits from US partnership without meaningful accountability. Who were the proponents of backing Riyadh and Abu Dhabi? There are at least two reasons for the United States to seriously consider an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia. Time works against the Yemeni people, every 10 minutes a Yemeni child under the age of five dies due to the blockade. ", Incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said he welcomed the pause in the sales, which he said "were inexplicably rushed without thorough review of implications for U.S. national security and protection of innocent lives in Yemen.". Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was convinced the Saudis could win and that it would be a great defeat for the Iranians, who backed the rebel Houthi Zaydi Shias. Those sales showed no signs of slowing down in 2015 as Saudi Arabia led a coalition of Arab countries in a military campaign against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Bruce Riedel Saudi Arabia has spent a fortune buying arms from America to prosecute a war that has killed almost a quarter of a million people – the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe in our lifetime. A pragmatic view on Yemen’s Houthis It’s long past time to stop. It’s long past time to stop. The Trump administration was totally enthusiastic about the war. The official also did not highlight specific countries in their comment. So that's the priority in my book," he said. Islam Times - The war in Yemen is America’s war. His latest move with the two-year extension of Zaldívar’s term is especially worrisome. The US military and arms companies provide similar support for the other, US-supplied half of the Saudi Air Force. Read all the Order from Chaos content ». The attorney general’s office has proven weak, unwilling to take up key cases such as against the suspects in the brazen attack on Mexico City’s security minister, Omar García Harfuch—an event that symbolized the impunity with which Mexican criminal groups operate. Saudi-led attacks on Yemen Sales to other belligerents in the war, like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), also rose exponentially. Last month, a pro-Iranian Iraqi group claimed credit for attacking Riyadh with drones, an important escalation in the sectarian violence in the region. Monday, January 11, 2021 This is a very short article that says the US doesn’t want to cancel arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a murder almost certainly committed by the Saudi government.