Markey Moves to Block $5B US Bombs Sale to Saudi Arabia Amid Yemen Escalation

On Thursday, Democratic senators introduced legislation to block a sale of $5 billion worth of bombs and bomb kits to Saudi Arabia, protesting the kingdom’s human rights abuses amid its escalation in fighting in Yemen.

Senators Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), with support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), introduced a joint resolution of disapproval (JRD) targeting the sale, which was announced last week. JRDs are privileged legislation, which means that a senator can force a vote on the legislation.

The sale includes 10,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits, 5,000 2,000-pound bombs, and other measures including U.S. government support services. In its notification of the sale to Congress, the State Department stated that it “will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region.”

Saudi Arabia has ramped up its fighting with Yemen’s Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah. The conflict also serves partly as a proxy war between the U.S. and Iran, and has seen the Houthis making major advances to seize control over the crucial Bab al-Mandeb Strait in recent weeks. Meanwhile, attacks on Saudi Arabia’s critical East-West crude oil pipeline have forced Saudi Aramco to halt part of its crude oil supply to Europe, throwing even further chaos into the energy crisis spurred by the U.S.’s war on Iran.

In a statement, Markey also pointed to concerns over the Trump administration’s nuclear energy cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia, which has raised concerns over nuclear proliferation to the country with some of the worst records on human rights.

“The United States must not send thousands of conventional weapons to Saudi Arabia or allow it to develop a nuclear program,” said Markey.

“I am deeply concerned by the Kingdom’s human rights abuses, the security of the region as the war in Iran rages on, and the proxy war that is escalating between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Yemen,” Markey went on. “Further escalation in the Saudi-Iran proxy war will worsen an already dire humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and risks setting off a nuclear arms race between Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

The UN warned on Friday that the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is worsening “by the hour,” with the renewed fighting having displaced over 112,000 Yemenis over the past two weeks in the already poor and war-torn country.

The State Department also announced on Thursday that it is moving forward a $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets and numerous parts to Saudi Arabia, made primarily by military contractors Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney Military Engines.

Earlier this week, Markey and Merkley also raised concerns over the Trump administration’s nuclear agreement, known as the “123 agreement.” The Trump administration has submitted the agreement to Congress for approval, but omitted two “side letters” that accompany the deal, the lawmakers said. The hiding of the side letters from Congress, which they said is unprecedented, prevents Congress from fully assessing the deal.

“In previous 123 agreements, the Executive Branch publicly released the agreement along with side letters and related documents,” they wrote in a letter that was signed by 16 other senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York). “Releasing the agreement text without the side letters here leaves that practice only half met. We are aware of no precedent for classifying and withholding the side letters, particularly when the stated purpose is peaceful nuclear cooperation.”