The bloody Saudi-led bombing of Yemen is having an effect on the psyche of US Senators, with more than a quarter of the upper chamber on Wednesday calling for a halt to weapons shipments to the Kingdom.
Twenty-seven Senators voted in support of a resolution condemning a scheduled $1.15 billion arms transfer to Saudi Arabia that was announced last month. Although the resolution failed, the roll call vote was a sign that Riyadh’s inhumane bombing campaign in Yemen is fraying relations in Washington.
“[The] very fact that we are voting on it today sends a very important message to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that we are watching your actions closely,” Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said, in support of the resolution. “The United States is not going to turn a blind eye to the indiscriminate killing of men, women, and children,”
The Saudi military’s air assault is aimed at dislodging Houthi rebels who took control of the Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, at the end of 2014.
Indiscriminate bombing by Saudi forces has been regular, claiming the lives of at least 3,500 civilians, including roughly 500 children, according to the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia was briefly blacklisted by the international body in June, as supporting systemic violence against children. The UN eventually backed down, however, under pressure from Saudi diplomats who threatened to withhold funding for the organization’s assistance programs.
The Obama administration has provided valuable assistance to its close ally in the fight. Twenty billion dollars in weapons have been shipped to Saudi Arabia in just the last year and a half. The Pentagon has also flown more than 1,100 refueling missions to assist the Saudi air force. In August, US Air Force officials reported a 61 percent increase in refueling missions since February.
It’s becoming more difficult, however, for US lawmakers to justify the ongoing support.
“It’s time for the United States to press ‘pause’ on our arms sales to Saudi Arabia,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the sponsors of Wednesday’s resolution. “Let’s ask ourselves whether we are comfortable with the United States getting slowly, predictably, and all too quietly dragged into yet another war in the Middle East,” he added.
In the House, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) has raised the specter of the US aiding and abetting war crimes. He has offered a similar resolution cutting against the arms sales.
“I have tried numerous times to work with the Administration to stop the United States from assisting Saudi Arabia in their indiscriminate killing of civilians in Yemen,” Rep. Lieu said in a post on Facebook last month.
“But when Saudi Arabia continues to kill civilians, and in this case children, enough is enough,” he added. “The indiscriminate civilian killings by Saudi Arabia look like war crimes to me.”
“The administration must stop enabling this madness now,” Lieu urged.
Weapons shipments to Saudi Arabia have historically been non-controversial among lawmakers. A Reuters report earlier this month found that the President Obama has overseen the sale of more than $115 billions in arms to Saudi Arabia—more than any other administration in US history.
