Military
It Pays To Be A Terrorist
- The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of more than $1.15 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
- The sale includes over 130 tanks, 20 armored vehicles, and other military equipment.
- The weapons are being sent to help aid the war against Iranian militants who have taken over the capital city of Sanaa.
- The main conflict that is being discussed is the deaths of Yemen civilians, the U.N. is hoping that with the aid of the weapons the deaths will stop.
Do you remember a couple months back when weapons were stolen from the Saudis? If you do, you know what I'm talking about, if you don't – weapons were stolen from the Saudis a couple of months ago. The weapons were for the Saudi insurgents who were fighting the war against terror, however, they never got them. They were stolen by the Islamic State and sold on the black market. Now, a number of the guns have been used in attacks against American soldiers.
Well, now it seems that Obama wants to try that again.
The U.S. State Department has just approved the “potential” sale of more than 130 Abrams tanks, 20 armored vehicles, and other equipment that is valued at $1.15 billion. Where do you think all of that military equipment is going? That's right, Saudi Arabia.
The delivery of weapons to Saudi Arabia is reported to help them in their campaign to drive out the Iranian forces. They have teamed up with Yemeni forces that are still loyal to the exiled government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
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General Dynamics, a private defense company, will be the contractor for the sale, according to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The agency said in a statement online, “This sale will increase the Royal Saudi Land Force’s (RSLF) interoperability with U.S. forces and conveys U.S. commitment to Saudi Arabia's security and armed forces modernization.”
However, lawmakers have the ability to block the sale within 30 days. If they see the sale is in violation of something or is against the direct security of the United States they can deny the sale. However, I have a strong feeling that won't happen.
Air strikes were conducted on the Captial city of Sanaa for the first time in five months yesterday. Sanaa was infiltrated by the Iranian military and now remains their territory. Apparently, peace talks were in the works between the U.N. and the Iranian's, however, they fell through over the weekend.
So far nine civilians have been reported dead from the attack.
The death of civilians has not gone unnoticed. The Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called the United Nations General Assembly back in June to suspend Saudi Arabia from the U.N. Human Rights Council. They believed they should not be allowed to be in the organization while they are killing so many Yemen civilians.
Kristine Beckerle, a researcher for the Human Rights Watch said, “The Saudi-led coalition’s campaign in Yemen has been devastating for civilians (and) the U.S. should be suspending arms sales to Saudi Arabia, not approving more.”
Everyone seems to be focusing on the deaths of Yemen civilians. No one has brought up the fact that the last time weapons were sent to Saudi Arabia they were stolen by the very forces the weapons were sent to defeat. If public safety is so important wouldn't there be a concern of a repeat robbery?