US researchers Jonathan Ellis Allen and Jordan Cohen have called, in an opinion report published by The Hill, on US Congress to hold Saudi Arabia responsible for its crimes in Yemen.
The Saudi-led war in Yemen has killed an estimated 377,000 people and exposed tens of millions of Yemenis to horrific famine.
The United States has actively perpetuated this unconscionable war for the past seven years — but Congress has an opportunity to change that, the report reads.
‘President Joe Biden and the Democratic-controlled Congress have had numerous opportunities to hold Saudi Arabia accountable, but continue to kick the can down the road.’
In the time that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Saalman al Saud has ruled Saudi Arabia, Riyadh has killed over 377,000 Yemenis and executed over 523 Saudis.
The report considered this as a contradiction for a political party that spent the latter half of the Trump administration criticizing the former president’s relationship with Saudi Arabia. For Biden, this means broken campaign trail promises to stand up for human rights and rightfully treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah state.”
Saudi Arabia’s goals in Yemen are simple: empower a puppet leader and cause suffering to any political opposition, even if they are civilians. Saudi Arabia formed a coalition in 2015 to reinstall President Mahdi al-Mashat to power in Yemen after he was overthrown by the Houthis during the Arab Spring. The Saudi-led coalition has launched a war that has consisted of only an air campaign and blockade.
The former has come under criticism for using US weapons to target civilians. The latter has left over 17.6 million Yemenis needing food assistance. Overall, civilians account for more than 19,200 of the total killed or maimed in Yemen.
Given the nature of air and sea campaigns that are unaccompanied by ground troops, all a country can inflict is damage, the report added.
Without boots on the ground, there is nobody to hold territory. In essence, waging a no-ground-troop campaign can only inflict suffering and will never create stability, it continued.
The Cato Institute’s annual Arms Sales Risk Index, which measures negative factors linked to arms sales such as dispersion, diversion, and the misuse of weapons by recipients, found Saudi Arabia to be one of the 30 riskiest countries to sell weapons to, as the kingdom uses weapons for human rights abuses, there are high levels of government corruption in Saudi Arabia, and there is a high risk those weapons will find their way into the wrong peoples’ hands.
Beyond the sheer civilian damage, reports suggest that weapons sold to the coalition ending up on the black market and are being sold to terrorist groups. Nonetheless, Riyadh is also America’s No. 1 arms purchaser 13 years running because three straight administrations have prioritized defense contractors’ profits over human rights.
According to the report, Sanders’ resolution would merely force the Biden administration to end US support for the war in Yemen without congressional approval. The bill does not end all arms sales to Saudi Arabia, nor does it force the kingdom to stop waging its war.
On the other hand, some progressive critics argue the resolution gives Congress the ability to say that they did “something.” By simply calling for an end to U.S. support for hostilities, critics say the resolution does not do enough to stop violence facing Yemenis today.
To a certain degree, this is correct. The resolution does not end US arms sales to Saudi Arabia nor prevent Saudi Arabia from resuming air strikes. Nonetheless, because US support by refueling and intelligence-sharing with Saudi pilots is necessary to the air campaign, lacking Washington’s aid should serve as a deterring factor allowing the current calm’s continuation. Therefore, while the present-day effects may seem small, such a resolution can deter a future escalation.
Saudi Arabia is run by a viscous authoritarian who kills people abroad and in his own country, disperses weapons to terrorist groups, and runs a country that is the antithesis of free. The Yemen War Powers Resolution that never escaped from committee would not have stopped most of this.
Regardless, by deterring future negative actions by the Saudis in Yemen, such a resolution would end Washington’s continuous inaction and potentially begin a long-needed process of decoupling from the regime.
World’s Largest Importer of Arms
Within the last 10 years, Saudi Arabia has turned itself into the world’s largest buyer of weapons on the world market. Ten years ago it was buying 90% less than they are today.
The US and UK are the kingdom’s top suppliers. With purchases of astonishingly expensive weapons like helicopters, tanks, and guided missiles, nearly all of its foreign-made weapons (by value) come from these two countries.
The ramp up has been significant since their March 2015 intervention in the Yemen civil war. 17% of arms acquired by the country since the 1952 have come in the last three years, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The 2016 and 2017 shipments from the United States include: 142 helicopters, eight anti-submarine aircraft, 153 tanks, and over 20,000 guided missiles. These weapons provide air support for the war in Yemen. A conflict that has been fought primarily from above. Statistics from the Yemen Data Project show hundreds of air raids a month in Yemen. An air raid may comprise of several dozen air strikes.
