Biden Administration Approves Massive Arms Deals for Saudi Arabia, UAE
The approval for the Patriot sale comes as a fragile four-month truce in Yemen has been extended for another two months. While there is still fighting on the ground and the Saudis are still enforcing the blockade, there has been no Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and no Houthi attacks inside Saudi Arabia since March.
Biden Says He’s Ending the Yemen War—But It’s Too Soon to Celebrate
Unfortunately, qualifiers like “offensive” and “relevant” do not signal a clear commitment to ending all forms of support for the U.S. war in Yemen, which includes targeting assistance, weapons sales (the U.S. is the largest supplier of arms to Saudi Arabia), logistics, training, and intelligence sharing with the Saudi-led coalition. Labeling Yemen’s Houthis as “Iranian supplied forces,” and making a commitment to defending Saudi Arabia’s “sovereignty,” echoes President Obama’s initial pretense for entering the war on Yemen in 2015. The White House statement that signaled Obama’s illegal entry declared, “In response to the deteriorating security situation, Saudi Arabia, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, and others will undertake military action to defend Saudi Arabia’s border and to protect Yemen’s legitimate government.” In other words, from the outset, this onslaught was framed by the U.S. as defensive.
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Biden to End US Support for Saudi Offensive Operations in Yemen
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