A bipartisan set of 64 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Obama on Monday calling on him to postpone the recently announced sale of $1.15 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia over concerns for the country’s conduct in hostilities in Yemen.
The letter was spearheaded by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), and Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) and aims to give Congress time to debate the merits of the deal considering reports on the Saudi-led coalition’s operational conduct in its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the State Department approved the foreign military sale (FMS) on Aug. 9, with General Dynamics [GD] as the primary contractor (Defense Daily, Aug. 9). The sale includes M1A2S Saudi Abrams main battle tanks, M88A1/A2 heavy equipment recover combat utility lift evacuation systems (HERCULES) armored recovery vehicles, various machine guns, and smoke grenade launchers.
“Past congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen have not been addressed,” the letter said. It highlights that in October 2015 a group of members of Congress wrote to Obama urging a greater effort be given to avoiding civilian casualties in Yemen and to work towards a diplomatic solution. In June 204, lawmakers voted to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia following reports of their use in civilian areas in Yemen. The earlier blocking included nearly all of the House Democrats and 40 Republicans.
The letter underscores despite these concerns and actions, a recent Saudi airstrike on a school killed 10 children and a strike on a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) hospital killed 11 people. It also noted documentation by Amnesty International that Saudi Arabia is apparently deliberately targeting civilians and civilian facilities that may amount to war crimes and also that the and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says thousands of civilians have been killed and millions are internally displaced and dependent on humanitarian assistance due to the fighting.
Given these issues, “any decision to sell more arms to Saudi Arabia should be given adequate time for full deliberation by Congress,” the letter said.
The letter writers are also concerned that the timing of the approval during the August recess may mean Congress will have little time to fully consider the arms deal when it returns from recess within the 30-day approval window.
“We are not aware of any compelling reason why congressional approve of the sale could not be postponed to allow for meaningful congressional debate on this issue that has major implications both civilians in Yemen as well as our national security.”
Lieu separately took a much stronger position in a statement that “The actions of the Saudi-led Coalition in Yemen are as reprehensible as they are illegal. The multiple, repeated airstrikes on civilians look like war crimes. Hospitals, schools, and wedding parties are not legitimate military targets.”
“Saudi Arabia is either intentionally targeting civilians or deliberately indifferent in executing its military operations – either case flies in the face of long-standing international standards of conduct. The United States of America should never support such atrocities in any way,” he added.
Yoho added that “I am concerned with the timing of this notification and believe the people’s representatives in Congress should be given adequate time to scrutinize and debate such sales.”
The letter was also endorsed by 15 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) including Oxfam, Amnesty International USA, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, the Yemen Peace Project, and Human Rights Watch.