Had the sale been blocked and Saudi Arabia shifted to Russia, China, or other suppliers for military purchases, other Gulf States would have followed suit, putting in jeopardy an additional tens of billions of dollars in sales by American multinational companies and thousands of highly-skilled manufacturing jobs. Another popular argument for continuing arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE is “if we don’t do it, somebody else will.” But the United States and its European allies supply the Saudi air force and the majority of the arsenals of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Riyadh also ordered a General Dynamics-produced system to recover tanks damaged on the battlefield. An independent assessment based on the actual value of U.S. arms transferred to Saudi Arabia on an annual basis indicates that Trump’s figures … Their case rested in large part on the fact that Riyadh's intervention in Yemen—conducted with American-made weapons—has cost an untold number of innocent lives in the Arabian Peninsula. Both chambers have registered their disapproval of the emergency declaration — the Senate voted to block the sale in June. Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, U.S. With tightening defense budgets, highly-skilled manufacturing jobs on the line, and the prospect of production lines for advanced U.S. weapons being phased out, American exports of defense articles and services have become and will continue to be ever more important. role arms sales play in international terrorism, conflict promotion, and/or erosion of human rights. “The track record shows that it is more by showing the Saudis that we are willing to criticize them and walk away that they get the message that they need to improve their behavior.”. I think that’s really quite worrying.”. Maintaining a robust security cooperation relationship with Saudi Arabia also helps America's defense industry in the region as a whole. He said that the technology was already in the “ecosystem” and “not new to the partner.”. The prime contractor was Boeing, a hundred--year-old American multinational company that consistently ranks as one of the world's most admired companies. Entries that are unsigned or are "signed" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Kori Schake, a top national security official in the George W. Bush administration, said that without U.S. assistance and support, the Saudis are likely to be even less capable of achieving a military objective without causing exorbitant civilian damage. “It’s finding a loophole in the law and using it in a way that wasn’t intended. Was there pressure from defense companies?”. It should also consider the wider negative implications that a suspension would have on tens of thousands of high-skilled manufacturing jobs all across America, tens of billions of dollars in revenues for U.S. companies, and the wider defense industry. Over 6,000 of those have been non-military air raids, with close to 7,000 more strikes of unknown nature. The bulk of U.S. arms deals with Riyadh occurred during the Obama years, when that administration notified Congress of a record $117 billion in arms offers to Saudi Arabia, driven in significant part by $60 billion in offers of combat aircraft, attack helicopters, armored vehicles, bombs and guns that occurred in October 2010. Saudi Arabia does not have an indigenous military industry to support the war; it has to find military suppliers to sustain its war effort. In March, the U.N. declared that 10 million Yemenis are “one step away from famine.”. Their measure failed on a 26-71 vote this past Wednesday. Much of the other equipment will take months or years to be delivered to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Such purchases save highly-skilled manufacturing jobs in the United States, and, by adding advanced capabilities, will help win new customers unless Congress blocks them from happening. Last month, the Senate passed three bipartisan resolutions blocking the weapons deal but did not generate enough votes to override a presidential veto — neither did the House. Although the declaration comes amid mounting tensions with Iran, there is deep skepticism that an emergency is warranted. Riyadh's purchase helped save thousands of jobs for Americans working on Boeing's F-15 production line on the outskirts of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Member Benefits. Halt all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE that could be used to persecute the war in Yemen. As Fortune reported, "Production lines for Boeing's F-15, Harpoon missile, and Apache helicopter are sustained by exports, which support thousands of high-paying, highly skilled manufacturing jobs." However, lawmakers have taken other paths to curb the president. The Trump administration has justified the emergency arms sale by claiming that Iran poses an urgent and imminent threat to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Arms sales rarely spur much debate in Washington, where they are viewed as a critical tool of American foreign policy. The emergency package has generated controversy and become entangled in a number of headline-dominating issues. Five FRONTLINE documentaries have been named 2021 George Foster Peabody Award finalists. FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the fight over the future of plastics. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Dr. Oleg Svet completed his doctoral dissertation on security assistance to Iraq and has analyzed U.S. security cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iraq, and Afghanistan. “There is no emergency to the United States or to UAE or to Saudi Arabia regarding the war in Yemen,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who introduced the measure to stop the deal, said on the House floor before the 246-180 vote. “There are probably targets left which they have yet to hit, in which case you could expect these weapons to be used in those cases.”. In order to foster a civil and literate discussion that respects all participants, FRONTLINE has the following guidelines for commentary. Mounting concerns over U.S. involvement in Yemen: Experts believe that the weapons are likely to be diverted to the frontlines in Yemen, where a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia has raged for nearly five years. Presidents from both parties have invoked the AUMF at least 30 times to authorize troop deployments and other military actions across the globe. Yet this crucial point seems to have been lost in the current policy debate about whether or not the United States should continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia. There was no mention of an escalating threat from Iran. On July 8, the Emiratis agreed to “a strategic redeployment” of its forces from the port city of Hodeidah – the first official confirmation of a withdrawal. Proponents of the deal contend that a fresh supply of weapons is necessary to counter mounting Iranian aggression that threatens to destabilize the region and put U.S. security interests at risk. Going forward, when considering whether to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia, therefore, Congress should not only worry about the particular sale in question. This level of concern is historically unusual. The House also voted last month to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, a law that has been criticized for granting the president too much power to authorize war. By submitting comments here, you are consenting to these rules: Readers' comments that include profanity, obscenity, personal attacks, harassment, or are defamatory, sexist, racist, violate a third party's right to privacy, or are otherwise inappropriate, will be removed. “If the Saudis were to really get significant capabilities to produce weapons as a result of these partnerships, that would be a longer-term problem,” said Bill Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at Center for International Policy. During intense grilling at a hearing in June, R. Clarke Cooper, a top State Department official whose bureau licenses arms exports, maintained that the congressional members were not intentionally left in the dark. The emergency declaration, however, derails that process. We reserve the right to not post comments that are more than 400 words. However, a State Department official told FRONTLINE that U.S. engagement with the Saudi-led coalition has contributed to a decrease in civilian casualties. Arms exports to Saudi Arabia in the preceding two quarters were a tiny fraction of the third quarter, at £8.8m and £17.5m. ‘Oh, just declare an emergency and provide them with this weapons system, just work around Congress, move, move, move faster,’” Bergmann said. In May, the Trump administration issued an emergency declaration to push through an $8.1 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan without congressional approval. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. “Even if tomorrow the Saudis were to improve their targeting practice, people would continue to die at an unacceptably high rate,” said Scott Paul, Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor at Oxfam. The National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013 began cooperating with the Saudi Ministry of Interior in an effort to help ensure "regime continuity". Recommit to the Arms Trade Treaty. “That might be the worst element of it, particularly in the post-Khashoggi murder period, to say the Trump administration more or less supports you to the hills.”. “There’s sort of an implication that the Saudi-led coalition have used up their weaponry and are in desperate need of a resupply,” said Jeff Abramson, senior fellow at the Arms Control Association. In the past two years, Congress has tried (and failed) twice to halt American arms sales to Saudi Arabia in response to that country’s intervention in Yemen’s civil war. Under President Barack Obama, there was a sense that U.S. efforts to improve Saudi targeting capabilities were working until 2016, when the coalition bombed a crowded funeral home. These countries are gradually creating a multinational, interoperable force that requires all of the countries to maintain similar weapons systems. A few years ago, the UAE's $3.3 billion order enabled Raytheon to restart the Patriot production line and add new features. Saudi purchases help keep highly-skilled manufacturing jobs in the United States. The UK has licensed the sale of at least £4.7bn worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the start of the civil war in Yemen, with most of the recorded sales taking place before 2018. American-made warplanes and bombs have played a central role in the coalition’s extensive air campaign. The 2010 deal with Saudi Arabia entailed purchasing American jet fighters that will help manufacturers in forty-four states and aid in protecting seventy-seven thousand jobs. The Abrams tanks are produced by General Dynamics’ Combat Systems division in a plant in Lima, Ohio. Just this year, the State Department has approved sales to Saudi Arabia of $670 million worth of BGM-71 TOWs, a type of anti-tank missile, $1.3 billion worth of … The consequences of selling arms to Saudi Arabia. As a candidate, he made Saudi weapons deals a campaign issue, promising they would generate American jobs and boost the U.S. economy. BRUCE RIEDEL: Since Donald Trump has been president, the United States and Saudi Arabia have concluded less than $4-billion-worth of arms … Some see the emergency arms sale as a dangerous precedent that could empower future presidential administrations to undermine Congress’s constitutional authority. The U.N. implicated the crown prince in the Washington Post columnist’s death, calling it a “premeditated execution.”. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. Subscribe ... the panel included Canada on a list of countries selling arms to those waging the conflict in Yemen: a coalition led by Saudi Arabia… “That means something to me.”. The congressional review process is one of the only instances that allows the public to scrutinize major arms sales to foreign countries. From 2015 to 2016 he analyzed security assistance as a consultant supporting the U.S. Defense Department. An obscure provision under the Arms Export Control Act allows a president to expedite weapons when there is an emergency that threatens U.S. national security interests. Wikimedia Commons/U.S. The Saudi royal family retains total control of Saudi’s only resource, oil, by exerting a ruthless military control of the general poulation. From compulsory conscription to the mass exodus of refugees, here is an introduction to five of Eritrea’s biggest human rights crises. “The Weekly” investigates the decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia even as the war in Yemen intensified, and our reporters ask who benefits from … In May, the Trump administration issued an emergency declaration to push through an $8.1 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan without congressional approval. Anger over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi: The Trump administration’s mysterious relationship with the Saudi royal family has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in October. In the UK, for example, the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is challenging the government's policy of licensing military exports to Saudi Arabia, with a … Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are strategic allies, and since President Obama took office in 2009, the U.S. has sold $110 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia. The conflict’s total death toll is fast approaching the 100,000 mark, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. “We remain committed to working with Saudi Arabia to improve processes which mitigate the risk of civilian harm during combat operations,” the official said. In the past, Trump has dismissed U.N. requests for the FBI to investigate the murder, suggesting it would get in the way of pending weapons transactions. Here is what you need to know about the multi-billion-dollar arms deal roiling Congress. In 2010 Riyadh signed a record $60 billion deal to buy defense articles made by American companies. On a local level, hundreds of American jobs in the proposed sale are at stake. Introduction. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. A relatively subdued U.S. response to recent Iranian provocations, including the Saudi oil attack, has come as a surprise, casting doubt on U.S. commitment in the region. Some of these tanks will be used as "battle damage replacement" for tanks lost by the Saudi military in Yemen. An official with the State Department confirmed with FRONTLINE that this arms deal would not introduce new technologies or capabilities to Saudi Arabia. In May 2019, Trump declared an emergency under the Arms Export Control Act to bypass Congress and expedite $8.1 billion in weapon sales for Saudi Arabia… “There is going to be further diplomatic pressure down the road. Trump’s administration has been escalating tensions with Iran, leading to concerns that it will use the 9/11-era law to justify war. The attack killed at least 155 people and wounded about 600, including the mayor of the capital city, who had been playing a significant role in negotiating a peaceful end to the war. The munitions package also includes technical support to countries not directly impacted by the supposed Iranian threat, such as India and the United Kingdom. During a recent CNN interview, Trump said he was “extremely angry and very unhappy” about the Khashoggi murder, but — despite findings of the CIA and U.N. — claimed that nobody has directly implicated the crown prince Mohamed Bin Salman. Negative teams will have the ability to either defend the security benefits of arms sales or highlight the impact arms sales have on the economy. In March, the U.N. declared that 10 million Yemenis are “one step away from famine.”. Cutting out Congress: The administration is required to allow lawmakers 30 days to review proposed weapons sales. The U.N. attributes 65 percent of civilian deaths in Yemen to coalition airstrikes. It’s a combination of three main reasons. “If Congress doesn’t exert its role, then what we have is simply an administration that has no accountability except to the president.”. In allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Congress protected American jobs, U.S. companies and the wider defense industry. (Photo by Olivier Douliery - Pool/Getty Images). If Senators Paul and Murphy would have succeeded in their measure, Riyadh would almost certainly have gone to another large military supplier, possibly Russia. Discomfort over U.S. involvement in Yemen grew after the incident, and Obama blocked sales of precision-guided munitions to the coalition after the high-profile incident. “What was the decision making? “We tried engagement, and their behavior didn’t improve,” Abramson said. During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in June, Cooper downplayed concerns raised by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., that Saudi Arabia might steal sensitive U.S. defense information as a result of the coproduction. In 2015, the United States sold $33 billion in defense articles and services to the GCC countries. Congress has also zeroed in on the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is known to be close to the crown prince. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2021 WGBH Educational Foundation. But it is not an emergency that would justify weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and UAE that bypasses congressional procedure.”. Saudi Arabia's total imports of major arms more than tripled in the period from 2012 to 2017 compared with the previous five years. “Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of America product,” Trump said when NBC’s Chuck Todd asked him about the decision to override Congress and push through the weapons deal. The Saudi-led coalition has killed countless civilians. President Trump, however, has pledged to shoot down the measure when it arrives at his desk. We will take steps to block users who repeatedly violate our commenting rules, terms of use, or privacy policies. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Saudi Arabia is the most important member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes five other large purchasers of American defense articles: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Sarah Waldron, a spokesperson for … For large American defense companies, such exports are crucial. An F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia risks creating a security dilemma and an arms race in the immediate future, increasing the potential for a wide scale war in the Middle East. Three days before the emergency was announced on May 24, there was an intelligence briefing with Congress and the State and Defense departments. The proposed law, the descriptively named Saudi Arabia False Emergencies Act, restricts such transactions to situations in which most of the weapons can be delivered within 60 days and that pose a clear physical threat. Yemen is currently experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The Biden administration has imposed a temporary freeze on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and is scrutinizing purchases by the United Arab Emirates as … 'Escaping Eritrea' producer Evan Williams set out to learn what was driving so many Eritreans from their homeland. A federal grand jury has indicted four ex-Minneapolis police officers on charges of abusing their positions of authority to detain George Floyd, leading to his death last May. My research shows that stopping arms transfers or denying requests is an effective way to signal dissatisfaction and causes the would-be recipient to re-think their behavior. As a matter of courtesy, there is typically a pre-notification period. The House vote on the weapons deal is coming at a significant moment in the fragile peace process in Yemen. He found answers — as well as people trying to smuggle secret footage out of the country. “They’re not going to stand up a full-fledged arms industry overnight, but it’s still concerning.”. The Trump administration maintains that direct engagement with Saudi Arabia can improve their ability to discriminate between civilian and military targets. There are approximately $8.1 billion of military equipment in the emergency transaction. Boeing also makes Apache helicopters, and the Saudi deal included the purchase of seventy Apaches. In the short term, selling weapons to Saudi Arabia may support some US factory jobs. Over the past few years, with declines in Defense Department purchases of weapons produced at the plant (including a 7 percent decrease in sales this quarter compared to the same period last year), the number of workers in the plant has dropped to four hundred. Since 2015, the Saudi-led coalition has carried out nearly 20,000 airstrikes, according to the Yemen Data Project. Yes, but it is not commonly used. The effort, led by Sens. Saudi is a kingdom ruled by a royal family for the benefit of that royal family. Shifts Policy in Yemen, But the War Is Not Over Yet, This Yemeni Doctor Has Treated COVID Patients for Months Without Pay While Living in the Hospital, Biden Announces End to U.S. Support for Offensives in War-Torn Yemen, Derek Chauvin, three other ex-Minneapolis officers indicted by Justice Department on civil rights charges in killing of George Floyd, FRONTLINE Earns Five Peabody Awards Nominations, ‘Escaping Eritrea’ Filmmaker Evan Williams Describes ‘Phenomenal Sacrifice’ of Eritreans Sneaking Footage Out of Country, 500,000 Refugees, ‘Slavery-like’ Compulsory Service, No National Elections, Border Conflicts & Secret Prisons: 5 Human Rights Crises in Eritrea. While their argument carried weight from a humanitarian perspective, it did not make sense in terms of the impact it would have on American jobs, U.S. companies, and the wider defense industry. ... CNN reported that the 500-pound weapon had been sold to Saudi Arabia … For example, a $7 billion deal to sell three dozen F-15 jets to Qatar and twenty-eight Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to Kuwait is currently in the works. The Editors September 07, 2018. In April, the House voted to end American involvement in the war in Yemen, sending a stinging rebuke to the Trump administration’s support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in the war-battered country. Yemen is currently experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. That purchase is equivalent to a large chunk of the U.S. defense budget. The overarching concern is the message the U.S. is sending by deepening ties to Saudi Arabia instead of taking concrete actions to hold the kingdom accountable for Khashoggi’s murder. In this case, the administration circumvented Congress by declaring an emergency over Iran. Under the deal, it agreed to spend $30 billion up front on fighter jets, helicopters, and other systems. Senators Ran Paul and Chris Murphy recently proposed a congressional resolution to stop a $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh feels that it must win in Yemen against the Houthi rebels (who the Saudis are convinced are sponsored by Iran), and the only way to win is through military power. What role should arms sales play in American foreign policy? “What the Trump administration has done is basically work around the will of the American people, which is expressed through Congress,” said Bergmann. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by the Ford Foundation. In allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Congress protected American jobs, U.S. companies and the wider defense industry. “It is a horrific humanitarian problem. “This sale is telling the Saudis that the U.S. is firmly in their corner,” Hartung said. This is the first time the House has successfully passed a repeal of the law since it was enacted in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The uncomfortable truth is that Yemen is a proxy war in the Saudi-Iranian competition. Saudi and other GCC officials fear that Iran, which is not only ideologically and theologically diametrically opposed to the Kingdom, but also has a population and territory several times the size of Saudi Arabia, poses an existential threat. The most important aspect of the deal is the proposed purchase of Abrams tanks. In the wide-ranging interview, which was taped Friday and broadcast Sunday, he stressed the economic benefits of selling arms … “Sustained engagement with the Coalition is the best way to do this.”. It includes some of the world’s most sophisticated warfare aircraft, including precision-guided bombs, advanced F-15 fighter jets and laser-guided missiles. Since 2017, lawmakers have put holds on proposed arms packages to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, citing the thousands of civilians killed by a Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war. “I think getting the memo, who wrote it, who approved it, who cleared it — these are all pertinent questions because people should be held accountable and called into Congress to justify this radical act,” said Max Bergmann, a former State Department official who negotiated arms sales. Furthermore, in the crucial period from 2011 to 2015 (when U.S. defense spending was especially under strain), the UAE was the second-largest importer of U.S. defense articles, after Saudi Arabia. But here’s the thing: Saudi Arabia plans to start manufacturing a lot of those weapons at home. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In fact, the contribution is much larger, relatively speaking, when one looks at how it benefits the smaller defense companies that service American and foreign defense customers. The House raised the stakes in its standoff with the White House last week when it voted to block a major arms sale and end American involvement in the war in Yemen. The provision has been used four times before: twice to Saudi Arabia (1984 and 1990); one to North Yemen (1979); and one to Israel (2006). Image: An F-15E Strike eagle conducts a mission over Afghanistan. Trump’s dissembling about the benefits of selling arms to Saudi Arabia likely comes from the oil-rich kingdom’s genuine importance to the president’s foreign policy. Until recently, Boeing produced only one F-15 per month, and the production line for F-15s was on the verge of being closed, that is, until the deal with Saudi Arabia. However, the declaration provoked anger from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who have criticized civilian deaths caused by Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen. Importantly, the 2010 Saudi deal included the purchase of eighty-four new F-15 fighters. Over the past six years, as U.S. defense spending has faced considerable budgetary pressures, American defense companies have struggled to maintain employees and keep production lines open. These are only the latest moves in a months-long effort to rein in presidential war-making powers and reshape defense policy. When considering this particular sale it is important to keep in mind the big picture of U.S. defense exports and their contribution to America's defense industry. He claims that he received new intelligence about Iran right after the May meeting. After Saudi Arabia intervened in the civil war in Yemen in early 2015, the UK approved more than £3.3bn in military sales to the kingdom between April … The deal includes a coproduction provision that allows Raytheon, a top U.S. weapons manufacturer, to team up with Saudi Arabia and build high-tech bomb parts, potentially sharing technology that has been closely guarded for national security reasons. At the end of June, the Senate advanced bipartisan legislation that would limit the president’s authority to greenlight emergency arms sales without congressional input. Congressional scrutiny has homed in on the timeline of the decision-making process and the justification memo – a key document that spells out the rationale behind the emergency arms sale. When Saudi Arabia purchases U.S. defense articles, other countries in the Gulf follow suit. Air Force, © Copyright 2021 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, a congressional resolution to stop a $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, forty-four states and aid in protecting seventy-seven thousand jobs, second-largest importer of U.S. defense articles, $33 billion in defense articles and services to the GCC countries. Raytheon did not respond to FRONTLINE’s request for an interview, but spokesperson Mike Doble stated that their weapons sales reflect the foreign policy and national security interests of the U.S. Cooper has indicated that some of the munitions, including thousands of the advanced Raytheon bombs, may already be on their way to the Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its main partner in the war, have used the US-manufactured weapons as a form of currency to buy the loyalties … You are fully responsible for your comments. About a decade ago the Lima plant employed 1,200 workers. In recent years an estimated one-quarter of Raytheon’s sales came from foreign purchases. Stopping the sale to Saudi Arabia of such tanks would not only have put in jeopardy the remaining jobs at the Lima plan, but also put at risk larger deals with Saudi Arabia and our other Gulf allies, which themselves carry billions of dollars in revenue for American companies and are associated with tens of thousands of jobs in nearly every state in America.
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