U.S. Weapons Sales Are Drenched in Yemeni Blood
Saudi Arabia is using billions in U.S. aid to fund their onslaught of innocent civilians in Yemen, but it's not too late for Congress to stop this madness.
When Pope Francis visited the U.S. Congress in September 2015, he boldly posed a moral challenge to his American hosts, asking: "Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?"
"Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money," he solemnly concluded. "Money that is drenched in blood."
In this case, it's innocent Yemeni blood.
During his almost eight years in office, President Obama has approved a jaw-dropping, record-breaking $110 billion in weapons sales to the repressive Saudi regime, all with Congressional backing.
"In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and stop the arms trade," Pope Francis said. Our lawmakers have failed miserably at heeding the Pope's call.
Manufacturers such as Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and McDonnell Douglas have been pushing these sales to offset military spending cuts in the United States and Europe. These weapons manufacturers spend millions on lobbying, filling the campaign coffers of both Republicans and Democrats.
In addition to that lobbying power, U.S. officials were pressured to placate Saudi Arabia after the Obama administration made a deal with its adversary, Iran. That appeasement came in the form of a level and quality of arms exports that should've never been approved for a repressive regime with an atrocious human rights record.
Saudi Arabia is the number one exporter of radical Islamic extremism on the planet. Fifteen of the 19 Sep. 11 hijackers were radicalized Saudi citizens. The regime oppresses religious minorities, women, LGBT people, and dissidents, while dozens of non-violent participants in their own Arab Spring protests face execution, usually by beheading.
The Pentagon says that providing the Saudis with F-15s bombers, Apache helicopters, armored vehicles, missiles, and bombs supports Saudi Arabian defense missions and helps promote stability in the region. But since March 2015, the Saudis have being using these weapons offensively to intervene in neighboring Yemen.
Their relentless onslaught has killed thousands of innocent civilians, decimated Yemen's infrastructure, and left more than 21 million people--that's 4 out of 5 Yemenis--desperately in need of humanitarian assistance. The United Nations has said that Saudi air strikes on civilian targets likely constitute war crimes and calls the situation in Yemen a "catastrophe."
Despite this carnage, the Obama administration just announced an additional $1.15 billion in Saudi weapons sales.
In the week following that announcement, the Saudis bombed a Yemeni potato chip factory, a school, a residential neighborhood, and a Doctors Without Borders-run hospital. Most of the dead and wounded were women and children.
But it's not too late for Congress to stop this madness.
By law, they have 30 days after arms sales are announced to stop or modify the deals. And despite the overall apathetic response to the crisis in Yemen, not all members of Congress are turning a blind eye to the violence.
California Democratic Congressman Ted Leiu, for example, is ready to take a stand. "When Saudi Arabia continues to kill civilians, and in this case children, enough is enough," he said.
Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul have also come out against the sale. But for the sake of thousands of innocent civilians who could be slaughtered with these weapons, many more members must act quickly.
It's high time for Congress to answer the Pope's challenge to stop the arms trade and help prevent more Yemeni bloodshed.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just four days to go in our Spring Campaign, we are not even halfway to our goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
When Pope Francis visited the U.S. Congress in September 2015, he boldly posed a moral challenge to his American hosts, asking: "Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?"
"Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money," he solemnly concluded. "Money that is drenched in blood."
In this case, it's innocent Yemeni blood.
During his almost eight years in office, President Obama has approved a jaw-dropping, record-breaking $110 billion in weapons sales to the repressive Saudi regime, all with Congressional backing.
"In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and stop the arms trade," Pope Francis said. Our lawmakers have failed miserably at heeding the Pope's call.
Manufacturers such as Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and McDonnell Douglas have been pushing these sales to offset military spending cuts in the United States and Europe. These weapons manufacturers spend millions on lobbying, filling the campaign coffers of both Republicans and Democrats.
In addition to that lobbying power, U.S. officials were pressured to placate Saudi Arabia after the Obama administration made a deal with its adversary, Iran. That appeasement came in the form of a level and quality of arms exports that should've never been approved for a repressive regime with an atrocious human rights record.
Saudi Arabia is the number one exporter of radical Islamic extremism on the planet. Fifteen of the 19 Sep. 11 hijackers were radicalized Saudi citizens. The regime oppresses religious minorities, women, LGBT people, and dissidents, while dozens of non-violent participants in their own Arab Spring protests face execution, usually by beheading.
The Pentagon says that providing the Saudis with F-15s bombers, Apache helicopters, armored vehicles, missiles, and bombs supports Saudi Arabian defense missions and helps promote stability in the region. But since March 2015, the Saudis have being using these weapons offensively to intervene in neighboring Yemen.
Their relentless onslaught has killed thousands of innocent civilians, decimated Yemen's infrastructure, and left more than 21 million people--that's 4 out of 5 Yemenis--desperately in need of humanitarian assistance. The United Nations has said that Saudi air strikes on civilian targets likely constitute war crimes and calls the situation in Yemen a "catastrophe."
Despite this carnage, the Obama administration just announced an additional $1.15 billion in Saudi weapons sales.
In the week following that announcement, the Saudis bombed a Yemeni potato chip factory, a school, a residential neighborhood, and a Doctors Without Borders-run hospital. Most of the dead and wounded were women and children.
But it's not too late for Congress to stop this madness.
By law, they have 30 days after arms sales are announced to stop or modify the deals. And despite the overall apathetic response to the crisis in Yemen, not all members of Congress are turning a blind eye to the violence.
California Democratic Congressman Ted Leiu, for example, is ready to take a stand. "When Saudi Arabia continues to kill civilians, and in this case children, enough is enough," he said.
Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul have also come out against the sale. But for the sake of thousands of innocent civilians who could be slaughtered with these weapons, many more members must act quickly.
It's high time for Congress to answer the Pope's challenge to stop the arms trade and help prevent more Yemeni bloodshed.
When Pope Francis visited the U.S. Congress in September 2015, he boldly posed a moral challenge to his American hosts, asking: "Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?"
"Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money," he solemnly concluded. "Money that is drenched in blood."
In this case, it's innocent Yemeni blood.
During his almost eight years in office, President Obama has approved a jaw-dropping, record-breaking $110 billion in weapons sales to the repressive Saudi regime, all with Congressional backing.
"In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and stop the arms trade," Pope Francis said. Our lawmakers have failed miserably at heeding the Pope's call.
Manufacturers such as Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and McDonnell Douglas have been pushing these sales to offset military spending cuts in the United States and Europe. These weapons manufacturers spend millions on lobbying, filling the campaign coffers of both Republicans and Democrats.
In addition to that lobbying power, U.S. officials were pressured to placate Saudi Arabia after the Obama administration made a deal with its adversary, Iran. That appeasement came in the form of a level and quality of arms exports that should've never been approved for a repressive regime with an atrocious human rights record.
Saudi Arabia is the number one exporter of radical Islamic extremism on the planet. Fifteen of the 19 Sep. 11 hijackers were radicalized Saudi citizens. The regime oppresses religious minorities, women, LGBT people, and dissidents, while dozens of non-violent participants in their own Arab Spring protests face execution, usually by beheading.
The Pentagon says that providing the Saudis with F-15s bombers, Apache helicopters, armored vehicles, missiles, and bombs supports Saudi Arabian defense missions and helps promote stability in the region. But since March 2015, the Saudis have being using these weapons offensively to intervene in neighboring Yemen.
Their relentless onslaught has killed thousands of innocent civilians, decimated Yemen's infrastructure, and left more than 21 million people--that's 4 out of 5 Yemenis--desperately in need of humanitarian assistance. The United Nations has said that Saudi air strikes on civilian targets likely constitute war crimes and calls the situation in Yemen a "catastrophe."
Despite this carnage, the Obama administration just announced an additional $1.15 billion in Saudi weapons sales.
In the week following that announcement, the Saudis bombed a Yemeni potato chip factory, a school, a residential neighborhood, and a Doctors Without Borders-run hospital. Most of the dead and wounded were women and children.
But it's not too late for Congress to stop this madness.
By law, they have 30 days after arms sales are announced to stop or modify the deals. And despite the overall apathetic response to the crisis in Yemen, not all members of Congress are turning a blind eye to the violence.
California Democratic Congressman Ted Leiu, for example, is ready to take a stand. "When Saudi Arabia continues to kill civilians, and in this case children, enough is enough," he said.
Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul have also come out against the sale. But for the sake of thousands of innocent civilians who could be slaughtered with these weapons, many more members must act quickly.
It's high time for Congress to answer the Pope's challenge to stop the arms trade and help prevent more Yemeni bloodshed.