New York Times: Defending Arms Supplies to Riyadh Becomes Impossible

YemenExtra

M.A.

In an article in the New York Times, British researcher criticized British and American continued support for Al-Saud regime, despite its crimes in Yemen and with Saudi Arabia opponents, most notably the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Last Wednesday, an expert from the United Nations issued a report calling for an investigation into the role of Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The next day in Washington, the Senate voted to stop the multi-billion dollar arms sales and to stop US support for the Saudi-led aggression in Yemen. In London – on the same day – a court ruled that Britain acted illegally in approving the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

These were great reproaches and a symbol of the growing political crisis whose outcome is still uncertain. Saudi Arabia enjoys the protection of Atlantic powers throughout the century. However, Anglo-American relations with Al-Saud are now witnessing a storm, as this relationship becomes politically unsustainable just as its basic strategic logic begins to decline.
How did it get to this? Two events have come together to deeply undermine Saudi Arabia’s reputation as well as support across the Atlantic on which it relies.

The first is the disastrous war in Yemen. The facts are well known but are repeated. The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for killing the majority of tens of thousands of people killed in the war and has committed “widespread and systematic” targeting of civilians, according to experts who have reported to the UN Security Council.

The coalition siege of the main cause of what is now the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with 85,000 babies believed to been dead of hunger since 2015.

Washington and London facilitated the massacre, providing vital assistance that the Saudi-led bombing campaign could not have done without. With the growing of condemnation, defending arms supplies, which have always been a key of Western relations with Riyadh, has become an almost impossible task.

This post originally ran on Almasirah English