Posted on 06/12/2017 12:38:13 PM PDT by jazusamo
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is throwing his support behind a push to block part of President Trump's $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
“The human rights and humanitarian concerns have been well documented and are important: of equal concern to me is that the Saudi government continues to aid and abet terrorism via its relationship with Wahhabism and the funding of schools that spread extremist propaganda throughout the world," Schumer said in a statement.
The Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution of disapproval from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) that would block a small part of the deal signed by Trump during his recent visit to Riyadh.
Schumer's backing is a boon for supporters of the new resolution. He previously voted to set aside a similar resolution in 2016.
The senators want to block the sale because they believe selling weapons to Saudi Arabia will worsen the civil war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition supporting the ousted government.
Under a frequently overlooked provision in the Arms Export Control Act, lawmakers can force a vote on a deal after 10 calendar days.
The resolution is expected to fail, but Murphy told reporters late last month that they would have "significantly more support" than the 2016 resolution.
"The war inside Yemen is a national security nightmare for the United States," he told reporters at the time. "[These weapons] will be used to increase the humanitarian catastrophe that exists on the ground in Yemen."
Schumer and the Dems don’t need not stinking Saudi Arabian money for reelection ,right
These guys did finance the killing of 3000 Americans. Some were my friends.
I know that’s an inconvenient fact what with it being all of 16 years ago and one has to be pragmatic.
What do Jews look like in Saudi text books these days?
Did they make it to human status yet?
Thinking Saudi Arabia is ANY KIND of ally or good guy is a HUGE HUGE mistake.
I’m sure brighter strategic minds than mine will weigh in and their responses will be MUCH more structured and reasoned than mine, either for or against.
I have no gift for that.
They will be interesting to read.
Yet Chuck U. didn’t peep a sound when Obama sold weaponry to his MuzBro BFF Morsi, when he was calling the shots in Egypt.
It’s up to Saudi Arabia to respond.
Somebody is going to arm the Saudis. They have a lot of money, and are big players in the region. So, it might as well be us.
There is a reason the Israelis develop some of their own weapons systems - control. They build their own weapons, they control them, they control the ammo, they control the upgrades, etc.
But lets say we don't want the Saudis to become so independent. How about we treat them like AT&T treats me and my cell phone plan. First, I buy a shiny new phone, and its obsolete in 6 months. If its an I-Phone, it has to be repaired by a 'authorized' vendor, or else it might get bricked. If something like a battery or earbud goes bad, the aftermarket stuff is never as good as OEM.
Its the same with weapons systems. We have an element of control, as long as we supply the weapons. If we say nyet, and Vlad supplies them, we've lost control.
Another way of looking at it. What are the Saudis going to do with these weapons? Probably cause trouble in Yemen and threaten Iran. Isn't that better than what they could do with $110 Billion, funding terrorism around the world.
I wish there were white cowboy hats in the middle east, but there aren't. Further, I wish we could ignore the middle east, but for now at least, we can't. Arm the Saudis...arm the Egyptians...drop weapons into Syria...and let them fight each other.
I hate to say it, but I think I agree with Chuckie Schmuckie on this one.
Attention all arabs
Here is a guy who doesn’t need your money to get reelected
Nor the money of any of your friends and associates
Take note
Israel too
Of course Schumer had no problem with Obama’s dealings with Iran who are a sworn enemy of this country.
Great post.
Schumer the mouse That roars.
The Saudis also buy weapons from the Chinese and the Russians. For example, the Chinese are building a military drone factory in Saudi Arabia and Russia and Saudi Arabia reached a $10 billion arms sale agreement in 2016.
Its just that President Trump’s arms agreement dwarfs anything that Russia and China could ever do ($110 billion now and $350 billion in total over the next ten years).
First time that a rational person can agree with Schumer. The Bush family may have gotten rich dealing with the Wahhabi loving, 9/11 complicit Saudi royals, but the average American should not pretend that these people are our friends or allies. They do not wish us well.
Putin was reputed to deal with the Saudis in an appropriate, effective manner. The Saudis were very upset that Putin was supporting Assad and preventing the Sunni jihadists from taking Syria. The Saudis informed Putin that if the Russians continued to support Assad, they “feared” that terrorists just might attack the 2012 Winter Olympics being held in Russia. Putin responded that he was delighted that the Saudis had that power and of course would hold them directly responsible if there were attacks. He stationed three nuclear submarines off the coasts of Saudi Arabia and assured the Saudis that if attacked, he would not retaliate against Iraq. There were no terrorist attacks at the 2012 Winter Olympics in Russia. Great story. Wish it were true.
The only thing we should be doing with Saudi Arabia is putting a boot up their ass.
Does seem strange to cooperate so heavily with the source of the 9/11 hijackers.
However, President Trump emphasizes his friendship with King Salman and has designated Saudi Arabia has the lynchpin for organizing anti-terrorism efforts.
We do probably need a few allies in the Muslim world to combat the virulent ideology, especially in funding, recruitment and territory.
Hopefully, something will soon resolve the situation in Qatar, considering the fact that it is the home of our largest and most strategic base of operations.
Indeed. And Saudi Arabia has many related problems beyond just 9/11.
We do probably need a few allies in the Muslim world to combat the virulent ideology, especially in funding, recruitment and territory.
Which is exactly why we cannot and should not count on the biggest perps of everything you list.
Our decades-long genuflection to Saudi leaders continues.
Whether the Saudis created ISIS or not is moot. If they did they lost control. ISIS was planning to attack SA to gain control of Mecca. I love the irony. I think Mary Shelley wrote a book about something like this....
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