With November 7th rapidly approaching, the presidential race has dominated most media coverage for the past few months. The national consciousness has been given the troublesome conundrum of figuring out who to vote for in this disgraceful contest. Personally, I've been guilty of falling victim to the allure of political ping pong. Between the news on television, watered down or repetitive articles, and the impossibly large wealth of information on the internet it has become very easy to believe you are thinking for yourself while actually being kept in the dark on as host of important issues. Yes, being engaged in the presidential race is enormously important, but what have we missed in the meantime?
The U.S. Senate Passed $1.15 Bn Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia
Just yesterday the Senate Bill designed to block a $1.15 Billion Dollar exchange of weapons with Saudi Arabia was voted down 71-27. The effort was led by Senators Rand Paul and Chris Murphy. The misgiving over the deal stem from the disconcerting developments with the conflict unfolding in Yemen. The Houthis are a religiously fueled group from Northern Yemen who have been fighting the Yemeni government continuously for over a decade.
The conflict has several moving parts. To begin with, the Houthis represent the Zaidi branch of Islam which is a sect that emerged from Shi'a traditions. However Sunni in Yemen account for over half of the population. The Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of being backed by Iran and Hezbollah, trying to destabilize the Yemeni government and inspiring anti-American views. The Houthis have in turn accused the Yemeni government of being beholden to Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda. In 2009, Wikileaks released an intercepted document revealing that the U.S. State Department believes the Houthis acquired their weapons through the Yemeni black market and by former members of the Republican Guard rather than Iran.
The Houthi insurgency in Yemen has become a full blown civil war and the conflict is far from over. More recently a large Saudi-led coalition (comprised of Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Bahrain and the UAE) has been intervening in the region in what some view as an attempt to prevent similar uprisings in neighboring countries.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the resolution to prevent the arms trade would reinforce the idea that the United States is "retreating" from conflicts in the Middle East. Critics of the deal believe it will contribute to more violence in the Middle East that can be connected with the interests of the United States. The deal's opponents believe this will perpetuate the sentiments that have proven to inspire more of the terrorism which we are officially trying to destroy in the first place.
With the Islamic State now bombing Sunni and Shiite populations with equal measure in Yemen, it is unclear whether the region will ever find stability. Both sides of the conflict have been accused of working with hostile actors and organizations notorious for terrorism. Instability in Yemen is likely to make it a training ground for terrorist groups like the Islamic State, and U.S. support of the Saudi coalition will be used as a propaganda tool for radicalization.
Perhaps the United States is trying to mend fences with Saudi Arabia after finalizing the agreements over the nuclear program in Iran. Either way adding more weapons to conflict appears counter productive to any long term peace strategies, and it is doubtful that these actions will diminish the perception of imperialism regarding U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
No comments:
Post a Comment