When Pope Francis visited the US 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, US 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 Sept. 11 hijackers were radicalized Saudi citizens.
The regime oppresses religious minorities, women, LGBT people, and dissidents,
while dozens of nonviolent 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…