Well, I'll bet a box of Cream sickles against a box of Charleston
Chews that the rubber stamp will be bouncing without a pause.
Remember, I believe that our Oligarchy has been quietly taken over by
that Industrial/Military Complex. Eternal war is the way to trunks
full of gold. Hey, those people were going to die some day, anyway.
What's the big deal if it's a few years one way or the other. Gold is
so much more pleasant to run your fingers through, than wrinkled old
bags of bones.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/15/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
> Home > Will Congress Rubber Stamp Another $1.15 Billion Weapons Deal With
> Saudi Arabia?
> ________________________________________
> Will Congress Rubber Stamp Another $1.15 Billion Weapons Deal With Saudi
> Arabia?
> By Sarah Lazare [1] / AlterNet [2]
> August 13, 2016
> As the Saudi-Arabia-led coalition escalates its military assault on Yemen
> following the dissolution of a fragile ceasefire, human rights campaigners
> are calling on lawmakers to urgently intercede to block a massive U.S. arms
> sale to the Gulf monarchy and help stem large-scale war crimes.
> The U.S. State Department announced [3] last week that it has approved a
> $1.15 billion deal to ship military equipment and weapons to Saudi Arabia,
> including tanks, machine guns and grenade launchers. This deal comes on top
> of the more than $20 billion in weapons that the U.S. has shipped to Saudi
> Arabia since March 2015, when the coalition began its military campaign.
> Following state department approval, Congress has only 30 days to block or
> change the deal. Given that lawmakers are now in the midst of their summer
> recess, this timeline means they will have to act urgently following Labor
> Day weekend-if they muster the will to take action all.
> Now, the advocacy groups Oxfam, Just Foreign Policy and Code Pink are
> pressing members of Congress find that will. Nearly 6,000 people have
> signed
> a petition [4] that calls on Congress to "Force a public debate on U.S.
> participation in the Saudi war in Yemen by advocating for blocking the
> planned transfer of U.S. tanks and armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia."
> If approved without debate, the shipments would be in line with
> long-standing U.S. practice. According to a report [5] released by the
> Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States
> has been the world's top exporter over the past five years, with the Middle
> East the top recipient of American arms and Saudi Arabia the number-one
> importer.
> However, Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, told
> AlterNet that there is a slim hope that this deal could go differently.
> Earlier this summer, the U.S. House of Representatives came surprisingly
> close [6] to barring the transfer of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia.
> Both Human Rights Watch [7] and Amnesty International [8] report that the
> Saudi-led coalition is dropping U.S.-manufactured cluster bombs on civilian
> areas, killing and maiming civilians, including children.
> "The fact that we almost won two months ago in the House on banning the
> transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia suggests that blocking this sale
> could be more plausible than a lot of people in the Beltway seem to think,"
> said Naiman.
> In approving the arms deal, the state department claimed [3], "This
> proposed
> sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the
> United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic regional
> partner which has been and continues to be a leading contributor of
> political stability and economic progress in the Middle East."
> In reality, the nearly-17-month military assault is unleashing a
> humanitarian nightmare on the people of Yemen, this week alone killing [9]
> over a dozen civilians at a potato chip factory and bombing [10] the main
> bridge between the port city of Hodeidah and capital Sanaa, cutting off a
> critical transport line for food and fuel. Throughout the campaign,
> coalition bombs have rained down on factories [11], weddings [12] and even
> a
> center for the blind [13]. The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for the
> majority [14] of more than 3,500 civilians [15] who have been killed since
> March 2015.
> Furthermore, all evidence indicates that the coalition attacks have opened
> up space for the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to
> gain territory and power. Meanwhile, journalist Safa Al Ahmad has unearthed
> [16] evidence that elements of the Saudi-led coalition have even fought in
> alliance alongside militants affiliated with Al Qaeda.
> Scott Paul, a senior policy adviser at Oxfam America, told [17] Foreign
> policy that yet another massive sale of arms would signal that the U.S. is
> "all-in on a senseless war that has created one of the world's largest
> humanitarian emergencies."
> To fully address the U.S. role in driving this emergency, it is necessary
> to
> look beyond arms shipments. The Obama administration has deployed troops,
> assisted the coalition in identifying bomb targets and conducting
> "intelligence" and sent warships to enforce the naval blockade that has
> choked off critical imports, contributing to a crisis that has left at
> least
> 21 million people [18] in desperate need of food. The U.S. is one of at
> least a dozen countries participating in or backing the coalition,
> including: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan, Sudan, United
> Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Britain.
> The Saudi-led military coalition is waging its attacks armed with U.S.
> weapons, as well as with effective immunity from the United Nations. As
> recently as June, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted that he
> scrubbed
> the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen from a "list of shame" of armed forces
> that
> violate the rights of children because Saudi Arabia threatened to pull its
> funding from key programs as a retaliatory measure.
> Sarah Lazare is a staff writer for AlterNet. A former staff writer for
> Common Dreams, she coedited the book About Face: Military Resisters Turn
> Against War. Follow her on Twitter at @sarahlazare [19].
> Share on Facebook Share
> Share on Twitter Tweet
>
> Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@alternet.org'. [20]
> [21]
> ________________________________________
> Source URL:
> http://www.alternet.org/world/will-congress-rubber-stamp-another-115-billion
> -weapons-deal-saudi-arabia
> Links:
> [1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/sarah-lazare-0
> [2] http://alternet.org
> [3]
> http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams
> -main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy
> [4] http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-block-transfer?r_by=1135580
> [5]
> http://www.alternet.org/world/exporting-death-when-it-comes-arming-planet-am
> erica-unrivaled
> [6]
> https://theintercept.com/2016/06/16/worried-about-stigmatizing-cluster-bombs
> -house-approves-more-sales-to-saudi-arabia/
> [7]
> https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/06/yemen-saudis-using-us-cluster-munitions
> [8]
> https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/yemen-children-among-civilian
> s-killed-and-maimed-in-cluster-bomb-minefields/
> [9] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10K0SB
> [10]
> https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/yemeni-peoples-ability-to-access-food-thr
> eatened-as-main-supply-route-to-sanaa-targeted-by-airstrikes/
> [11]
> https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/15/yemen-factory-airstrike-killed-31-civili
> ans-0
> [12]
> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/world/middleeast/airstrikes-in-yemen-hit-w
> edding-party-killing-dozens.html
> [13]
> https://theintercept.com/2016/01/05/saudi-coalition-just-bombed-a-center-for
> -the-blind-in-yemen/
> [14] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35842708
> [15] http://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-civilian-casualties/3370540.html
> [16] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/yemen-under-siege/
> [17]
> http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/11/with-yemeni-casualties-rising-gop-senato
> r-looks-to-block-big-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia/
> [18]
> http://time.com/3935125/yemen-humanitarian-aid-united-nations-famine-ceasefi
> re/
> [19] https://twitter.com/sarahlazare
> [20] mailto:corrections@alternet.org?Subject=Typo on Will Congress Rubber
> Stamp Another $1.15 Billion Weapons Deal With Saudi Arabia?
> [21] http://www.alternet.org/
> [22] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
>
> Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
> Home > Will Congress Rubber Stamp Another $1.15 Billion Weapons Deal With
> Saudi Arabia?
>
> Will Congress Rubber Stamp Another $1.15 Billion Weapons Deal With Saudi
> Arabia?
> By Sarah Lazare [1] / AlterNet [2]
> August 13, 2016
> AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to
> Google+More
> AddThis Share optionsShare to Email
> As the Saudi-Arabia-led coalition escalates its military assault on Yemen
> following the dissolution of a fragile ceasefire, human rights campaigners
> are calling on lawmakers to urgently intercede to block a massive U.S. arms
> sale to the Gulf monarchy and help stem large-scale war crimes.
> The U.S. State Department announced [3] last week that it has approved a
> $1.15 billion deal to ship military equipment and weapons to Saudi Arabia,
> including tanks, machine guns and grenade launchers. This deal comes on top
> of the more than $20 billion in weapons that the U.S. has shipped to Saudi
> Arabia since March 2015, when the coalition began its military campaign.
> Following state department approval, Congress has only 30 days to block or
> change the deal. Given that lawmakers are now in the midst of their summer
> recess, this timeline means they will have to act urgently following Labor
> Day weekend-if they muster the will to take action all.
> Now, the advocacy groups Oxfam, Just Foreign Policy and Code Pink are
> pressing members of Congress find that will. Nearly 6,000 people have
> signed
> a petition [4] that calls on Congress to "Force a public debate on U.S.
> participation in the Saudi war in Yemen by advocating for blocking the
> planned transfer of U.S. tanks and armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia."
> If approved without debate, the shipments would be in line with
> long-standing U.S. practice. According to a report [5] released by the
> Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States
> has been the world's top exporter over the past five years, with the Middle
> East the top recipient of American arms and Saudi Arabia the number-one
> importer.
> However, Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, told
> AlterNet that there is a slim hope that this deal could go differently.
> Earlier this summer, the U.S. House of Representatives came surprisingly
> close [6] to barring the transfer of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia.
> Both Human Rights Watch [7] and Amnesty International [8] report that the
> Saudi-led coalition is dropping U.S.-manufactured cluster bombs on civilian
> areas, killing and maiming civilians, including children.
> "The fact that we almost won two months ago in the House on banning the
> transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia suggests that blocking this sale
> could be more plausible than a lot of people in the Beltway seem to think,"
> said Naiman.
> In approving the arms deal, the state department claimed [3], "This
> proposed
> sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the
> United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic regional
> partner which has been and continues to be a leading contributor of
> political stability and economic progress in the Middle East."
> In reality, the nearly-17-month military assault is unleashing a
> humanitarian nightmare on the people of Yemen, this week alone killing [9]
> over a dozen civilians at a potato chip factory and bombing [10] the main
> bridge between the port city of Hodeidah and capital Sanaa, cutting off a
> critical transport line for food and fuel. Throughout the campaign,
> coalition bombs have rained down on factories [11], weddings [12] and even
> a
> center for the blind [13]. The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for the
> majority [14] of more than 3,500 civilians [15] who have been killed since
> March 2015.
> Furthermore, all evidence indicates that the coalition attacks have opened
> up space for the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to
> gain territory and power. Meanwhile, journalist Safa Al Ahmad has unearthed
> [16] evidence that elements of the Saudi-led coalition have even fought in
> alliance alongside militants affiliated with Al Qaeda.
> Scott Paul, a senior policy adviser at Oxfam America, told [17] Foreign
> policy that yet another massive sale of arms would signal that the U.S. is
> "all-in on a senseless war that has created one of the world's largest
> humanitarian emergencies."
> To fully address the U.S. role in driving this emergency, it is necessary
> to
> look beyond arms shipments. The Obama administration has deployed troops,
> assisted the coalition in identifying bomb targets and conducting
> "intelligence" and sent warships to enforce the naval blockade that has
> choked off critical imports, contributing to a crisis that has left at
> least
> 21 million people [18] in desperate need of food. The U.S. is one of at
> least a dozen countries participating in or backing the coalition,
> including: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan, Sudan, United
> Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Britain.
> The Saudi-led military coalition is waging its attacks armed with U.S.
> weapons, as well as with effective immunity from the United Nations. As
> recently as June, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted that he
> scrubbed
> the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen from a "list of shame" of armed forces
> that
> violate the rights of children because Saudi Arabia threatened to pull its
> funding from key programs as a retaliatory measure.
> Sarah Lazare is a staff writer for AlterNet. A former staff writer for
> Common Dreams, she coedited the book About Face: Military Resisters Turn
> Against War. Follow her on Twitter at @sarahlazare [19].
> Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
> Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
> Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@alternet.org'. [20]
> Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[21]
>
> Source URL:
> http://www.alternet.org/world/will-congress-rubber-stamp-another-115-billion
> -weapons-deal-saudi-arabia
> Links:
> [1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/sarah-lazare-0
> [2] http://alternet.org
> [3]
> http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams
> -main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy
> [4] http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-block-transfer?r_by=1135580
> [5]
> http://www.alternet.org/world/exporting-death-when-it-comes-arming-planet-am
> erica-unrivaled
> [6]
> https://theintercept.com/2016/06/16/worried-about-stigmatizing-cluster-bombs
> -house-approves-more-sales-to-saudi-arabia/
> [7]
> https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/06/yemen-saudis-using-us-cluster-munitions
> [8]
> https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/yemen-children-among-civilian
> s-killed-and-maimed-in-cluster-bomb-minefields/
> [9] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10K0SB
> [10]
> https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/yemeni-peoples-ability-to-access-food-thr
> eatened-as-main-supply-route-to-sanaa-targeted-by-airstrikes/
> [11]
> https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/15/yemen-factory-airstrike-killed-31-civili
> ans-0
> [12]
> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/world/middleeast/airstrikes-in-yemen-hit-w
> edding-party-killing-dozens.html
> [13]
> https://theintercept.com/2016/01/05/saudi-coalition-just-bombed-a-center-for
> -the-blind-in-yemen/
> [14] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35842708
> [15] http://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-civilian-casualties/3370540.html
> [16] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/yemen-under-siege/
> [17]
> http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/11/with-yemeni-casualties-rising-gop-senato
> r-looks-to-block-big-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia/
> [18]
> http://time.com/3935125/yemen-humanitarian-aid-united-nations-famine-ceasefi
> re/
> [19] https://twitter.com/sarahlazare
> [20] mailto:corrections@alternet.org?Subject=Typo on Will Congress Rubber
> Stamp Another $1.15 Billion Weapons Deal With Saudi Arabia?
> [21] http://www.alternet.org/
> [22] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
>
>
>
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