Trumps $110 Billion Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia May Be Illegal (trump & saudis just signed it)

[spanone]

WASHINGTON ― The human rights arm of the American Bar Association has sent the Senate a legal analysis saying that President Donald Trump’s plan for an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth more than $100 billion would be illegal because of the Saudis’ role in the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

Citing “multiple credible reports of recurring and highly questionable [air]strikes’’ by the Saudi military that have killed civilians, the U.S. “cannot continue to rely on Saudi assurances that it will comply with international law and agreements concerning the use of U.S.-origin equipment,” Michael Newton, a prominent Vanderbilt University law professor and former military judge advocate general, said.

Newton, in his 23-page opinion, said the strikes have continued “even after Saudi units received training and equipment to reduce civilian casualties.”

“Continued sale of arms to Saudi Arabia ― and specifically of arms used in airstrikes ― should not be presumed to be permissible” under the two statutes covering most sales of military equipment by the U.S government to foreign nations, he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/saudi-arabia-arms-deal-trump_us_591f3322e4b094cdba53e3de

[smirkymonkey]

1. I knew there was an angle to this visit.

And it wasn't about doing what's best for the American people.

[spanone]

2. he's arming the very people he wants to keep out of America.....ain't that sumthin'

[orleans]

9. Saudi Arabia was not in the travel ban n/t

[DK504]

3. These "people" are incapable of doing any thing legal.

The rubes are going to ignore the fact that the Saudis, the ones that actually did the dirty work on 9/11, because the great Orange Idiot says they are our friends. The cherry picking by the right knows no depths.

[spanone]

4. and not a whiff of human rights involved in any of these 'transactions'

[cstanleytech]

6. Oh? When did they find the evidence that the Saudi government knew and or was even behind the 9/11

attacks?

[NickB79]

5. But he was so moved by the thought of dead Syrian children that he fired cruise missiles!

You can't tell me a man with such a massive heart and humanitarian streak would DARE think about selling weapons to a regime also bombing women and children!

[SCVDem]

7. 9-11 Saudi Arabia

Any questions from the biggest arms merchant in the world?

Dump the destroyer!

[Mosby]

8. All trump needs to do is file a report with congress

That fulfils his responsibility under the AECA.

[Volaris]

10. Didn't we ask the Saudis to help us kill terrorists in yemen because Terrorism?

But now that they want weapons to allow them to help us do that, it's a problem?

Yes, they're gonna do Bad Things with them. Probably, they were gonna find a way to do Bad Things without them, not because of the weapons or because we asked them, but because they're inherently BAD LEADERS.

I'm wondering when my government is going to get smart enough to realize that we shouldn't be asking Bad Leaders for much of ANYTHING, let alone help that might require us to later ARM THEM.

Sorry, for me this is bigger than Trump maybe doing something illegal with other assholes; he's been doing that his whole life.

[Honeycombe8]

11. Aw, geez. Can't he do ANYTHING that's legal and ethical? ANYTHING???? nt

[killbotfactory]

12. Obama didn't block arms sales to Saudi Arabia

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-security-idUSKCN11D2JQ

If they are using our weapons in a way which violated international law, I'm glad someone is finally noticing.

...

Human rights abuses by all sides

Amnesty International has gathered evidence revealing that all the parties to this conflict have committed serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including war crimes.

Amnesty International has documented 34 air strikes across six different governorates (Sana’a, Sa’da, Hajjah, Hodeidah, Ta’iz and Lahj) by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition that appear to have violated international humanitarian law – the rules that apply during a conflict which are sometimes known as the “laws of war” - resulting in 494 civilian deaths (including at least 148 children) and 359 civilian injuries. These have included attacks that appear to have deliberately targeted civilians and civilian objects such as hospitals, schools, markets and mosques, which may amount to war crimes.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition has also used cluster munitions, lethal explosive weapons banned under international law. When launched cluster bombs release dozens – sometimes hundreds - of small “bomblets”, which often lie unexploded and can cause horrific injuries long after the initial attack. Amnesty International has documented the coalition’s use of at least four different types of cluster munitions, including US, UK and Brazilian-manufactured models.

Imprecise weapons are used on a daily basis in residential areas, causing civilian casualties. Such indiscriminate attacks violate the laws of war.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/09/yemen-the-forgotten-war/

...

Why the fuck haven't we banned cluster bombs, yet? People are still being killed by the fucking things where we used them in Laos in the 70's.

[Duppers]

13. WaPo: Trump may be helping to create a famine in Yemen. Congress could stop him.

"...the Saudi kingdom is using U.S.-made planes and bombs to enforce a blockade of food and aid on its neighbor, Yemen, the poorest country in the region."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/05/19/trump-may-be-helping-to-create-a-famine-in-yemen-congress-could-stop-him/?utm_term=.3250f883d59e