Defying Congress, Trump sets $8 billion-plus in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE

By Patricia Zengerle

 

U.S. President Donald Trump walks to re-board Air Force One during a refueling stop on his way to Japan at Joint Base Elmendorf, Alaska, U.S. May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, declaring a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, swept aside objections from Congress on Friday to complete the sale of over $8 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

 

The Trump administration informed congressional committees that it will go ahead with 22 military sales to the Saudis, United Arab Emirates and Jordan, infuriating lawmakers by circumventing a long-standing precedent for congressional review of major weapons sales.

 

Members of Congress had been blocking sales of offensive military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for months, angry about the huge civilian toll from their air campaign in Yemen, as well as human rights abuses such as the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

 

Lawmakers and congressional aides warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons deals including the sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia, was considering using a loophole in arms control law to go ahead by declaring a national emergency.

 

"President Trump is only using this loophole because he knows Congress would disapprove ... There is no new 'emergency' reason to sell bombs to the Saudis to drop in Yemen, and doing so only perpetuates the humanitarian crisis there," said Senator Chris Murphy.

 

Murphy, a Democrat, made public on Twitter on Wednesday that Trump was considering the loophole in the Arms Control Export Act to clear the sales.

 

Several of Trump's fellow Republicans, as well as Democrats, said they would object to such a plan, fearing that blowing through the "holds" process would eliminate Congress' ability to check not just Trump but future presidents from selling weapons where they liked.

 

Representative Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration’s action was "unfortunate" and likely to damage future White House interactions with Congress.

 

"I would have strongly preferred for the administration to utilize the long-established and codified arms sale review process," McCaul said in a statement.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that U.S. partners in the Middle East needed the contracts to be completed to help deter Iran, and that the decision to circumvent Congress was meant to be a "one-time event."

 

It is not the first time Congress and Trump have clashed over policy in the region, or the division of powers between the White House and Capitol Hill. The House and Senate voted to end U.S. military support for the campaign in Yemen earlier this year, but Trump vetoed the resolution.

 

BOON TO DEFENSE INDUSTRY

 

In documents sent to Congress, Pompeo listed a wide range of products and services that would be provided to the countries.

 

They include Raytheon precision-guided munitions (PGMs), support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp.

 

Other companies that will benefit include General Electric, now cleared to sell engines for use in F-16 fighter jets operated by the UAE and the U.S. unit of French firm Thales, which was cleared to sell a fuzing system for Paveway IV precision guided bombs to Britain and the UAE.

 

It will also likely be welcome news for Britain’s BAE Systems Plc and Europe’s Airbus, clearing the way for installation of Paveway laser-guided bombs on European-built Eurofighter and Tornado fighter jets sold to Saudi Arabia, as well F-15 fighters built by Boeing.

 

"I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump Administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement.

 

Menendez, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, vowed to fight the action, and said he was in talks with both Democrats and some of Trump's fellow Republicans on ways to preserve congressional review of arms sales.

 

The Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Republican Senator Jim Risch, said he had received formal notification of the administration's intent to move forward.

 

In a statement, Risch said, "I am reviewing and analyzing the legal justification for this action and the associated implications."

 

In his memorandum justifying the emergency declaration, Pompeo listed years of actions by Iran. "Iranian malign activity poses a fundamental threat to the stability of the Middle East and to American security at home and abroad," he wrote, and cited "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Tehran.

 

Trump's administration also announced that it was sending 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East, which it described as an effort to bolster defenses against Iran against what it sees as a threat of potential attack.

 

Members of Congress from both parties have worried that Trump is pushing toward war with Iran. Clarke Cooper, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, said the administration was responding to important needs from partners.

 

"This is about deterrence and it's not about war," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-25

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why do think he was mixing it up with Iran.. 

2 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

why do think he was mixing it up with Iran.. 

Americans are lousy at geography but they are good at counting exports and body bags.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that U.S. partners in the Middle East needed the contracts to be completed to help deter Iran,

Nah, narcissist in chief, trump, needs the contracts to boost his fragile little ego. 

 

So many national emergencies being being declared by a national disaster. 

Maybe just cut out the middle-man sheik and just go bomb Yemen ourselves?

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 20197 yr by mtls2005

Feels like the Game of Thrones.

Defying Trump, Judge Haywood Gilliam of the Northern District of California blocked the administration from moving forward with specific projects in Texas and Arizona, saying Trump couldn't disburse the funds without congressional approval.

• "The position that when Congress declines the Executive's request to appropriate funds, the Executive nonetheless may simply find a way to spend those funds 'without Congress' does not square with fundamental separation of powers principles dating back to the earliest days of our Republic,"

http://lite.cnn.io/en/article/h_2ceacc9d4fc4abc7b04cfbdffcda9125

 

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Americans are lousy at geography but they are good at counting exports and body bags.

Americans like to blow things up, manufactured consent

Edited May 25, 20197 yr by malibukid

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Americans are lousy at geography but they are good at counting exports and body bags.

It will be easy for them to find Iran, it's between Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republicans have turned anti-democracy letting DT crush the Constitution 

think a lot of folks may under estimate trump and think he's only driven from ego, first and foremost he's a psychopathic businessman with 0 empathy and an unquenchable thirst of conquering monetarily..  

There's more ties to Trump, USA & Saudi Arabia than most people realise.... 

So the ‘priming’ of the public with “Nasty Iran, might have war (but it’ll be the best war ever)” was all about this. Of course, should a further distraction be required one could always be initiated anyway and then there would be weaponry needing replacement- win win. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but can’t help but wonder about kickbacks. On $8Bn, you could probably bury $4-500m easy. Especially with a Saudi accounting system I guess.

Interesting. I was under the impression (possibly misinformed) that even using such a provision, the administration still had to demonstrate that arms sold/supplied directly relate to the emergency situation cited. But guess that if it was stipulated, Congress would have been all over it. 

 

Many of the items on the list seem more Yemen-related than having any realistic usage vs. Iran.

And this President will very possibly get another 4 years.

God only knows what the state of the world will be then.