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Big #Yemen news today: President Biden pauses arms sales to Saudi Arabia and UAE. Important detail: this will cover "billions" in Trump admin sales. That means not just the recently announced, not yet licensed sales.
1/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-freezes-u-s-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-uae-11611773191
1/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-freezes-u-s-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-uae-11611773191
It'd be unusual for a President to cancel sales for which export licenses had been issued, but these were no ordinary sales. These were arms being used in conflict, in violation of laws of war, fueling famine and insecurity, with no political strategy in sight.
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Congress put the administration - and arms dealers and buyers - on notice that many of these sales were not in US interests. Bipartisan majorities voted to block them.
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Only by inventing a fake emergency did the administration even put them in front of Congress in the first place.
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https://stateoig.gov/system/files/isp-i-20-19.pdf
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https://stateoig.gov/system/files/isp-i-20-19.pdf
In pausing the delivery of these weapons, President Biden is setting himself up more thoroughly evaluate which sales serve US interests and which do not. The sale of arms that are being or could be used in #Yemen should be permanently stopped.
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These arms have been serially misused in attacks that have directly killed and injured huge numbers of civilians and indirectly fueled crisis by eviscerating Yemen's critical civilian infrastructure. This has contributed to Yemen's economic and social service collapse.
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If pausing arms transfers is step 1 and canceling sales that touch #Yemen is step 2, then canceling the terrorism designation of Ansar Allah is step 3 and restoring full funding for the humanitarian response is step 4.
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Importantly, neither these steps, nor further steps to hold KSA and UAE accountable, comprise a strategy. An actual strategy will hold ALL parties accountable for violations and empower women, youth, and other civil society leaders in an inclusive peace process.
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But these steps are a prerequisite for that strategy, because no real, credible US strategy to achieve peace in #Yemen is possible as long as unconditional and unlimited support for Gulf allies is the central feature of US policy.
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President Biden is moving to center Yemenis in US Yemen policy. We've waited nearly six years for this. Now it's time for Yemeni voices to be heard.
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