How the Saudis ended up with so many American weapons

And why they want more.

Last week, the US Senate passed a historic resolution that calls for the Trump administration to halt all assistance to Saudi Arabia related to its disastrous war in Yemen. Another bill, currently in the Senate, would suspend all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, something Congress has never done in the 73 years since it became partners with the Kingdom.

For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia worked together in the Middle East. The reasons varied, but for the most part, both countries wanted the same things: steady oil production, a contained Soviet Union, and, later, a contained Iran.

One of the linchpins of this relationship was weapons sales. The US is the top weapons dealer in the world, and Saudi Arabia is its No. 1 customer. In the past, when the Middle East was in trouble, the US would sell Saudi Arabia weapons to protect itself.

But today, the Middle East is more unstable than ever, and Saudi Arabia is using US-made weapons to make it worse. Watch the video above to understand why the US sold Saudi Arabia so many weapons and how that’s become a problem today. Plus, subscribe to our YouTube channel to view all our latest videos.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2LovxJ7

Comments

REPORT: Furious Spike Lee Paces Aisle, Turns Back To Stage...

REPORT: Furious Spike Lee Paces Aisle, Turns Back To Stage... (Top headline, 5th story, link ) Related stories: REVIEW: Hostless Show Starts With Rock & Rolls Off Rails... Actor knocks borders, walls during speech in Spanish... Stage designed to look like Trump hair? 'GREEN BOOK' OVERCOMES BACKLASH, NABS BEST PICTURE... Top Critics Fume... LIST: WINNERS... Advertise here from Drudge Report Feed https://ift.tt/2SUpIKy

Tiny Love Stories: ‘Who Was I to Deprive Him of Joy?’

By Unknown Author from NYT Style https://ift.tt/2UV7YAG

The Ugly History of Dual-Loyalty Charges

When Representative Ilhan Omar recently complained about “the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” many noted accurately that she had deployed a trope—dual loyalty—that had been used against Jews for years. But this accusation has a broader history in the United States, having been used against several religious minorities—including Muslims like Omar. Indeed, many battles over religious freedom have revolved around dual-loyalty claims. [ Read: Ilhan Omar just made it harder to have a nuanced debate about Israel ] In the 19th century, many attacks on Catholics stressed that these immigrants were pawns of a foreign power. In the 1830s, Samuel Morse—then a prominent painter and later the inventor of the telegraph—urged Americans to build “walls” and “gates” to keep out Catholic immigrants, who would always be loyal to Rome. Because these Catholic immigrants were decrepit —“halt, and blind, and naked”—they were easy to co...

KnightViral

Search This Blog