Arms Sales versus Human Rights: US approves sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia

Arms deals with Middle East dictatorships are being rushed through by Trump, critics say, despite opposition over human rights records.

The US state department has approved the sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia as part of a flurry of arms deals with Middle Eastern dictatorships in the last weeks of the Trump administration.

Critics of the sales say they are being rushed through despite broad congressional and public opposition to such military support because of the human rights records of the regimes involved and in the case of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the huge civilian death toll from the war in Yemen.

Read more at: US approves sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia | US news | The Guardian

Global Economy: G20 Summit kicks off in Saudi Arabia

In his opening speech, Saudi King Salman bin Abdelaziz focused on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on international economies. This as many human rights groups around protested Saudi Arabia's very poor human rights record.

Read more at: G20 Summit kicks off in Saudi Arabia

US Elections: Trump's Turkish Ally Erdogan and other populists/authoritarian leaders around the world Stay Mum on Biden Victory

Erdogan, along with the leaders of Russia, Israel, Iran, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and China, offered no initial congratulations to the president-elect.

Read more at: Trump's Turkish Ally Erdogan Stays Mum on Biden Victory | Greek Reporter Europe

Iran-US Relations: Is the US On the Verge of a War with Iran?

Trump: we will help Saudi Arabia
in their struggle against Iran

"The main question is not whether Soleimani is responsible for carnage in the region (he is) or whether he has blood on his hands (he does), but whether Soleimani’s assassination increases or decreases the risk of a wider conflict between Washington and Tehran. Does this strike put American soldiers, diplomats, and citizens in the region at risk?"

The answers are as obvious as the day is long. The strike on Soleimani is a gigantic leap forward on the escalation ladder, a move so dramatic that Iran will be forced to respond. And it will do so at a time and place of its choosing. The 60,000-70,000 U.S. military forces in the Middle East are now all potential targets of Iranian retaliation, the extent to which Washington can’t fully estimate. The State Department’s travel advisory urging all U.S. citizens to leave Iraq immediately is an indication that the Trump administration recognizes that Americans on Iraqi soil could very well be sitting ducks for some kind of violent response.

Note EU-Digest: The Washington Post  reported that several European diplomats said Friday that they were not aware of any warning from Washington ahead of the strike on Soleimani in Baghdad, though the mission was almost certain to increase the security risk for hundreds of European troops and for other European citizens in the region.The Netherlands government advised all its citizens in Iraq to leave the country.Once again as he did with pulling troops out of Syria it shows he does not have any respect for his Allies and the lives of their troops, who have always supported the US, and put their lives at risk. it is high time the EU tells the US Trump Administration that " the party is over", and that they should start fighting their own ridiculous wars around the world. 

Read more at: Are We On the Verge of a War with Iran? | The National Interest

IRAN: The Real Reason Trump Won’t Attack Iran – Emily Meierding

A war in the Persian Gulf would profoundly destabilize the global oil system. If the Trump administration strikes Iran, unilaterally or in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, and targets the state’s oil facilities, these attacks will take more resources offline. Although Iran’s oil output has declined significantly since the United States reimposed sanctions in 2018, the country still produces more than 2 million barrels of oil per day and exports about half a million barrels per day of petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas to a variety of resource consumers.  Airstrikes would remove these supplies for the market, while other oil producers are struggling to compensate for the loss of Saudi resources.

Unsurprisingly, Chinese and European officials have adopted a cautious attitude toward the crisis. Although China’s foreign ministry condemned the attack, spokesperson Hua Chunying advised the parties “to avoid taking actions that bring about an escalation in regional tensions.” She also refrained from attributing responsibility for the strikes to a specific actor. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed for an international response to the attacks. However, they also emphasized the “importance of avoiding the further escalation of tensions in the region.” Given this reticence, if the United States wants to strike Iran, it will have to go it alone.

Starting a war to protect oil markets will only backfire for the US.

Read more: The Real Reason Trump Won’t Attack Iran – Foreign Policy

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Britain - Saudi Arabia sales were inadvertently made says Liz Truss

International British Trade Secretary Liz Truss apologises over 'inadvertent' Saudi military sales

Read more at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49722916

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Middle East Crises - Consequences of the Trump Administration dysfunctional Middle East policy: U.S. military has begun reoccupying Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia - by Courtney Kube

"In June the U.S. military began moving equipment and hundreds of troops back to a military base in Saudi Arabia that the U.S. deserted more than 15 years ago, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the deployment.

Over the coming weeks the deployment to Prince Sultan Air Base, intended to counter the threat from Iran, will grow to include fighter jets and Patriot long-range missile defense systems, the officials said. The Patriots have already arrived at the base and should be operational in mid-July, while the aircraft are expected to arrive in August.

Several hundred U.S. service members are already on site preparing the facility south of Riyadh, which is controlled by the Royal Saudi Air Force, a number that will grown to more than 500 after the arrival of an air squadron.

The US officials said the deployment focuses on defensive capabilities, with Patriot batteries for missile defense and the fighter jets intended to defend U.S. forces on the ground. But they acknowledged the aircraft could be used offensively as well."

Note EU-Digest:  It seems that the wheels are coming off the Trump's Administration dysfunctional Middle East foreign policy, which, unfortunately, is getting very little in-depth scrutiny, by either the Press, or government sources, specially those in Europe. 

The fact is that the US, by unilaterally getting out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, and the EU, back in 2015, is the direct cause of the present crisis in the Middle East.  

Read more: U.S. military has begun reoccupying Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia

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Saudis and their lobbyists risk losing access to EU Parliament - by Nikolaj Nielsen

Earlier this year, the former defence minister of France, Michele Alliot-Marie, chaired a backroom meeting with a half dozen Saudi ambassadors at the European Parliament.

That meeting was part of a so-called training programme organised by the College of Europe, an academic institution part-funded by the European Union and based out of Bruges in Belgium.

The college received Saudi money for the effort and then attacked the media for reporting the behind closed door meeting between the ambassadors and MEPs as lobbying.

France is also the world's third-largest weapons exporter with Riyadh as one of its biggest clients. The regime late last year murdered critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Now pressure is mounting to ban all Saudi diplomats, as well as any organisation that represents them, from entering the European Parliament again.

Read more at: Saudis and their lobbyists risk losing access to EU Parliament

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Britain: suspends new arms sales to Saudi Arabia

UK government suspends new arms sales to Saudi Arabia after court ruling

Read more at: 

https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/20/uk-government-suspends-new-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-after-court-ruling

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Canada: oil imports from Saudi Arabia on the rise since 2014 trade figures show

Canada's oil imports from Saudi Arabia on the rise since 2014, trade figures show.

Read more at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/saudi-oil-imports-rise-canada-diplomacy-1.5096887

US-Saudi Arabia relations: Saudi Arabia First says Trump

US politicians accuse Trump of putting 'Saudi Arabia first"

 

Read more at: 

http://aje.io/xsvzf

USA: Trump becomes an accomplish in Khashoggi murder by saying "no new Saudi punishment for Khashoggi murder to guarantee weapons sales"

President Donald Trump said Tuesday the U.S. will not punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at this time nor cut arms sales to Saudi Arabia for the killing of U.S.-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump called the killing of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a "horrible crime" that the U.S. does not condone, but said Saudi Arabia is a "great ally" and canceling billions in arms sales would only benefit China and Russia, which would be glad to step in and make the sales.

Trump's decision, announced in a statement released just before he left for the long Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, will disappoint and anger critics who have called for a much firmer rebuke to the kingdom and especially bin Salman.

Note EU-Digest: This is unacceptable by any human rights respecting Government, specially that of the United states. Shame on you Donald Trump. 

Read more: Trump says no new Saudi punishment for Khashoggi murder

Middle East: Saudi Arabia and U.S. on collision course as Mohammed bin Salman's standing ebbs

Trump has pledged that he won’t whitewash the murder and that the United States will do what’s necessary regarding whoever was involved, though he hasn’t mentioned Prince Mohammed’s name. The time to cash the check has come earlier than Trump expected. 

Saudi Arabia tried last week to lighten the load for the president by announcing the arrests of 21 suspects and the indictment of 15, while the attorney general said he would demand the death penalty for five, though he didn’t provide any names. 

Earlier King Salman fired Ahmed al-Asiri, the deputy intelligence chief, and Saud al-Qahtani, Mohammed’s senior adviser. In so doing the king set a ceiling on how high the punishment could go. But now it seems there will be no choice but to examine his own son’s future. 

According to The Washington Post, Prince Mohammed’s brother Khalid, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, was the one who phoned Khashoggi and encouraged him to go to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The prince’s adviser and aide, intelligence man Maher Abdulaziz Mutrib, allegedly led the ring and after the murder phoned Qahtani and asked him to tell the boss that it was mission accomplished. 

Mutrib didn’t explicitly say the boss’ name but Qahtani has only one boss and that’s Prince Mohammed. The Saudi ambassador has strongly denied having any telephone conversation with Khashoggi, and a Post reporter has written that their last meeting came in 2017; afterward they corresponded several times. The top Saudi prosecutor said Thursday that Khashoggi was murdered by a “lethal injection” and that his body was dismembered, with his organs handed to someone outside the consulate for disposal.

Read moire: Saudi Arabia and U.S. on collision course as Mohammed bin Salman's standing ebbs - Middle East News - Haaretz.com

Saudi Arabia: France and Britain still selling weapons to Saudi Arabia despite killing of journalist and other human rights problems

Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Emmanuel Macron clash over Saudi weapons.

Read more at :
https://p.dw.com/p/37GIs

USA: Trump says: Saudi Explanation for journalist's death is credible The US president also says he doesn't want it to impact arms sales to Saudi Arabia. 'Because it means 600,000 jobs' - by W.G. Dunlop

US President Donald Trump said Friday he found Saudi Arabia's explanation about the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi credible and termed it an "important first step."

Trump added if the US takes action, he does not want it to impact arms sales to the kingdom, which said Khashoggi was killed in a fight at its Istanbul consulate. Turkish officials pointed to a state-sanctioned hit.

"I do, I do," Trump said when asked if he found the Saudis' explanation credible, adding: "It's early, we haven't finished our review or investigation, but... I think it's a very important first step."

"I would prefer, if there is going to be some form of sanction or what we may determine to do, if anything... that we don't use as retribution canceling $110 billion worth of work, which means 600,000 jobs," he said during a visit to Arizona, referring to a major arms deal with the kingdom.

Trump has sent mixed messages about Khashoggi for days, vowing a severe response but also saying that the United States wants to preserve its close relationship with the conservative kingdom.

Members of the US Congress were far harsher in the wake of the kingdom's admission that Khashoggi was dead.

Read More: Trump: Explanation for journalist's death is credible The president says if the U.S. did take action over Jamal Khashoggi's death, he doesn't want it to impact arms sales to Saudi Arabia. 'Means 600,000 jobs' »

CAPITALISM: OIL RICH COUNTRIES AND CAPITLISTIC COUNTRIES ARE WARNED BY UN CONTRACTED SCIENTIST OF IMMINENT CAPITALIST DEMISE

Scientists Warn the UN of Capitalism's Imminent Demise

Read more at:
http://flip.it/J2.VCW

SAUDI ARABIA: QATAR BANS SAUDI IMPORTS AS IT EYES CLOSER TIES WITH TURKEY AND IRAN

Blockade blowback: Qatar bans Saudi imports as it eyes closer economic ties with Turkey, Iran

For the full report go to :
https://www.rt.com/news/428155-qatar-import-ban-saudi-arabia-iran/

Saudi Arabia: no women's rights, no democracy, oppression

Further arrests of Saudi women's rights activists in escalating crackdown

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/21/further-arrests-saudi-arabia-womens-rights-activists-driving-ban?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Iran Nuclear Deal: Europe backs original Iran deal while Saudis hail Trump's move

The European Union's Federica Mogherini said the current deal is "working and delivering", adding that the rest of the world would work to preserve the agreement.

The foreign affairs policy-maker also criticised Mr Trump's unilateral action, contending the deal is not a domestic issue and is not in the hands of any one president to terminate.

British Prime Minister Theresa May released a joint statement with France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel, saying they are "concerned by the possible implications".

"We stand committed to the [deal] and its full implementation by all sides", they wrote, adding that it "is in our shared national security interest".

"We look to Iran to engage in constructive dialogue to stop de-stabilising actions and work towards negotiated solutions," the statement said.

Mr Macron also said the latest developments "will not put an end to the Iranian nuclear accord, and that together all the parties in France and its European partners will continue to meet their commitments".

He added that he was considering visiting Tehran after speaking by phone with President Rouhani.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry stressed on the "inadmissibility of using aggressive and threatening rhetoric in international relations", saying Moscow "remains committed" to the deal.

The statement added that "there can be no question of any resumption of sanctions by the UN Security Council".

Read more: Europe backs Iran deal, Saudis hail Trump's move - BBC News

NATO under pressure from Trump will symbolically join anti-′Islamic State′ Saudi backed coalition

NATO TO JOIN WITH SAUDI BACKED ISLAMIC COALITION

Several NATO sources on Wednesday said that the strategic military alliance would join the US-Saudi led coalition against the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) armed group.

The decision is expected to be formally announced on Thursday at the meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels, the sources said.

The leak was made public hours after NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called on the alliance to do more to combat terrorism, following the suicide bomb attack at Manchester Arena that killed 22 people.

Diplomats said the decision comes under pressure from President Trump and is mainly political and symbolic, because all 28 NATO members already contribute to the coalition fighting to retake areas of Iraq and Syria from the extremist group. Some, like Germany, only taking part in support roles such as reconnaissance and logistics.

For America, the lessons of the European tragedy are there to be learned. There is only one solution to the problem of terrorism and it doesn’t involve going abroad in search of monsters to destroy.

The EU must withdraw all its troops from the Middle East – a possibility that doesn’t bear the economic consequences it once did, given the creation of new technologies that make domestic oil production and alternative energy far easier.

For the US the message is that spending billions of dollars defending and sustaining the Saudi monarchy and the Gulf states – some of the most repressive regimes in the world, is throwing money down the drain, and for what?

The interventionists( Republicans and Democrats alike) declare that America’s role as a “global leader” represents the defense of our values. But really, does a regime that beheads “infidels” represent American or European values? Indeed, there is basically no operative difference between the internal rule of the ISIS “caliphate” and the Saudi Kingdom. Yet we are obsessed with destroying the former and cuddling up to the latter.

It’s not too late for the Europeans, who were forced to sleep in a bed they did not make for themselves, to finally step out of that bed, and focus on cleaning-up the ISIS mess at home by themselves, with plans and strategies of their own. 

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