A leading voice in the US Congress against the Saudi war in Yemen has called on the UK to follow in the footsteps of the Biden administration and end offensive arms sales to the kingdom, saying Britain should have no greater interest in “perpetuating crimes against war ”than the US does.
Senator Chris Murphy, an influential Democrat on the foreign affairs committee, told the Guardian that he believes the Biden administration is ready to continue to use arms sales as leverage in its relationship with the Saudi government, in addition to banning offensive arms sales for use in Yemen has already announced.
“I think there’s a lot more to come when it comes to how the US will use arms sales to try to stimulate good decision-making in Riyadh,” Murphy said.
Although he expressed optimism that the US would continue to seek concessions from Saudi Arabia, Murphy made a moral argument for Britain to follow suit, despite reluctance, the Boris Johnson government has expressed support for offensive ban on weapons by the Biden administration.
“I think it would be really important for the British to adopt the same policies as the United States. I don’t know why Britain is more interested than us in using weapons to perpetuate war crimes. ”
Murphy also downplayed the economic cost that the government of Boris Johnson – one of the world’s largest arms sellers to Saudi Arabia – would pay if it cut.
“The dollars in these arms sales are tiny compared to the moral cost of what they usually do. I have a huge defense footprint in Connecticut, but I will never advocate for a gun sale that would kill civilians just because it makes money for my state. And I am confident that the British Government considers this to be the same. ”
The senator also called on the Biden administration to be “very vigilant” that the weapons it has agreed to sell are “purely defensive” because the Saudis have certainly adopted a “very expansive definition” of weapons. which he thought were defensive.
Biden’s effort to end the war in Yemen and end offensive support for the Saudis has been complicated by a series of recent attacks on the Saudi oil industry, which the White House called “real security threats” on Monday.
While Murphy emerged as one of the harshest voices against the Saudi government, the senator did not add the voice of critics in Congress who called for sanctions against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following the publication of the US intelligence report found the royal accomplice to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi from 2018.
“I do not think our policy will be static from today until the day Biden leaves office. I think there is a permanent element in this issue, “he said.
Murphy added: “I am probably the strongest supporter in Washington for the US to completely review its relationship with Saudi Arabia. I think I’m a deeply flawed, deeply unstable ally. I think their oil matters a lot less to us than it did 40 years ago, and that’s why I think we should get out of taking part in the intermediate wars between the Gulf states and Iran. ”
The focus on US arms policy comes as Washington re-examines its role in the deadly conflict in Yemen.
The government’s accountability office, the research arm of Congress, is due to finalize a report by the end of this year that will examine, among other things, the process the Pentagon used to determine whether the United States has contributed to “recognized serious human rights violations. of the countries that are part of the Saudi coalition in Yemen ”, including allegations of torture.
The report, which was mandated under the latest US defense bill but has so far not received much attention, will also examine whether the US has provided training to coalition forces that could have restricted aid shipments. humanitarian movement or the movement of people in Yemen.
Experts said the launch of the report could help shape the administration’s future response to the conflict, providing in part more evidence of the role the US has played in the humanitarian crisis.