Not so fast!
Congress
Lawmakers introduce resolutions to block Trump’s F-35 sale to UAE
By:
Joe Gould
Two F-35A Lightning IIs assigned to the 4th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron fly overhead before landing at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, for the first time on April 15. (SrA Mya Crosby/Air Force)
WASHINGTON ― A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced new legislation Wednesday that would halt the Trump administration’s push to circumvent Congress and expedite a
$23 billion sale of F-35 fighter jets, Reaper drones and munitions to the United Arab Emirates.
A series of resolutions were announced after lawmakers said they failed to get satisfactory answers from State Department officials over plans to sell the sophisticated weapons. Lawmakers say the administration’s rush to complete the sale is ignoring risks to sensitive military technology posed by UAE’s ties to Russia and China ― and to
Israel’s qualitative military edge, or QME, in the Middle East.
Proposed by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the four joint resolutions would reject the sale of 50 F-35s, 18 MQ–9B Reapers, as well as thousands of munitions and hundreds of missiles. Altogether the sale, cleared by the State Department just over a week ago, would constitute the second-largest ever sale of U.S. drones to a single country.
“As I tried to warn the Trump administration, circumventing deliberative processes for considering a massive infusion of weapons to a country in a volatile region with multiple ongoing conflicts is downright irresponsible,” Menendez, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement.
“There are a number of outstanding concerns as to how these sales would impact the national security interests of both the United States and of Israel. As a result, Congress is once again stepping in to serve as a check to avoid putting profit over U.S. national security and that of our allies, and to hopefully prevent a new arms race in the Middle East.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is set to introduce three resolutions this week to stop arms sales to the UAE, Politico reported Wednesday.
The news came a day before representatives from the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs were scheduled hold a closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the package this month following the signing of peace agreements between Israel and the UAE and signaled the administration’s intent to complete the deal before Trump exits office. But lawmakers of both parties have
introduced legislation aimed at requiring the State Department to first answer
tough questions about the fast-moving sale and its ramifications on national security.
Pompeo, in his announcement of the F-35 deal, said it recognized UAE’s need to defend itself from Iran and that it was consistent with America’s commitment to ensuring Israel’s “qualitative military edge” ― a U.S. legal standard that Israel maintain a military technological advantage over its neighbors.
Advocates, and now lawmakers, have worried aloud that, in spite of the Trump administration’s assertions the deal will enable the UAE to address threats posed by Iran, the armed drones and precision-guided munitions included, could be used in Yemen or Libya.
Murphy said the UAE has violated past arms sales agreements, resulting in U.S. arms ending up with militia groups, and they have failed to comply with international law in Libya and Yemen.
New legislation would halt a $23 billion sale of F-35 fighter jets, Reaper drones and munitions to the United Arab Emirates.
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