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National security adviser Jake Sullivan says US will also freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Jake Sullivan holds a news briefing at the White House in Washington DC Thursday. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Julian Borger in Washington
Thu 4 Feb 2021 18.21 GMT
897
The US has announced an end to its support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen, citing the role the bombing campaign has had in creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The announcement was made by Joe Biden during a visit to the state department, capping a whiplash fortnight of dramatic foreign policy changes since his 20 January inauguration.
“This war has to end,” Biden said. “And to underscore our commitment, we’re ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”
The distancing of Washington from Riyadh is one of the most conspicuous reversals of Donald Trump’s agenda, but it also marks a break with the policies pursued by Barack Obama, who had backed the Saudi offensive in Yemen, although he later sought to impose constraints on its air war.
A bipartisan majority in Congress has previously voted to cut off support to the Saudi campaign, citing the civilian death toll and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, by Saudi security agents, in 2018. But Trump used his veto to block the move, and its supporters were unable to muster the two-thirds vote in Congress needed to override the veto.
The US will also freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and name a special envoy to Yemen, to put more pressure on the Saudis, Emiratis and the Houthi forces they are fighting, to make a lasting peace agreement.
“We have spoken with both senior officials in the UAE and senior officials in Saudi Arabia,” said national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, before the speech. “We are pursuing a policy of no surprises when it comes to these types of actions.”
A father's grief and the Made in USA bomb dropped in Yemen
Read more
Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, treated Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as a major ally in their campaign to cripple Iran through sanctions. To that end, Pompeo used emergency powers to sidestep Congress to keep arms supplies flowing to the Gulf.
Advertisement
Pompeo’s successor, Tony Blinken, by contrast, spoke bluntly about Saudi culpability in the Yemen war. He has so far made more than 25 introductory calls to counterparts around the world, and the Saudi foreign minister has not been among them. Biden’s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, pledged to produce a declassified account of Khashoggi’s killing, which is expected to incriminate the Saudi crown prince.
The US decision, if implemented fully, will have a knock-on effect on the UK arms industry since some UK products – such as the Paveway bomb widely used by Saudi Arabia –are linked to US arms contracts. The arms manufacturer Raytheon has already removed some orders from its books, according to evidence given to the British arms control select committee this week.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against the Arms Trade described the move as a “long overdue step towards ending the catastrophic and brutal war in Yemen.
“With the US ending this support, the onus is now firmly on the UK government to follow suit, or face international isolation. For the UK to continue to sustain a war that its closest ally is trying to end would be an untenable and shameful position. The UK must end arms sales and all military support and services to Saudi Arabia and the UAE now.”
Although the UK is not formally part of the Saudi coalition in Yemen, it does provide technical assistance to the Saudi air force , which the Ministry of Defence says is designed to help Saudi Arabia’s targeting meet standards of humanitarian law.
Biden’s move, which follows a similar decision by Italy, will increase pressure on the UK to suspend sales. Anna Stavrianakis, professor of international relations at the University of Sussex, said: “The UK now risks looking even further out of step with EU member states and potentially with the USA, which leaves the UK looking very isolated. For a country that is very invested in being seen to be at the forefront of the rule of law and multilateral arrangements, I think that is a very dangerous position for the UK government to get itself into.”
But the UK will be deeply reluctant to follow the US lead since the UK has licensed at least £5.4bn worth of fighter jets, mainly Typhoons and missiles, since the air campaign began in 2015. These costs exclude maintenance, as well as funds provided to the UK government in return for providing technical targeting advice to the Saudi air force.
The Biden administration has also stated its intention to re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, something that Riyadh has adamantly opposed. However, Biden officials have indicated that re-entry may be slow and complicated, as the new administration has insisted that Iran returns to compliance with the agreement before the US lifts sanctions. Iran has signalled it would accept a step-by-step sequenced approach by which both sides would return to the agreement.
Biden’s first set-piece foreign affairs speech was made at the state department, in a gesture of appreciation for US diplomats who were often depicted as a hostile “deep state” by Donald Trump.
“America is back. Diplomacy is back. You are at the centre of all that I intend to do. You are the heart of it,” Biden told US diplomats and civil service staff. “And in our administration, you’re going to be trusted and empowered to do your job.”
Biden’s speech is expected to emphasise multilateralism and the importance of the US setting an example on the world stage, and to that end the president was expected to pledge a significant increase in the number of refugees the country will accept, after the Trump administration reduced the intake to a few thousand. Biden has already issued an executive order, lifting the Trump immigration ban on Muslim-majority countries.
Pompeo's exit leaves new secretary of state with task of regaining department's trust
Read more
The early weeks of the Biden administration have also been marked by a rapid return to multilateralism. The US has rejoined the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization. The day before Biden’s foreign policy speech, Blinken signed a five-year extension to the New Start arms control agreement with Russia, two days before it was due to expire.
The previous administration had been largely hostile to the treaty, and set an array of preconditions for its extension, like the inclusion of China, or a broader freeze on warhead numbers, that Moscow was not prepared to accept.
Pompeo, derided the attachment of diplomats to treaties “for their own sake”. In his signing statement, Blinken stressed the value of New Start in assuring stability and transparency during the pursuit of a new, more ambitious agreement.
www.theguardian.com
Jake Sullivan holds a news briefing at the White House in Washington DC Thursday. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Julian Borger in Washington
Thu 4 Feb 2021 18.21 GMT
897
The US has announced an end to its support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen, citing the role the bombing campaign has had in creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The announcement was made by Joe Biden during a visit to the state department, capping a whiplash fortnight of dramatic foreign policy changes since his 20 January inauguration.
“This war has to end,” Biden said. “And to underscore our commitment, we’re ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”
The distancing of Washington from Riyadh is one of the most conspicuous reversals of Donald Trump’s agenda, but it also marks a break with the policies pursued by Barack Obama, who had backed the Saudi offensive in Yemen, although he later sought to impose constraints on its air war.
A bipartisan majority in Congress has previously voted to cut off support to the Saudi campaign, citing the civilian death toll and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, by Saudi security agents, in 2018. But Trump used his veto to block the move, and its supporters were unable to muster the two-thirds vote in Congress needed to override the veto.
The US will also freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and name a special envoy to Yemen, to put more pressure on the Saudis, Emiratis and the Houthi forces they are fighting, to make a lasting peace agreement.
“We have spoken with both senior officials in the UAE and senior officials in Saudi Arabia,” said national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, before the speech. “We are pursuing a policy of no surprises when it comes to these types of actions.”
A father's grief and the Made in USA bomb dropped in Yemen
Read more
Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, treated Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as a major ally in their campaign to cripple Iran through sanctions. To that end, Pompeo used emergency powers to sidestep Congress to keep arms supplies flowing to the Gulf.
Advertisement
Pompeo’s successor, Tony Blinken, by contrast, spoke bluntly about Saudi culpability in the Yemen war. He has so far made more than 25 introductory calls to counterparts around the world, and the Saudi foreign minister has not been among them. Biden’s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, pledged to produce a declassified account of Khashoggi’s killing, which is expected to incriminate the Saudi crown prince.
The US decision, if implemented fully, will have a knock-on effect on the UK arms industry since some UK products – such as the Paveway bomb widely used by Saudi Arabia –are linked to US arms contracts. The arms manufacturer Raytheon has already removed some orders from its books, according to evidence given to the British arms control select committee this week.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against the Arms Trade described the move as a “long overdue step towards ending the catastrophic and brutal war in Yemen.
“With the US ending this support, the onus is now firmly on the UK government to follow suit, or face international isolation. For the UK to continue to sustain a war that its closest ally is trying to end would be an untenable and shameful position. The UK must end arms sales and all military support and services to Saudi Arabia and the UAE now.”
Although the UK is not formally part of the Saudi coalition in Yemen, it does provide technical assistance to the Saudi air force , which the Ministry of Defence says is designed to help Saudi Arabia’s targeting meet standards of humanitarian law.
Biden’s move, which follows a similar decision by Italy, will increase pressure on the UK to suspend sales. Anna Stavrianakis, professor of international relations at the University of Sussex, said: “The UK now risks looking even further out of step with EU member states and potentially with the USA, which leaves the UK looking very isolated. For a country that is very invested in being seen to be at the forefront of the rule of law and multilateral arrangements, I think that is a very dangerous position for the UK government to get itself into.”
But the UK will be deeply reluctant to follow the US lead since the UK has licensed at least £5.4bn worth of fighter jets, mainly Typhoons and missiles, since the air campaign began in 2015. These costs exclude maintenance, as well as funds provided to the UK government in return for providing technical targeting advice to the Saudi air force.
The Biden administration has also stated its intention to re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, something that Riyadh has adamantly opposed. However, Biden officials have indicated that re-entry may be slow and complicated, as the new administration has insisted that Iran returns to compliance with the agreement before the US lifts sanctions. Iran has signalled it would accept a step-by-step sequenced approach by which both sides would return to the agreement.
Biden’s first set-piece foreign affairs speech was made at the state department, in a gesture of appreciation for US diplomats who were often depicted as a hostile “deep state” by Donald Trump.
“America is back. Diplomacy is back. You are at the centre of all that I intend to do. You are the heart of it,” Biden told US diplomats and civil service staff. “And in our administration, you’re going to be trusted and empowered to do your job.”
Biden’s speech is expected to emphasise multilateralism and the importance of the US setting an example on the world stage, and to that end the president was expected to pledge a significant increase in the number of refugees the country will accept, after the Trump administration reduced the intake to a few thousand. Biden has already issued an executive order, lifting the Trump immigration ban on Muslim-majority countries.
Pompeo's exit leaves new secretary of state with task of regaining department's trust
Read more
The early weeks of the Biden administration have also been marked by a rapid return to multilateralism. The US has rejoined the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization. The day before Biden’s foreign policy speech, Blinken signed a five-year extension to the New Start arms control agreement with Russia, two days before it was due to expire.
The previous administration had been largely hostile to the treaty, and set an array of preconditions for its extension, like the inclusion of China, or a broader freeze on warhead numbers, that Moscow was not prepared to accept.
Pompeo, derided the attachment of diplomats to treaties “for their own sake”. In his signing statement, Blinken stressed the value of New Start in assuring stability and transparency during the pursuit of a new, more ambitious agreement.
Biden announces end to US support for Saudi-led offensive in Yemen
Biden said ‘this war has to end’ in state department speech outlining overhaul of Trump’s foreign policies
