The U.S. does not blindly give Saudi Arabia military aid, White House spokesman Josh Earnest reiterated Wednesday.
“Our security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check, and we do have expectations about the conduct of our partners,” Earnest said, repeating what the National Security Council said over the weekend in the wake of a Saudi strike on a funeral hall in Yemen.
Washington said on Saturday that it was reviewing assistance to the Riyadh-led coalition engaged in Yemen’s civil war.
The U.S. “primarily” offers Saudi Arabia “logistical support,” Earnest said. “We do share some intelligence with them, but the United States does not do targeting for them. The Saudis and their partners use some of the intelligence that we have collected, but they make their own targeting decisions.”
Despite admonishing Riyadh for launching a strike that killed many civilians, Earnest said the kingdom is understandably trying to quell Yemen’s violence.
The U.S. “partners in Saudi Arabia have a legitimate security concern with the violence inside of Yemen,” Earnest said. “Saudi Arabia has a rather long border with Yemen and there have been incidents of cross-border violence, including the firing of mortars across that border into Saudi Arabia that does threaten Saudi citizens.
“So it’s understandable that Saudi Arabia would want to confront this threat, but … there are expectations that we have as well,” Earnest said.
