The U.S. should continue supplying fuel, intelligence and munitions to Saudi Arabia for its war against rebels in Yemen amid a Senate push to cut the support, the head of U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.
Senators who are sponsoring legislation to end the support have honed in on reports of civilian deaths at the hands of Saudi Arabia in the three-year-old war. But Gen. Joseph Votel told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. should keep up support so it can influence Riyadh toward limiting and investigating civilian casualties.
“Recently, Saudi Arabia has followed many of the things that we have done in terms of how we stand up architectures to investigate civilian casualties. These are problems that we have on occasion even as good as we are,” Votel said. “From my perspective, it is better for us to stay engaged with them and continue to influence. They want this type of support and they want to improve their capabilities.”
The general said it is “absolutely essential that we stay engaged” for the people of Yemen, which the United Nations has said is in the grips of a severe humanitarian crisis.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is a co-sponsor of legislation by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, that asks President Trump to end U.S. involvement in the Yemen war.
Votel told Warren that Central Command does not track the use of the Saudi planes and munitions supplied by the military. She cited a press report in February that a Saudi strike that killed five civilians and wounded 14.
“We need to be clear about this. Saudi Arabia is the one receiving American weapons and American support and that means we bear some responsibility here, and that means we need to hold our partners and our allies accountable for how those resources are used,” Warren said.
