The United States has been making a lot of big arms sales to Saudi Arabia in recent years. Recently, though, there has been a push to halt the sales on a number of grounds, including the ongoing civil war in Yemen (the Saudis are backing the Yemeni government against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels) and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Halting the arms sales would be a huge mistake, and should the disapproval resolutions reach his desk, President Trump should veto them.
To be sure, the Saudis, while making some moves in the right direction, are not angels. Khashoggi’s murder was deliberate and brutal. It should outrage people who value freedom of the press. But cutting off arms sales and support for the Saudi efforts in Yemen would be giving Iran a couple of huge boosts just to say America owned the Saudis over Khashoggi in particular and human rights in general.
Yemen sits on the Bab el Mandeb, a maritime choke point that is the southern entrance to the Red Sea. It is, essentially, Israel’s maritime back door. Aden, in the south, is also a major port, used by the United Kingdom as a military base until 1967. If the Houthis take control and drive out the government, it means that the Iranian-sponsored rebels will have the ability to contest passage through the Bab el Mandeb. They have already fired on an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer on multiple occasions and attacked a vessel that delivered humanitarian aid.
That doesn’t even begin to touch Iran’s record. Since 1979, Iran has taken Americans hostage, sponsored terrorist attacks, provided insurgents in Iraq weapons that were used to kill American servicemembers, and leaders of the regime have openly and repeatedly expressed the desire to wipe Israel off the map. In the last two weeks, Iran has mined two oil tankers and fired on two American unmanned aerial vehicles, shooting one of them down.
Why does America not reach out to Turkey? Turkey has not exactly been a reliable ally during the regime of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The decision to yank the F-35 from that country is the right one, even if the Erdoğan regime’s purchase of the S-400 air-defense system is the wrong reason. If we can’t trust Turkey with the F-35, can we trust them with other weapon systems? The answer would appear to be no.
Again, noting that the Saudis are not angels should not blind us to the fact that they have helped America out in the past. As Historians Peter Schweizer (in his 1994 book, Victory) and Larry Schweikart (whose biography of Ronald Reagan was released earlier this year) noted that in the 1980s, their increase of oil production helped bring down the Soviet Union. Furthermore, when America has turned its back on those who fought alongside us or who were friendly, it hasn’t worked out well. Did things get better or worse in the Middle East when we abandoned the Shah of Iran over his bad human rights record? Did things improve in Egypt when we turned our back on Hosni Mubarak in favor of the Arab Spring? What evidence is there that dumping Mohammed bin Salman over human rights and Khashoggi will work out any better for America – or the world, for that matter?
Nobody wants to see a war break out between the United States and Iran. But cutting off weapons sales to Saudi Arabia is a good way to make war more likely, not less. If Saudi Arabia is weakened, Iran will be more likely to continue to be aggressive as the Trump administration keeps the pressure on that regime. A stronger Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, leaves Iran less room to maneuver. In the Middle East, America must often choose between a number of options that are less than ideal. Sticking with the Saudis is the least bad option the United States has at this time.
Harold Hutchison has 15 years of experience covering military issues for multiple outlets.
