The Biden administration has imposed a temporary freeze on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It would be a mistake for the freeze to be released.
President Biden pledged on the campaign trail to ensure American weapons aren’t used in Yemen. But withholding arms sales can help end the conflict entirely — something that would be a tremendous accomplishment. After all, the now six-year civil war in Yemen is not in America’s interests, is destabilizing the Middle East, and is a humanitarian and moral catastrophe. The war began when the Shia Houthi ethnic group overthrew a Sunni-led government. Famine is ever-present, given blockades of food and medical supplies, and almost 250,000 people have died.
America bears direct responsibility for some of the suffering. Almost immediately after Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war, the Obama administration began supporting the intervention with arms sales and logistical support, such as in-flight refueling. The Trump administration followed suit with its support for Saudi Arabia.
Is this in the United States’s interests?
The Washington foreign policy establishment offers three reasons to support the Saudi’s war in Yemen. First, they say Iran is expanding its influence and must be countered. But the Houthis are nationalists and largely tied to Iran due to Tehran’s military support and their shared animosity toward the Saudis. Second, the establishment worries about Iran gaining a strategic chokehold over the Bab el Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden through which much of the world’s oil transits. They ignore the truth that a peace plan, centered on a return to a divided Yemen, could easily include the Sunni side maintaining control over the Strait. Finally, they say U.S. assistance is crucial to defeating al Qaeda jihadists based in southern Yemen. But the U.S. can go after terrorists without helping the Saudi-led coalition create more of them.
Instead of fueling a terrible war, the Biden administration should pressure Riyadh into suspending its bombing campaign and blockade. The U.S. could stop assisting Saudi operations out of the U.S. military base in Djibouti. And arms sales should be guided by U.S. interests, not support for an intervention that undermines our interests and values. This is a real concern. The Saudis have consistently failed to differentiate between Houthi armed formations and civilians. Saudi aircrews have indiscriminately bombed civilians on several occasions. The U.S. will have more blood on its hands if it continues to assist this belligerence. Ending arms sales would encourage Saudi Arabia to settle.
A broader recalibration of the U.S.-Saudi relationship is long overdue. There is no grand strategy behind America’s close ties with Saudi Arabia, especially given America’s newfound energy independence. Iran is also far less powerful than it is made out to be. Much of the hyperhawkishness directed at Iran serves Saudi interests, not American ones. Why can’t Saudi Arabia, with its vast wealth and well-equipped military, deter Iran from attacking its interests?
By tying ourselves to Saudi Arabia’s blood feud, America is picking sides in Islam’s 1,400-year-old Sunni-Shia conflict. That’s not good for America, but it is good fuel for this sectarian conflict in the Middle East. Biden should start fixing things by correcting U.S. policy toward Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Willis L. Krumholz is a fellow at Defense Priorities. He holds a JD and MBA degree from the University of St. Thomas and works in the financial services industry.
