Third Party Fiasco

Third Party Fiasco

The twenty-first century has been plagued by tensions due to religion and foreign relations with countries in the Middle East. The political situation in Yemen is fragile as they are in the middle of a civil war. At the root of this civil war, is a political and religious revolution that has led to the overthrow of their government. With a long history of religious tensions between certain Middle Eastern nations, countries such as Saudi Arabia felt the need to get involved. The ways in which the kingdom has put itself through military action has led to the death of many innocent lives. Seven thousand and five hundred miles away, the United States of America is enabling the death of these Yemenites through their mass military weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. This economic venture must stop immediately. In 1940, the United States of America established full diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. According to the U.S. Department of State, friendly ties with the Saudi kingdom are extremely important due to their strategic location and immense oil reserves. The Department of State also states, that a friendship with Saudi Arabia is important since its leadership is promoting a peaceful and prosperous future for the region. In addition, the American government believes that this Middle Eastern country is a strong partner in regional security, and is extremely helpful in counterterrorism efforts by providing military, diplomatic, and financial cooperation. There are problems with these statements made by the U.S. Department of State. Although the U.S. should not sell weapons to foreign countries due to the dangers of the selling of exports, conflicts of political gains, and counter terrorism.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become one of the largest American export markets in the Middle East. The US’ main export to Saudi Arabia military equipment, especially bomber planes. Since 2012, there have been massive weapon sales to the kingdom. But what are these weapons being used for? Saudi Arabia has been using these planes and weapons to bomb Yemen, a country in which the American government has zero issues with. In fact, the American government claims that they support the Yemeni government and its people. The US government also claims that they are providing humanitarian assistance in Yemen. According to the U.S. Department of State, the United States of America have provided nearly thirty-nine million dollars to help Yemen since 2011. This is absurd. How could the U.S. government keep selling weapons and bomber planes to a country that is devastating a country in which Americans claim they are helping? The government’s humanitarian aid and support in Yemen will continue to be useless if they do not stop selling weapons to the Saudis. In the early 1970s, the U.S. had a special relationship with the Saudi royal family. Saudi Arabia had played an important role in turning African and Middle Eastern countries that supported the Soviet Union into American allies. In the 1980s, the Saudis became great friends of the Reagan administration. In 1985, Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy declared that Saudi Arabia was the “only government in the Arabian Peninsula both friendly to the United States and capable of playing a regional security role” (Patterns of Global Terrorism). This type of “special” relationship between the two nations changed at the turn of the twenty-first century.

By the mid 2000s, Saudi Arabia had lost its ability to influence the price of oil. This could have been caused by the U.S.’ invasion of Iraq in 2003. Several American government officials believed that a larger import of Iraqi oil would put financial pressure on Saudi Arabia, and lead the Kingdom to economic and political reform. Since then, the United States has tried to find other cleaner and cheaper alternatives to gas, and Saudi Arabia has turned its attention to other markets such as China, India, and other Asian countries. In 1946, the U.S. recognized the Kingdom of Yemen as a sovereign state. This is when the first diplomatic relations were established with Yemen. In 1962, the United States became one of the first countries to recognize the Yemen Arab Republic. Unfortunately, in 1967, in the wake of the Arab-Israeli conflict, relations started deteriorating. By 1969, the American Embassy in South Yemen was closed. However, four years later, after a visit to Sana’a by Secretary of State William P. Rogers, the United States resumed their diplomatic relationship with the Yemen Arab Republic. Although U.S.-Yemen relations have been rocky in the past three decades, the U.S. has built a strong and growing partnership with Yemen. When comparing America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and its relationship with Yemen, many might say that it is more important to backup the Saudis because of America’s historic friendship with the kingdom. However others disagree since it should be more justified than just going based off of relationships from the past. Although the U.S. has had a history of strong friendship with Saudi Arabia, this relationship has changed. It is no longer reasonable to say that the Saudi Arabian government has America’s best interests at heart. The United States needs to stop supporting the Saudi monarchy that encourages terrorism and that violates human rights. Instead, it should focus more of its attention on helping Yemen that has recently been a strong ally to the U.S.

When it comes to the U.S. Department of State’s claim that Saudi Arabia are active in counterterrorism efforts, there is nothing they could be more wrong about. Let us not forget September 11, 2001. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers who participated in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were Saudi nationals. Later that year, the American military that was fighting in Afghanistan found out that the Taliban regime was also in fact Saudi. Although some may argue that the acts of these few terrorists should not affect relationships between the American government and the Saudi royal family and government, there are more facts that shut down that argument. Since 9/11, the Saudi government has left the United States aside to pursue their own interests. The United States is indirectly funding terrorism through their economic relationship with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian political analyst and journalist Turki al-Hamad even insists that the religious extremism that the Saudi monarchy propagates “serves as fuel for ISIS.” According to the CATO institute, the Saudi government is useless in the fight against terrorism. In fact, the kingdom had been the principal financial backer of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan since 1996. Saudi Arabia has also been sending funds to terrorist groups such as Hamas. When it comes to Yemen however, they have actually been cooperative with the U.S. in counterterrorism