Trump Wants To Prolong Yemen War To Boost US Arms Industry, Expand Personal Wealth

President Donald Trump vetoed a measure to end support for the war in Yemen because he wants US defense contractors to continue supplying arms to the Saudi-led coalition in addition to enhancing his own personal fortune, analysts told Sputnik

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) President Donald Trump vetoed a measure to end support for the war in Yemen because he wants US defense contractors to continue supplying arms to the Saudi-led coalition in addition to enhancing his own personal fortune, analysts told Sputnik.

Trump earlier this week vetoed a resolution directing the White House to end US involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Although both houses passed the bill with bipartisan support, US Congress appears to lack the requisite bicameral two-thirds vote to override Trump's veto.

The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at the government's request since March 2015. The United States has provided members of the Saudi-led coalition with military assistance such as intelligence sharing, logistics support and, until recently, aerial refueling.

The fighting in Yemen has resulted in one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises, with about 22 million people in need of some form of humanitarian assistance or protection, according to the United Nations.

A UN human rights report released last year attributed most of the 16,000 civilian deaths in Yemen to Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on targets such as hospitals, schools and open-air markets. The report also said that all parties to the conflict are likely responsible for war crimes.

Several times since taking office the US president has publicly said he refuses to halt military aid to Saudi Arabia and its Gulf state allies because US defense contractors would lose billions in revenue. In 2017, Saudi Arabia after talks with Trump agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States.

In November of last year, amid pressure from US lawmakers to punish Riyadh for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump warned that "foolishly" canceling arms contracts with Saudi Arabia would benefit China and Russia.

In terms of personal benefits, Trump in a statement in October said he had "no financial interests" in Saudi Arabia and any suggestions to the contrary constituted fake news. However, during a campaign speech in mid-2015 the New York billionaire boasted that Saudi Arabia buys hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of "toys" from the Trump organization.

The State Department, often quick to condemn foreign countries for any sort of perceived rights abuses has been strangely silent on the Yemen war. US law forbids providing any military assistance to a foreign country with an atrocious human rights record, yet despite clear evidence to the contrary the State Department re-authorized such aid to Saudi Arabia anyway.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing classified memos, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last fall decided to continue military aid to the Saudi-led coalition because an embargo would jeopardize $2 billion in US arms sales to Gulf state allies. Specifically, the Trump administration was worried that suspending support could undercut plans to sell more than 120,000 precision-guided missiles to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the report said.

Pompeo, the report added, even overruled State Department specialists who opposed reauthorizing military aid to the Gulf States amid the rising civilian death toll in Yemen.

Institute for Gulf Affairs Founder and Director Ali al-Ahmed suggested that Trump's decision to extend support for the war in Yemen would only benefit the US military-industrial establishment.

"The US is happy this war is going because it makes lots of money for its companies and it kills Arabs on both sides," al-Ahmed said. "This is a win-win for the US."

Al-Ahmed argued that even if Trump approved the measure the administration would have helped its Saudi allies in other ways.

"The war won't stop even if Trump did not veto it as they would have supported it using private armies, but they want to partake in this and wet their fingers with Yemeni blood," he said.

The timing of Trump's action also appeared to confirm the continuing major influence his uniformed generals directly had on his policymaking, al-Ahmed observed.

"It looks like Trump listened to his generals on this one. A day ahead of the veto, US Central Command commander Kenneth McKenzie met the Saudi king and his son Mohammed bin Salman," al-Ahmed said.

Independent Institute Center for Peace & Freedom Director Ivan Eland told Sputnik that some of Trump's motivations and excuses were built on faulty premises.

"Trump wants to use Saudi Arabia as a bulwark against Iran in the Middle East and is convinced, erroneously, that the US is dependent on Saudi oil exports and arms purchases," Eland said.

Trump also appeared to want to cash in on Saudi support for his many ventures when he stepped down from the presidency, Eland observed.

"One cannot rule out Trump's desire for personal existing and future business deals with the kingdom," Eland said.

Al-Ahmed warned that US support for the Saudis in fighting the unwinnable war in Yemen was bound to backfire catastrophically on both countries.

"This policy will change the Middle East and spell the end of the Saudi Monarchy," al-Ahmed said.

Eland also claimed that Trump was treading on dangerous territory in blindly supporting the Saudis and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as "MBS."

"It is a dangerous stance, because Mohammed bin Salman had Khashoggi killed, fleeced rich Saudis, ostracized Qatar aggressively with economic sanctions, cracked down on internal dissent, and has killed many civilians in Yemen," Eland said.

These policies had proved enormously embarrassing and damaging to Washington, Eland pointed out. The Saudi Crown Prince, he added, gave his US "enabler" a black eye.

"Saudi Arabia is now a rogue state and MBS is a loose cannon," Eland concluded.