US Senate Must Probe Pompeo Support For Saudi War In Yemen - Sanders

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2018) Congress must conduct a probe into reports that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has supported Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen to protect the US defense industry, Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Pompeo decided to continue military aid in support of the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen because an embargo would jeopardize $2 billion in US arms sales to Gulf state allies.

"Pompeo: human lives are worth far more than defense contractor profits. We must end America's involvement in this disastrous and unconstitutional war," Sanders said in a Tweet on Thursday that included a link to the WSJ article. "The Senate must also investigate this effort to mislead us.

"

According to classified memos cited in the report, Pompeo overruled State Department specialists who were concerned about the rising civilian death toll in Yemen. The top US diplomat instead sided with the State Department's legislative affairs team after they argued 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.

A recent UN report found that the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes were responsible for most of more than 16,000 civilians killed or injured in Yemen over the past three years. Saudi Arabia has been launching airstrikes on Houthi rebels at the request of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government since March 2015.