Democrats to back Republican opposition of Saudi arms deal

Senate Democrats will give their support to Republican Senator Rand Paul in opposing a segment of an arms deal agreed by US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia.

Democrats are set to cast a protest vote against Trump’s proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia, a move, believes the Washington Post, that represents an unprecedented rebuke of Saudi Arabia’s activities in war-torn Yemen. The vote will not however prevent the deal from going ahead.

#YemeniCrisis

Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, yesterday announced he was supporting a resolution offered by Paul and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Al Franken of Minnesota to block the sale of $510 million of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia.

Their efforts come on the back of a previous failed attempt last year, to block a tank sale to Saudi Arabia led also by Paul and Murphy. Only 27 senators, four of them Republicans, supported the resolution.

Read: Trump is fostering chaos in the Middle East

“I will support Senator Murphy’s resolution of disapproval,” Schumer said in a statement reported by CNN. “The human rights and humanitarian concerns have been well documented and are important: of equal concern to me is that the Saudi government continues to aid and abet terrorism via its relationship with Wahhabism and the funding of schools that spread extremist propaganda throughout the world.”

The top Senate Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came out against the munitions sale to Saudi Arabia last week, citing the Trump administration’s decision to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia instead of trying to find a solution to the civil war in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition is accused of bombing civilians.

I believe it’s important for President Trump to present to us a strategy for how we’re going to end the conflict in Yemen

Maryland Senator, Ben Cardin, told reporters yesterday.

It is believed that with the backing of Schumer and Cardin, the vote on the Saudi arms sale could be razor-thin – certainly much closer than the 71-27 vote to dismiss a similar resolution from Paul and Murphy last year.