As Civilian Deaths in Yemen Mount, Trump Moves to Sell Saudi Arabia Billions More in Bombs

Further demonstrating the willingness of the U.S. to reward and perpetuate the war crimes of its allies, the Trump administration is reportedly moving ahead with a multi-billion-dollar sale of so-called “smart bombs” to Saudi Arabia just weeks after the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition bombed a wedding in Yemen, killing more than 20 people.

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“At least 236 civilians were killed and 238 injured in Yemen in April—a total of 474 civilian casualties, well over double the 180 civilian casualties documented in March this year.”
—U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights

First reported by The Intercept‘s Alex Emmons on Friday, the precise details of the deal—which also includes weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates—are not entirely unclear as it is in the preliminary stages, “but it is said to include tens of thousands of precision-guided munitions from Raytheon,” the company that helped produce weaponry used in the deadly wedding airstrike last month.

“The sale in question is a direct commercial transaction between Raytheon and the Gulf countries, which does not require the government to publicly announce the sale at the time of congressional notification,” Emmons reported. “That means it will be up to senators to decide how many of the details to make public.”

The reported weapons deal—which could be sent to Congress as early as next week—comes as some American lawmakers are increasingly calling attention to U.S. complicity in Saudi Arabia’s vicious, years-long assault on Yemen.

In March, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) led a failed legislative effort to bring an end to U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia.