WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Todd Young is joining a group of bipartisan senators in signing a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to put pressure on both Saudi Arabia and the UAE to stop giving U.S. weapons to militia groups in Yemen.
The small country that borders Saudi Arabia is locked in a civil war, which Young has referred to the worst international humanitarian crisis today.
“A lot of problems persist,” Young said on the Senate floor last year. “The longer the civil war persists in Yemen, the worse the humanitarian crisis will grow.”
In the letter, Young said the some of the weapons the Saudi’s and Emiratis are giving away could be ending up in the hands of militias that are aligned with terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda.
“We expect vital security partners like Saudi Arabia and the UAE to show due care with respect to protecting transfers of sensitive U.S. military technology,” the senators said in the letter. ““Negligent treatment of sensitive U.S. military technology, including the possible violation of important restrictions on third party use, could further destabilize the region.”
Young said the weapon’s transfers may also be in violation of sale agreements between the US and the Saudi’s as laid out in US law under the Arms Export Control Act.
As a result, the senators are requesting a briefing from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the issue. They also wants steps to be taken by the US Department of Defense to ensure these “inappropriate transfers” are not happening in the future.
(PHOTO: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
