時政擂台 今日: 0|主題: 60274

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/yemen-civilian-deaths-saudi-arabia-us-senate-arms-weapons-saudis/

CBS/AP September 23, 2016, 8:40 AM

U.S. to sell Saudi $1B weapons amid"deep concern" over civilian deaths

SANAA, Yemen -- TheUnited Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed “deep concern”over increasing attacks against civilians in Yemen with a total of 180civilians killed in one month, raising the death toll to nearly 4000 sinceMarch 2015.

Cecile Pouilly at theUN agency said on Friday that August also marked an increase in the number ofattacks against civilian facilities including hospitals, markets, and places ofworship.

Her statement came only two days afterairstrikes by the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition bombed houses in the Red Seaport city of Hodeidah, killing at least 32 civilians.

Meanwhile, rebels known as Houthis havecontinued to tighten their siege on the city of Taiz, where they are fightinglocal forces aligned with the internationally-recognized government.

Starvation killing scores as Yemen warquietly drags on​

The U.S. Senate onWednesday backed the Obama administration’s plan to sell more than $1 billionworth of American-made tanks and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, soundly defeating a bid to derail the deal pushed by lawmakerscritical of the kingdom’s role in Yemen’s civil war.

(註：沙地阿拉伯的武器不只用在也門，還供應敘利亞的恐怖分子，推翻敘利亞政府是沙地阿拉伯的目標，不過美國話，供應武器給沙地阿拉伯是用來對抗恐怖分子)

Senators who supported the sale said theUnited States can’t deny its Middle East allies the weapons they need to combatIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremists and check Iran’s aggressionin the region.

“Blocking this sale of tanks will beinterpreted by our Gulf partners, not just Saudi Arabia, as another sign thatthe United States of America is abandoning our commitment to the region and isan unreliable security partner,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chairmanof the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Although a resolution against the salefailed to advance on a vote of 71-27, the measure’s sponsors said the debatedemonstrated that congressional support for arms sales -- even to a longtimeand important Middle East ally -- isn’t automatic. They also used the time toinsist that Congress play a larger role in foreign policy decisions, especiallythose involving the use of military force.

The war in Yemen is pitting the country’sinternationally recognized government and a Saudi-led coalition against theShiite rebels known as Houthis, who are allied with army units loyal to aformer president. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes inYemen since March 2015 and thousands of civilians have been killed in thefighting, according to the U.N. human rights chief.

The United States is supporting theSaudi-led coalition with intelligence and logistical support, includingrefueling aircraft, according to senators opposed to the sale. Most Americansare unaware of how involved their military is in Yemen, they said, adding thatlawmakers never have fully discussed whether the participation advances U.S.national security interests.

“Should Congress just lie down and be alapdog for the president?” asked Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a sponsor of theresolution. “Everyone should understand that this is a proxy vote for whetherwe should be at war in the Middle East.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who alsoopposed the sale, said the Saudis have bombed areas that the U.S. has askedthem to avoid. At the same time, the ISIS and al Qaeda are growing “by leapsand bounds,” Murphy said, because the Saudis are hitting primarily Houthi andcivilian targets.

“Let’s press the Saudis to get seriousabout spending more time as firefighters and less time as arsonists in theglobal fight against terrorism,” Murphy said.

The American Bar Association said last weekthere are credible reports Saudi forces have used American-made militaryequipment to carry out “indiscriminate and disproportionate” attacks oncivilians.

The U.S. should suspend further securityassistance to Saudi Arabia “at least until such time as it can be crediblydetermined” that the allegations have been investigated and the kingdom isabiding by the law of armed conflict, the director of the bar association’sgovernmental affairs office said in a Sept. 14 letter to Murphy and Paul.

The Defense Department informed Congress ofthe proposed $1.15 billion sale to Saudi Arabia on Aug. 8. The deal involvesmore than 100 main battle tanks, machine guns, smoke grenade launchers,night-vision devices, vehicles to recover damaged tanks from the battlefield,and thousands of rounds of training ammunition.

The primary contractor for the equipment isGeneral Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights, Michigan.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’adal-Hussein last month called for an international investigation of rightsabuses and violence in Yemen. His Geneva office released a 22-page report thatchronicled abuses on both sides in the conflict.

Roughly 3,799 civilians had been killedsince the air campaign began, according to Zeid’s report. The U.N. and rightsgroups estimated at least 9,000 people overall have died. Nearly 3 million morepeople have also been displaced inside the Arab world’s poorest country.

Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition wereresponsible for 60 percent of the 2,067 civilians killed in the conflict over ayearlong span starting on July 1, 2015, according to the report. Just underone-quarter - 475 - of the civilian deaths were attributed to rebel forces likethose loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and 113 to affiliates of alQaeda and ISIS.