Senator Calls On U.S. To Stop Unconditionally Supporting Saudi Arabia

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat and freshman senator from Connecticut, wants to change the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia. Murphy is calling for the US begin holding the Middle Eastern ally more accountable for their actions.

“Our interests are not aligned in fundamental ways, in the way that many new senators and congressmen are taught when you show up here,” Sen. Murphy said during an event September 19 at the Center for National Interest, reports the Huffington Post.

“If consistency is your ultimate goal here, then I guess we should answer the call any time the Saudis ask,” Murphy later continued. “But if your goal is to create a more functional relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia then occasionally you have to say no … I think the Saudis need to show us something in return, and I don’t see a lot of evidence over the last five years for that to be the case.”

According to The Intercept, Murphy’s concern was amplified when the Senate voted on September 21 on a $1.15 billion arms transfer to the Arab Kingdom.

“It’s time for the United States to press ‘pause’ on our arms sales to Saudi Arabia,” Murphy said. “Let’s ask ourselves whether we are comfortable with the United States getting slowly, predictably, and all too quietly dragged into yet another war in the Middle East.”

Fellow Democratic senator Al Franken, who supported the resolution, added, “very fact that we are voting on it today sends a very important message to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that we are watching your actions closely, and that the United States is not going to turn a blind eye to the indiscriminate killing of men, women, and children.”

Ray Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, praised the dissent of the senators who opposed the bill.

“Today, for the first time since the war in Yemen began, 27 senators voiced the first cries of dissent against our government’s unconditional and unlimited support for the Saudi-led coalition,” Offenheiser wrote in a statement. “Concern in Congress regarding the situation in Yemen and the US’s heartless and disjointed approach to it will only grow stronger.”

“Never before have so many Senators gone on record supporting a rethink of the US-Saudi relationship,” Sen. Murphy tweeted after the vote. “Didn’t win, but a strong message. … Lots of Senators who voted for the sale mentioned to me how good it felt to be openly debating foreign policy in the Senate again.”

Sources: Huffington Post, The Intercept / Photo Credit: Disney/ABC Television Group/Flickr