News - World: If the Biden administration is serious about reducing hostilities in Yemen, the most obvious thing to do is to make it harder for Saudi Arabia to buy US weapons. What is happening is the opposite and arms deals continue to flow to support Saudi-led Aggression.

Saudi Arabia has been the top purchaser of US weapons for the past decade, all authorized despite their attacks on civilians in Yemen. The argument for selling Saudi Arabia — a well‐known abuser of human rights — more weapons is that such sales will provide the United States leverage in the bilateral relationship. 

But the Departments of State and Defense routinely fail to assess the civilian death toll of these weapons transfers, despite reports that the Saudi‐led coalition used US weapons against civilians and civilian infrastructure in their war in Yemen. 

To make matters worse, the US Air Force has participated in joint exercises with at least 80% of Saudi air squadrons in Yemen, and at least four trainings took place on American soil.

US arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been unrestrained, regardless of their potential consequences. 

However, the US government has recently claimed that certain weapons are being sold to Saudi Arabia to prevent human rights violations and protect US troops under threat from the Yemeni's Armed Forces to attack Saudi territory.

It is clear that US arms sales to Saudi Arabia create a moral hazard in Yemen. The more Washington sends, the more innocent civilians Saudi Arabia can kill. This creates a vicious cycle in which Washington becomes increasingly entangled in these human rights abuses.

Furthermore, public opinion is in favor of ending these sales. In a recent Eurasia Group Foundation poll, nearly 70% of Americans disagree with sending arms to Saudi Arabia, regardless of party. Thus, there are human rights, security, and domestic political reasons to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia until a permanent ceasefire is reached in Yemen.

Given President Joe Biden’s advisors, the lack of conversation around Yemen — specifically related to aid — is unsurprising. Beyond stating that the Biden administration wants to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in general, Yemen is not mentioned whatsoever in the 2022 National Defense Strategy, either. 

This all, unfortunately, reaffirms the reality that the Biden administration will not change its Yemen policy, even though doing so would improve US human rights policy.

The Saudi Arabian‐led human rights catastrophe in Yemen is the worst manmade disaster in the 21st century. Should the United States stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia? 

The simple answer is yes, but reality is complicated. Should the US military cease joint military exercises after knowing how the Saudi Arabian military is deliberately targeting civilians? Again, the simple answer is yes but experts would say that entangling military relations is difficult.