Vox - Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappears in Turkeyhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2019-07-10T13:30:00-04:00http://www.vox.com/rss/stream/177641532019-07-10T13:30:00-04:002019-07-10T13:30:00-04:00“Trump is quite easy to buy off”: how Trump is putting American foreign policy up for sale
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<img alt="President Donald Trump holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vEC0qP3fYwqoleCCjIg1iSjMx2U=/169x0:3142x2230/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64701063/935180874.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>President Donald Trump holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the White House on March 20, 2018, in Washington, DC. | Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Want to understand Trump’s foreign policy? Just follow the money.</p> <p id="dULcfO">In Donald Trump’s America, what drives foreign policy decision-making in Washington isn’t interests and values — it’s cash and ego. And other countries have noticed. </p>
<p id="MYmkQb">Want the US to stop criticizing your terrible human rights record? Dangle a possible trade deal. Want the Trump administration to give you a pass on the gruesome assassination of a prominent critic of your brutal regime? A few billion dollars’ worth of US arms purchases should do the trick. Need to get the American president on your side in a messy geopolitical fight? Buy some Boeing airplanes.</p>
<p id="CBk9or">Those aren’t just hypothetical scenarios. They describe three very real foreign policy decisions the Trump administration made in the past year. </p>
<p id="T38ARg">From China to Saudi Arabia to Qatar, Trump has either backed down or changed course on holding countries accountable for human rights abuses and other bad behaviors solely because of the money they spend — or say they’ll spend — in the United States.</p>
<p id="51hQ93">In effect, Trump has put US foreign policy up for sale. “Trump is quite easy to buy off for other countries,” Emma Ashford, a US foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, told me.</p>
<h3 id="olNdGg">Countries know how to play Trump to get what they want</h3>
<p id="TVLKuO">For some experts, Trump is a visceral manifestation of an ugly truth of America’s conduct in the world.</p>
<p id="PbH4Sj">“Trump’s actions take to new, depressing heights what’s been true for a while: US foreign policy has become unmoored from strategic vision and moral purpose alike,” Stephen Wertheim, a US foreign policy historian at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told me. “Trump’s shtick is that the world turns on base motives, and he’s brought this ethos to foreign policy.”</p>
<p id="2lJv6G">But Trump is clearly the latest and greatest practitioner of this longstanding practice.</p>
<p id="9eogVl">Let’s start with China. Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked Trump to back off criticizing Beijing for its crackdown on pro-democracy <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/11/18661007/hong-kong-protest-2019-china-extradition">protests in Hong Kong</a>, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Trump accepted — because Xi made it a condition to restart sputtering trade talks between their two countries.</p>
<p id="ppJeix">The <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3ef12a1e-a2b8-11e9-a282-2df48f366f7d">Financial Times</a>, which first reported that exchange on Wednesday, also noted that the Trump administration pressured the outgoing US consul general to Hong Kong, Kurt Tong, not to mention China’s policy toward the city in his farewell speech.</p>
<p id="iaA9zy">Xi continues to use the trade talks as a lure to get what he wants from the American president. First, he asked that the US stay quiet on China putting more than a million <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/15/17684226/uighur-china-camps-united-nations">Uighur Muslims</a> in reeducation camps. Second, he pushed for Trump to reverse the ban on US businesses working with Chinese telecommunications giants <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/2/20677625/republicans-donald-trump-huawei-china-trade">Huawei and ZTE</a> — even though Trump’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/technology/pompeo-huawei-britain.html">own administration says doing that is a national security risk</a>. </p>
<p id="TXdZo6">Asking Trump to tone it down on the Hong Kong criticism is now the third time Xi has run the same play on Trump. And each time, it seems, the president has fallen for it.</p>
<p id="olh2Ep">Saudi Arabia has gotten in on the game too.</p>
<p id="KgN34O">Last October, Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/9/17950992/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-istanbul-disappearance">Jamal Khashoggi</a> was killed inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in an operation <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-jamal-khashoggis-assassination/2018/11/16/98c89fe6-e9b2-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.0ca64cb9a9b4">personally ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman</a>, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. </p>
<p id="4Hcihf">After a week of calls from members of Congress for Trump to punish Saudi Arabia, and the crown prince himself, for the killing, Trump said he wouldn’t — because the country was spending a lot of money in America.</p>
<p id="S0Dt6N">“This took place in Turkey and to the best of our knowledge, Khashoggi is not a United States citizen,” he <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/10/11/17964494/washington-post-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-trump-saudi-arabia">told reporters</a> in the Oval Office on October 11, 2018. “I don’t like stopping massive amounts of money that’s being poured into our country,” referring to his desire to sell <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/06/05/the-110-billion-arms-deal-to-saudi-arabia-is-fake-news/">$110 billion</a> worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, adding that “it would not be acceptable to me.”</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trump on possibility of punishing Saudi Arabia for apparently murdering a dissident journalist: "I don't like stopping massive amounts of money that's being poured into our country... they are spending $110b on military equipment and on things that create jobs for this country." <a href="https://t.co/QkzWPa5zcL">pic.twitter.com/QkzWPa5zcL</a></p>— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1050425382535684097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2018</a>
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<p id="thki1z">It was perhaps one of Trump’s most honest articulations about how he conducts foreign policy: He won’t call out a country that infringes on human dignity as long as it’s willing to inject cash into the American economy. And it’s especially fine if the affected people aren’t US citizens. Trump, in this case, put a price tag on Khashoggi’s life.</p>
<p id="1raVIm">The administration <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-khashoggi/us-imposes-sanctions-for-khashoggi-killing-saudis-seek-death-penalty-idUSKCN1NK2VB">did sanction 17 Saudi officials in November</a>, and Trump has expressed his displeasure with the murder, but he refuses to publicly blame the crown prince for his orchestration.</p>
<p id="uJy7e9">Trump’s fire sale of US foreign policy continued this week during the White House visit of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. It was only two years ago that Trump called <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/6/16/15810998/trump-qatar-arms-sale-plane-f15">Qatar a “funder of terrorism at a very high level”</a> and effectively supported a <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/6/6/15739606/saudi-arabia-ties-qatar-trump">Saudi-led diplomatic blockade</a> of the country. </p>
<p id="xtlJro">But in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump continued his <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/6/16/15810998/trump-qatar-arms-sale-plane-f15">stunning reversal</a> on the small Gulf state, saying that he’s fine with Qatar now because it wants to spend around $85 billion on US weapons, aircraft, and more.</p>
<p id="6I4MEj">“They’re investing very heavily in our country. They’re creating a lot of jobs. They’re buying tremendous amounts of military equipment, including planes,” <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-amir-al-thani-state-qatar-bilateral-meeting/">Trump told reporters</a>. “And they’re buying commercial planes, as you know — very large numbers of commercial planes from Boeing. And we very much appreciate it.”</p>
<p id="eFcAYg">This doesn’t keep happening by accident — it’s a deliberate strategy by other countries to manipulate the president. “A lot of foreign leaders are now relying either on flattery and pomp to woo Trump, or they come to Washington with proof of ‘big deals’ that will appeal to him in this way,” says Cato’s Ashford.</p>
<p id="Vn30i0">“It’s not so much that he’s a bad negotiator, but that he’s negotiating for different things than most presidents,” she continued. “He wants big wins that look good for him in the media; a promise from another country to invest in US jobs does that, even if it doesn’t solve any long-term problems, and even if the investment never actually happens.”</p>
<p id="wToed4">Which means that the only thing really anyone needs to do to understand US foreign policy these days isn’t to read policy documents, listen to high-profile speeches, or have an innate understanding of America’s history. No, one just has to follow the money.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/7/10/20688825/trump-china-trade-saudi-arabia-qatar-saleAlex Ward2019-06-10T10:10:00-04:002019-06-10T10:10:00-04:00Why a new bipartisan effort could damage Trump’s plans for closer US-Saudi ties
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<img alt="President Donald Trump meets Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office on March 20, 2018." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5FTsfrZ7CUNfONN3YvywRaESA38=/146x0:3265x2339/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63978646/935169626.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>President Donald Trump meets Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office on March 20, 2018. | Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) aim to force a vote on US-Saudi relations and weapons sales.</p> <p id="oiKUxC">President Donald Trump for months has sidestepped Congress to enhance his deeply controversial relationship with Saudi Arabia. But on Monday, a bipartisan Senate effort will start a short process to force a vote on those ties — and possibly deliver one of the strongest rebukes to the administration’s foreign policy.</p>
<p id="UK3CXp">In May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used a legal loophole to export roughly <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/24/18638286/us-loophole-saudi-arabia-uae-weapons-sale">$8 billion</a> in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. That angered lawmakers — who have the authority to approve or reject weapons sales — from both parties because Riyadh has yet to face any real punishment for the October killing of Saudi journalist, dissident, and US resident <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/19/18002086/saudi-arabia-admits-jamal-khashoggi-killed-turkey-trump">Jamal Khashoggi</a>. </p>
<p id="jSk7jD">Plus, both countries have waged a four-year, US-backed <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/13/18088004/yemen-war-saudi-uae-coalition-houthi-usa-mattis-un">war in Yemen</a> that has killed more than 50,000 and left <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1032811">tens of millions in need of humanitarian aid</a>.</p>
<p id="dNohUu">But there is a provision in a <a href="https://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/Arms%20Export%20Control%20Act.pdf">weapons export law</a> allowing the executive branch to sell arms without congressional sign-off if “an emergency exists which requires the proposed sale in the national security interest of the United States.” Administrations rarely invoke it, <a href="https://twitter.com/maxbergmann/status/1131737512714678273">experts say</a>, mainly because of how controversial it is and the high bar required to claim such a dire situation exists. The Trump administration chose to use it in this case, though, citing a perceived <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/20/18628977/usa-iran-war-proxy-nuclear-oil">threat from Iran</a> against its two Gulf allies.</p>
<p id="WxfnYZ">It’s clear now that lawmakers want much more of a say.</p>
<p id="7q2daj"><a href="https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-young-announce-privileged-resolution-to-force-vote-on-us-saudi-security-relationship-recent-arms-sale">Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Chris Murphy (D-CT)</a>, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced Sunday that they would introduce a bill compelling legislators to vote on sending weapons and military aid to Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p id="SANYIi">The resolution would <a href="https://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/Foreign%20Assistance%20Act%20Of%201961.pdf">see lawmakers vote</a> on requesting a report from the administration about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. After receiving the document within 30 days, the legally mandated deadline, Congress can then vote on whether or not to sell arms and give other support to Riyadh.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The resolution <a href="https://twitter.com/SenToddYoung?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenToddYoung</a> and I will introduce tomorrow is an innovative one. It first requires a human rights report from Trump on Saudi Arabia. Once the report is submitted, then we can force a vote on reforming the U.S.-Saudi security relationship - at a 50 vote threshold.</p>— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1137854771375853570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2019</a>
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<p id="LHEaaF">Young and Murphy, skeptical of Trump’s coziness with Saudi Arabia and the Yemen war, believe their measure will help Congress claw back some foreign policy authority.</p>
<p id="O8KGjO">“Our arms sales to Saudi Arabia demand Congressional oversight. This bipartisan resolution simply asks the Secretary of State to report on some basic questions before moving forward with them,” said Young in a <a href="https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-young-announce-privileged-resolution-to-force-vote-on-us-saudi-security-relationship-recent-arms-sale">statement</a>. </p>
<p id="XhGPiX">“The process we are setting in motion will allow Congress to weigh in on the totality of our security relationship with Saudi Arabia, not just one arms sale, and restore Congress’s role in foreign policy making,” noted Murphy.</p>
<p id="vwNLxO">Their effort on Monday could fail, of course. A State Department spokesperson told <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/09/arm-sales-senate-saudi-arabia-1358440">Politico</a> on Sunday that the sales would go forward because the weapons are “needed to help our partners better defend themselves and to reinforce recent changes to US posture in the region to deter Iran.” It’s also unclear how much support the two senators will receive when they introduce their resolution. </p>
<p id="oTQbuK">What is clear, though, is that the Trump administration continues to face stiff resistance from Congress on its unwavering alliance with Saudi Arabia — and that’s causing some major headaches for the White House.</p>
<h3 id="o907xp">The biggest threat to closer US-Saudi ties? Congress.</h3>
<p id="eSxDAR">Just last week, Young and Murphy joined a <a href="https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-menendez-graham-paul-leahy-young-reed-announce-22-joint-resolutions-to-block-weapons-sales-to-saudi-arabia-and-uae-without-congressional-approval">broader bipartisan group</a> — including staunch Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — to block 22 arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Young and Murphy’s new effort runs parallel to that one.</p>
<p id="pMHwLj">Those two initiatives are emblematic of just how widespread the congressional campaign to separate Washington and Riyadh really is.</p>
<p id="8b6Hnp">In April, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/17/18411863/trump-veto-yemen-resolution-saudi-bernie-sanders">Congress passed a historic War Powers Resolution</a> directing Trump to remove troops involved in “hostilities” in the Yemen war. Trump <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/17/18411863/trump-veto-yemen-resolution-saudi-bernie-sanders">vetoed</a> it, though, because of his commitment to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/18/17990546/trump-jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-history-murder">US’s longstanding alliance with the Saudis</a> — not to mention his personal relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, who called for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-jamal-khashoggis-assassination/2018/11/16/98c89fe6-e9b2-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html">Khashoggi’s killing</a>.</p>
<p id="eM3Igg">That hasn’t stopped lawmakers and activists from trying to sever the two. As Vox’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/4/18650576/ndaa-trump-saudi-arabia-yemen-progressives">Tara Golshan</a> reported last week, House progressives may use the annual must-pass defense spending bill to force Trump’s hand in the Middle East. </p>
<p id="EGT1UQ">A coalition of more than 40 activist groups sent every House lawmaker a letter demanding they include provisions to ban the transfer, sale, or export of any defense materials that would be used in the war in Yemen for a minimum of two years, and end all US aid — from intelligence to logistical support — to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the war.</p>
<p id="FxiibG">“We are trying to stiffen the resolve of members of Congress as we approach the consideration of the national defense budget,” Hassan El-Tayyab, the co-director of Just Foreign Policy, a progressive foreign policy group, told Golshan last week. “We have the momentum here. What remains to be seen is whether [Congress] has the resolve to do what it takes.”</p>
<p id="ArYvFo">Saudi leadership and Trump will hope not, but increasingly, Republicans and Democrats in Congress seem to think they do. </p>
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https://www.vox.com/2019/6/10/18659434/usa-saudi-arabia-trump-mbs-weapons-murphy-youngAlex Ward2019-04-05T14:30:00-04:002019-04-05T14:30:00-04:00Saudi Arabia is detaining American activists 6 months after Khashoggi’s murder
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<img alt="Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is seen during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8Z3zc2XJV7YI1t_cOfikp1kb6VA=/0x0:3241x2431/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63361894/935039708.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is seen during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. | Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Two dual US-Saudi citizens were detained this week along with other women’s rights activists, sources say.</p> <p id="qtsdFx">Saudi Arabia has imprisoned two US citizens as part of a fresh crackdown on dissent in the country, according to a source familiar with the detained and <a href="https://twitter.com/ALQST_ORG/status/1114057537131880449">a report from a human rights group</a> on Friday.</p>
<p id="wS66mc">The kingdom recently arrested <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/two-u-s-citizens-arrested-saudi-arabia-supporting-women-s-n991221">11 women</a> activists who were advocating for a <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/24/17492586/women-saudi-arabia-driving-license-prince-mohammed-bin-salman">woman’s right to drive in the country</a>. They remained under arrest even after Saudi Arabia <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/06/24/622990978/saudi-arabia-lifts-ban-on-women-drivers">lifted the ban on women drivers</a>. Their detainment last summer increased pressure from the international community on Saudi Arabia, and particularly de facto ruler Crown Prince <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/torture-reform-women-rights-saudi-arabia-181129172925565.html">Mohammed bin Salman</a>, who claims he’s modernizing his nation’s society.</p>
<p id="qf4bRV">Riyadh then <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/28/707722564/saudi-arabia-releases-3-womens-rights-activists-from-prison-others-still-held">released three of the activists</a> in March, although many suspected it would be temporary because of their upcoming trials.</p>
<p id="T4eli2">And Riyadh’s imprisonment of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/world/middleeast/american-detainees-saudi-arabia.html">eight people</a> Wednesday and Thursday — including activists and journalists — seemingly is in response to their support for the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p id="PfIbWW">One of the arrested, Salah al-Haidar, is a dual US-Saudi citizen and a journalist. He’s also the son of prominent activist <a href="https://standwithsaudifeminists.org/learn-more/know-the-activists/azizah-al-yousef/">Aziza al-Yousef</a> who Riyadh has arrested. The other detained American is the writer and physician Bader al-Ibrahim, also a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Every one of the people who were recently detained, including a pregnant woman, reportedly has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/05/middleeast/saudi-crackdown-us-citizens-intl/index.html">ties to Yousef</a>.</p>
<p id="JmLxDY">The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said those affected, including the source, “are a bit in shock” and that they “can’t think of any possible benefit [for doing this] other than absolutely crushing the slightest inclination towards dissent.”</p>
<p id="DFDl2E">And if detainment wasn’t bad enough, there are credible reports that the activists are being <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/world/middleeast/american-detainees-saudi-arabia.html">tortured in prison</a>.</p>
<p id="G88weY">Normally, a US administration would push back hard against a country detaining Americans abroad. The Trump administration, though, will likely let this pass — because it has before.</p>
<h3 id="SYSpJd">The Saudi crown prince is cracking down on free speech and torturing activists. The US won’t push back.</h3>
<p id="3tCIuR">The roundup of activists this week comes six months after dissident journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/world/middleeast/american-detainees-saudi-arabia.html">US intelligence asserts</a> that the crown prince ordered the killing.</p>
<p id="ARCne6">But the United States has done little to punish Riyadh for the murder — other than sanction <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/15/18096902/trump-saudi-arabia-sanctions-khashoggi-magnitsky">17 Saudis</a> for their suspected connections to the assassination plot.</p>
<p id="5LJmrE">What’s more, President Donald Trump continues to absolve MBS — as the crown prince is more commonly known — of any blame.</p>
<p id="YFug7u">“[I]t could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump wrote in a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18104995/trump-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-full-text">November statement</a>. “We may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,” he added, clearly unaware — or unwilling to accept — his intelligence agencies’ findings.</p>
<p id="oQapfE">Congress, however, has pushed back. On Thursday, it officially <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/4/18293954/war-powers-resolution-passes-congress-yemen-bds">passed a resolution</a> to end American support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, mostly to rebuke MBS and the Trump administration in the aftermath of Khashoggi’s murder. Trump, however, has already vowed to veto it.</p>
<p id="UuTLUI">Which means the US likely will once again stand by as MBS plunges his country and region into conflict — and harms American citizens along the way.</p>
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https://www.vox.com/world/2019/4/5/18296866/saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-salman-women-activists-driveAlex Ward2019-01-03T14:00:06-05:002019-01-03T14:00:06-05:00Saudi Arabia begins trial for 11 suspects in Khashoggi murder
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<img alt="BAHRAIN-MEDIA-ALARAB-TV" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2OlS__lHcOIU-N_mD0bw2YWZLjc=/476x0:4255x2834/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62776429/460492708.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jamal Khashoggi in 2014. | Mohammed al-Shaikh/AFP/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for at least five individuals. </p> <p id="52okBQ">The trial for the men accused of murdering Saudi dissident journalist <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/17/18100004/cia-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-jamal-khashoggi">Jamal Khashoggi</a> began Thursday in Saudi Arabia, with <a href="https://twitter.com/ahmed/status/1080776800991494145">prosecutors</a> confirming they will seek the death penalty for at least five of 11 people charged in the assassination.</p>
<p id="RZRg51">Khashoggi’s gruesome murder captured international attention, but the trial for his killing is expected to largely happen outside the public view and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-prosecutor-death-penalty-intl/index.html">follow the official story</a> already put forward by the Saudi government — that its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), had nothing to do with Khashoggi’s assassination. </p>
<p id="T2Iy58">Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post who’d been critical of the Saudi government, was killed October 2 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The CIA <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/17/18100004/cia-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-jamal-khashoggi">has since concluded</a> that MBS ordered the killing, a finding that’s been echoed by prominent members of the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/senators-say-saudi-crown-prince-complicit-in-khashoggi-killing-after-cia-briefing.html">US Congress</a> and backed up by other <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/saudi-arabia-puts-jamal-khashoggi-murder-suspects-trial-190103100349820.html">Western and Turkish intelligence agencies</a>.</p>
<p id="EdKZby">That’s in direct contradiction to the Saudi government’s story. The kingdom has changed its narrative a few times since Khashoggi’s death, first saying the journalist <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/9/17950992/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-journalist-killed-missing-turkey-trump-washington-post">left the consulate through a back entrance</a>, then claiming he was <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/19/18002086/saudi-arabia-admits-jamal-khashoggi-killed-turkey-trump">accidentally killed</a> during a fistfight gone awry. The Saudi prosecutors <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/25/saudi-prosecutors-khashoggi-killing-premeditated-938758">later admitted the murder was premeditated</a> but continued to put distance between the journalist’s death and any involvement by MBS.</p>
<p id="2Ys4yF">No evidence pointing to MBS’s complicity is likely to come out in the trial of these suspects. The Thursday hearing was closed to the public; as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/03/jamal-khashoggi-suspects-appear-before-saudi-court">the Guardian</a> points out, this is standard practice in Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p id="VsTbxD">What’s more, it’s still a bit murky exactly who is being charged for what in Khashoggi’s death. The statement from Saudi prosecutors about the 11 suspects didn’t reveal any names or details. As <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-khashoggi-death-penalty.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront">the New York Times</a> notes, it’s not even really clear why prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty for some of the suspects in the case but not for others. </p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full text of the Saudi attorney general statement: <a href="https://t.co/UTnR5PStVb">pic.twitter.com/UTnR5PStVb</a></p>— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) <a href="https://twitter.com/ahmed/status/1080776800991494145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2019</a>
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<p id="u6LN3I"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/suspects-in-disappearance-of-khashoggi-linked-to-saudi-security-services/2018/10/16/8171e734-d199-11e8-a4db-184311d27129_story.html?utm_term=.18f94f2561fc">According to Turkish officials</a>, at least 15 Saudis flew to Istanbul ahead of Khashoggi’s murder, and many had ties to Saudi security services. Two officials with ties to MBS — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/10/19/saudi-government-acknowledges-journalist-jamal-khashaoggi-died-while-in-that-countrys-consulate-in-istanbul/?utm_term=.a50910b17091">adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri</a> — were fired after Khashoggi’s death and are under investigation. </p>
<p id="4eEKuQ">All told, Saudi Arabia <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-prosecutor-death-penalty-intl/index.html">detained 21 people for Khashoggi’s death</a> and fired at least five people as of November. Prosecutors said Thursday that they will continue to investigate those connected to the case. </p>
<p id="XP8gvD">Turkey, meanwhile, has accused Saudi Arabia of not sharing any information about the suspects with its government, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/saudi-arabia-puts-jamal-khashoggi-murder-suspects-trial-190103100349820.html">reports Al Jazeera</a> — another sign of how Khashoggi’s death has <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/24/18013840/saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-turkey-leaks-journalist">heightened tensions</a> between Istanbul and Riyadh. </p>
<p id="nGbuje">Turkish officials have slowly, and pretty consistently, leaked gory details about Khashoggi’s murder over the past weeks, including, most recently, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/video-shows-bags-believed-khashoggi-remains-report-181230215116612.html">a video purporting to show</a> a team of Saudi assassins carrying a black bag believed to hold the journalist’s dismembered body parts. </p>
<p id="lQPcJB"><a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/10/23/18013554/khashoggi-turkey-erdogan-speech-saudi-arabia">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan</a> has denounced Saudi Arabia for its involvement in Khashoggi’s death and has asked that the <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/10/23/18013554/khashoggi-turkey-erdogan-speech-saudi-arabia">perpetrators face punishment</a> in Istanbul rather than Riyadh. Saudi Arabia, of course, didn’t go for this. </p>
<p id="a10ND7">Saudi prosecutors also took a shot at Turkey, saying in their statement that they’ve requested additional evidence from Turkish officials but it hasn’t been turned over yet. </p>
<h3 id="iLEqsK">The world will watch Khashoggi’s trial. But what will come of it?</h3>
<p id="IEylzL">The world is still reeling from <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/25/18021986/saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-premeditated-turkey-trump">Khashoggi’</a>s assassination and MBS’s alleged role in his murder.</p>
<p id="JVB9Lt">The Trump administration had gone all-in on MBS and the Saudi partnership and has been reluctant to acknowledge MBS’s role in Khashoggi’s death. The US placed <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/15/18096564/saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-charges-salman-death">sanctions on 17 Saudi officials</a>, but the administration has otherwise defended the country and its de facto ruler. This is despite pressure from Congress, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/12/13/18139585/senate-yemen-saudi-arabia-resolution-khashoggi">a stunning rebuke from the US Senate</a> that called on the White House to curtail its support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.</p>
<p id="KwmM5L">A <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/1/2/18165009/government-shutdown-trump-wall">government shutdown</a> and t<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/12/6/18119733/congress-diversity-women-election-good-news">he arrival of a new Congress</a> has pushed Saudi Arabia off the agenda for now, but lawmakers — <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/1/3/18134919/congress-house-2019-committee-investigations-trump-impeachment">particularly House Democrats</a> — are likely to revisit the war in Yemen and financial ties between Trump and the Saudis in the new year. </p>
<p id="Zm2Bla">Saudi Arabia is most likely eager to move past Khashoggi’s death. But a trial might end up putting more pressure on the kingdom, not less — especially if there are questions about the application of justice and the rule of law under MBS. </p>
<p id="QsptqX">Khashoggi’s murder managed to destroy the image of MBS as a modernist reformer, instead revealing his role in the brutal war in Yemen, his crackdown on free speech, and his aggressive consolidation of power in the kingdom. </p>
<p id="tLRw75">“The eyes of the world have been lifted to the kind of character Mohammed bin Salman is shaping up to be,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at the Baker Institute, <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/12/24/18145367/brexit-north-korea-trump-russia-foreign-news">told me last month</a>.</p>
<p id="a4cQkU">MBS won’t be on trial in Khashoggi’s murder — at least not in the literal sense. But the crown prince, with the world watching, might not escape scrutiny entirely. </p>
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https://www.vox.com/2019/1/3/18166689/khashoggi-trial-saudi-arabia-mbsJen Kirby2018-12-13T15:44:20-05:002018-12-13T15:44:20-05:00The Senate just passed a resolution to end US support for the Saudi war in Yemen
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<img alt="The Cost Of War Along Yemen’s West Coast" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FwxfyGy7n_Div3aTEnYPGpcSUa8=/0x0:7339x5504/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62677555/1042243040.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Yemeni fighters aligned with the Saudi-led coalition on September 21, 2018. | Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>It’s a bipartisan rebuke of the Trump administration in the wake of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.</p> <p id="A9wiSC">The Senate has passed a historic <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/54">resolution</a> directing the Trump administration to rescind all US military assistance to Saudi Arabia related to its war in Yemen.</p>
<p id="cgoop9">The resolution, which passed 56 to 41, is a rare bipartisan rebuke to the White House over its policies toward Saudi Arabia. The measure, which had <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/20/17144332/senate-yemen-saudi-arabia-sanders-lee-murphy">failed in the Senate in March</a>, was revived and reinvigorated in the wake of the murder of Saudi journalist <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/19/18002086/saudi-arabia-admits-jamal-khashoggi-killed-turkey-trump">Jamal Khashoggi </a>on October 2. </p>
<p id="BCTgr9">Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) co-sponsored the resolution to stop US involvement in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The nearly four-year conflict has killed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-deadly-war-in-yemen-rages-on-so-why-does-the-death-toll-stand-still-/2018/08/02/e6d9ebca-9022-11e8-ae59-01880eac5f1d_story.html?utm_term=.83e21ceb3bc5">an estimated 50,000</a> people and put nearly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/opinion/yemen-children-famine-war.html">12 million on the brink of famine</a>. </p>
<p id="qMEwMn">The war in Yemen — and US support for the Saudi-led effort — actually began during the Obama administration. But President Trump has <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/17/17967510/trump-saudi-arabia-arms-sales-khashoggi">moved the US even closer to Saudi Arabia</a> as part of his administration’s broader Middle East policy, which largely focuses on countering Iran. </p>
<p id="dwvgkf">The <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/22/18008734/saudi-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-body-double-latest-updates">horrific assassination</a> of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has put the US-Saudi relationship under a microscope, particularly after the CIA concluded that the country’s de facto leader, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-jamal-khashoggis-assassination/2018/11/16/98c89fe6-e9b2-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.5083290c8450">Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)</a>, ordered Khashoggi’s murder.</p>
<p id="fcj6Ft">The Senate resolution is a major step toward holding the administration accountable and wresting back some control of war powers from the executive branch. Yet it’s still a long way away from actually ending US support for the Saudis in Yemen, or finding a resolution to the conflict altogether. </p>
<p id="ncLEAj">The White House in particular has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/11/yemen-war-state-department-says-senate-vote-sends-wrong-message.html">pushed back</a> against the Senate’s measure, and if it were to end up on Trump’s desk, it would almost certainly face a presidential veto. Additionally, the House approved a rule on Wednesday<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/republicans-move-stall-house-yemen-181212202356088.html"> that blocks the chamber</a> from taking up any Yemen resolutions before the end of the year, meaning the Senate resolution won’t advance.</p>
<p id="6BDoFN">Still, the Senate’s passage of the resolution shows that lawmakers are seriously scrutinizing the Trump administration’s Saudi policy and, more broadly, the value and purpose of US military activities abroad. </p>
<h3 id="HBNCC0">The Senate stands up to the Trump administration</h3>
<p id="sv8xwX">The Senate’s resolution calls on the US to suspend its role in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. It invokes the <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/warpower.asp">War Powers Resolution</a>, which gives Congress the power to direct the president to remove US forces from “hostilities abroad” if the president hasn’t sought a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of force. </p>
<p id="5kEstx">Senators <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/12/18136826/senate-yemen-war-resolution-saudi-arabia-khashoggi">began debate </a>on the resolution Wednesday afternoon and continued debating into Thursday afternoon. Several lawmakers proposed amendments along the way. Some strengthened the measure, such as the bipartisan amendment introduced by Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), along with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Chris Coons (D-DE), which prohibits the US refueling of Saudi coalition aircraft. </p>
<p id="hdWJWv">The US had already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/10/us-stops-refuelling-of-saudi-led-coalition-aircraft-in-yemen-war">indicated that it would halt refueling</a> in November, but this amendment makes it explicit. The US military refuels a portion of Saudi coalition aircraft, and removing this option <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-to-end-refueling-for-saudi-coalition-aircraft-in-yemen/2018/11/09/d08ff6c3-babd-4958-bcca-cdb1caa9d5b4_story.html?utm_term=.b0c31a17b60e">potentially limits the Saudis’ ability</a> to conduct bombing missions. The amendment <a href="https://twitter.com/YemenPeaceNews/status/1073296138609049600">passed</a> 58-41. </p>
<p id="RvSbdQ">Other measures, however, were clearly introduced in an attempt to neuter the resolution completely — in particular, the amendments introduced by Sen. Tom <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/12/13/yemen-war-senate-vote-saudi-arabia/">Cotton (R-AR)</a>. One would have allowed the US and the Saudis to share “materials and advice” to prevent civilian casualties, which is already how the US frames its involvement, and the other would have carved out an exception if Houthi rebels attacked places outside of Yemen, which is how Saudi Arabia often justifies its offensive. The amendments failed.</p>
<h3 id="ImCG8i">The Senate bill won’t alter US policy immediately </h3>
<p id="r3K65p">The House will not take up the measure before the end of the year. Republicans introduced a rule that passed on Wednesday, 206-203, that effectively blocks lawmakers in the House from forcing a vote on Yemen-related resolutions through the end of 2018.</p>
<p id="ediqYX">The White House is also staunchly opposed to the Senate’s measure, and if anything managed to get through both chambers, it would surely meet a Trump veto. </p>
<p id="hR3bs7">Still, the Senate’s passage of the resolution, 56-41, indicates that the Senate might still be able to push this bipartisan resolution in the next Congress — and this time, it might get somewhere with the House, which Democrats will control in 2019. </p>
<p id="eS1L6N">This also isn’t the only measure being considered that would punish Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s death. The Senate also <a href="https://twitter.com/Phil_Mattingly/status/1073313130212679682">approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday</a> that holds MBS responsible for Khashoggi’s killing. </p>
<p id="HYCydk">The Senate may also take up a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-to-vote-on-withdrawing-u-s-support-to-saudis-in-yemen-war-1544383027">vote on a bill</a> that would suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and impose sanctions on officials who block humanitarian access in Yemen, or who were involved in Khashoggi’s death.</p>
<p id="osl7Yj">The Senate’s resolution comes on the same day that the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels reached <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/676379483/warring-sides-in-yemen-agree-to-cease-fire-in-key-port-city">a ceasefire agreement</a> for a key strategic city in Yemen. This easing of hostilities doesn’t end the war in Yemen — but this week offered real breakthroughs in tackling one of the world’s most devastating humanitarian crises. </p>
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https://www.vox.com/2018/12/13/18139585/senate-yemen-saudi-arabia-resolution-khashoggiJen Kirby2018-12-05T19:20:05-05:002018-12-05T19:20:05-05:00Read: senators introduce resolution calling Saudi crown prince “complicit” in Khashoggi’s murder
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<img alt="Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman speaks during a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis March 22, 2018 at the Pentagon." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ymNRSRHz2YS9ES3k274ZPV6i1VE=/333x0:3000x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62633186/936511620.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman. | Alex Wong/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A bipartisan group of lawmakers also rebuked Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.</p> <p id="NfVSvq">A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a scathing resolution condemning Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman for being “complicit” in the assassination of Saudi dissident <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/19/18002086/saudi-arabia-admits-jamal-khashoggi-killed-turkey-trump">journalist Jamal Khashoggi</a>. </p>
<p id="XDm3na">Republican senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Todd Young (R-IN) and Democrats Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Chris Coons (D-CT) introduced the non-binding resolution on Wednesday, just one day after they were briefed by CIA Director Gina Haspel on the agency’s conclusions about who was behind the murder.</p>
<p id="ZNpFnm">“This resolution — without equivocation — definitively states that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts,” said Graham said in a statement.</p>
<p id="xbpDds">The resolution directly contradicts statements from Trump administration officials, including <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/05/mattis-pompeo-khashoggi-briefing-murphy-1045365">Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis</a>, who have said publicly that there is no definitive evidence or “smoking gun” connecting the Saudi crown prince to Khashoggi’s killing. </p>
<p id="CR0l5v">The resolution also takes issue with Saudi Arabia’s other actions in the region, such as human rights abuses related to its war in Yemen, the diplomatic and economic blockade against Qatar, and the imprisonment of political dissidents.</p>
<p id="K6TH3X">This is Congress’s latest challenge to the administration’s over its relationship with MBS and Saudi Arabia. The Senate will vote next week <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/28/18116442/yemen-war-powers-senate-vote-sanders">on a bill to end the US’s involvement in the conflict in Yemen</a>, though it’s still unclear it will have enough votes to pass at present. </p>
<p id="9qP2oh">The Trump administration has placed sanctions on <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/15/18096902/trump-saudi-arabia-sanctions-khashoggi-magnitsky">17 Saudi individuals</a> they deem to have been involved in Khashoggi’s death, but has stopped short of laying blame directly with the crown prince himself. </p>
<h4 id="JazD9l">Read the resolution below:</h4>
<div id="NqugKd"><div class="DC-embed DC-embed-document DV-container"> <div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:129.42857142857142%;height:0;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;"> <iframe src="//www.documentcloud.org/documents/5434044-DAV18I36-1.html?embed=true&responsive=false&sidebar=false" title="DAV18I36 (1) (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms" frameborder="0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:1px solid #aaa;border-bottom:0;box-sizing:border-box;"></iframe> </div> </div></div>
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https://www.vox.com/2018/12/5/18128161/senate-resolution-mbs-complicit-khashoggi-murderJen Kirby2018-12-04T15:00:05-05:002018-12-04T15:00:05-05:00US senators say Saudi crown prince is “complicit” in Khashoggi murder
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<img alt="Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks to reporters on December 4, 2018 about what he learned in a briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G4cUY9ZJE45Eqd5R2chAWuKusf8=/0x0:4712x3534/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62624406/1077274398.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks to reporters on December 4, 2018, about what he learned in a briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. Also, I am one of the reporters in this picture. | Alex Wong/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Lawmakers from both parties say Riyadh’s de facto ruler is responsible for the journalist’s death.</p> <p id="6fHDnm">If Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were in front of a jury, “he’d be convicted [for murder] in 30 minutes.”</p>
<p id="uW1AIs">That’s what Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), the outgoing chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters after attending a one-hour meeting with CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday, where she briefed a handful of senators on intelligence relating to the murder of Saudi journalist and US resident <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/17/18100179/jamal-khashoggi-murder-saudi-arabia-dismember-airport">Jamal Khashoggi</a> on October 2.</p>
<p id="oFdMiW">It’s a powerful statement and the latest confirmation that the US has strong <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-director-briefs-senators-on-saudi-role-in-khashoggi-killing/2018/12/04/e6d6498c-f7d5-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html">evidence</a> linking the crown prince, more commonly known as MBS, to Khashoggi’s death.</p>
<p id="ZofPc3">Corker wasn’t alone. Minutes earlier, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), an ally of President Donald Trump and formerly a key proponent of the Washington-Riyadh relationship, told reporters that the crown prince is “complicit” in the journalist’s killing. Graham also said he wouldn’t support <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/17/17967510/trump-saudi-arabia-arms-sales-khashoggi">arms sales</a> to the kingdom as long as MBS remains in charge.</p>
<p id="XIDmwI">And Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), once a key backer of Saudi Arabia, told reporters he heard nothing in the Haspel meeting to change his assessment of MBS’s culpability.</p>
<p id="W9P1tG">Their reactions directly contradict statements by Secretary of State Mike <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cia-head-show-pompeo-mattis-cast-doubt-saudi/story?id=59469609">Pompeo</a> and Defense Secretary Jim <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/defense/418792-mattis-no-smoking-gun-tying-saudi-crown-prince-to-khashoggi-killing">Mattis</a> last week that there was no “smoking gun” intelligence directly implicating the crown prince, who is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. Graham, however, said there was a “smoking saw,” alluding to the bone saw top Saudi officials used to dismember Khashoggi after killing him.</p>
<p id="GwE5l6">The senators’ comments add to mounting pressure to punish MBS specifically and Saudi Arabia more broadly for the journalist’s death.</p>
<p id="BJv6Op">Khashoggi was a prominent writer for the Washington Post who disappeared inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul two months ago. It led to a worldwide uproar, with condemnations befalling MBS and calls for the US and others to punish the kingdom.</p>
<p id="aOVQYO">After much international outcry, Trump placed <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/15/18096902/trump-saudi-arabia-sanctions-khashoggi-magnitsky">sanctions</a> on 17 Saudis involved in Khashoggi’s murder, but none of them were MBS, leading to widespread criticism that the US didn’t do enough. The question now is what senators — or Trump — will do. From the looks of things, not much.</p>
<h3 id="AcDpgb">Don’t expect any real action against Saudi Arabia for now</h3>
<p id="hYBu9n">There’s a Senate <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/28/18116442/yemen-war-powers-senate-vote-sanders">bill</a> to stop all US involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen up for a vote next week, but neither Corker nor Graham would commit to voting for it. </p>
<p id="sizZZU">It’s unclear it would pass the House in this Congress, or if Trump would sign the legislation into law if it reached his desk, anyway.</p>
<p id="9xJtCi">Meanwhile, the president has continued to emphasize the importance of retaining strong ties with Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi’s murder. On November 20, for example, he released an exclamation-point ridden <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18104995/trump-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-full-text">statement</a> in which he praised the kingdom’s friendship and cast doubt on MBS’s role in the writer’s demise.</p>
<p id="2mBrD1">In the future, it’s possible that Congress may pass more targeted legislation to reprimand MBS, or halt arms sales to the kingdom, although neither of those options currently seems palatable to Trump.</p>
<p id="mrdzYC">For now, then, any effort to severely push back on Riyadh will likely either stall or fail. In that case, MBS may have literally gotten away with murder.</p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/4/18125821/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-mbs-corker-graham-trumpAlex Ward2018-11-28T16:40:05-05:002018-11-28T16:40:05-05:00The Senate is moving closer to ending US support for the war in Yemen
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<img alt="Yemeni militiamen and soldiers outside Sanaa" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1Vjxg_cnGn4c6XEFbKUZYmbjnhw=/0x0:5120x3840/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62428143/AP_18035191128128.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Yemeni militiamen and soldiers allied to the country’s internationally recognized government climb a mountain in the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen, on February 2, 2018. | Jon Gambrell/AP</figcaption>
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<p>The vote won’t change anything yet, but it’s still a big deal — and a huge rebuke to Trump and Saudi Arabia.</p> <p id="SY3c5j">In a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump and his embrace of Saudi Arabia, the GOP-controlled Senate voted on Wednesday to seriously consider ending America’s role in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.</p>
<p id="N0FRz7">In a 63-37 vote, lawmakers discharged a bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), that would force the US to cease its support for the Saudi-led coalition in its bloody fight against the Houthi rebels in Yemen within 30 days. The <a href="https://twitter.com/reporterjoe/status/1067877655477972992">White House</a>, however, has threatened to veto final passage of the bill.</p>
<p id="iG6GOF">The US helps the Saudi-led coalition by providing them with intelligence, selling them arms and ammunition, and, until recently, fueling planes in the conflict that has left <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-deadly-war-in-yemen-rages-on-so-why-does-the-death-toll-stand-still-/2018/08/02/e6d9ebca-9022-11e8-ae59-01880eac5f1d_story.html?utm_term=.6268ba4ac747">tens of thousands</a> dead and millions more suffering from starvation and disease. That means the US is partially culpable for the death and destruction of Houthi fighters and even civilians.</p>
<p id="78do6F">The bill invokes the <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/warpower.asp">War Powers Resolution of 1973</a> (WPR), which states that if US troops are involved in “hostilities” abroad “without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization, such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution.” </p>
<p id="R15Te8">A similar bill must still pass the House before that happens. House <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/13/18093236/yemen-war-republicans-khanna-vote-rules">Republicans</a> have tried to block a vote on the measure, but Democrats tell me they feel confident they can pass a similar measure either in this or the next Congress when they are in the majority.</p>
<p id="1B3yg0">If that’s the case, then it means both chambers will have formally disapproved of America’s assistance in the Yemen war.</p>
<p id="Ulc7kT">If Trump feels strongly that the US should back the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, he could formally ask Congress to authorize America’s involvement there. But it’s unlikely that would pass, especially if lawmakers just basically voted against it. </p>
<p id="Jd7z43">So while Wednesday’s vote doesn’t formally end US involvement in the Yemen war, it shows just how dissatisfied Congress — including Trump allies — are with the US role in it and the increasingly troubling US-Saudi relationship.</p>
<p id="hJArkj">That, in part, is why Murphy tweeted his pleasure with the result minutes after the vote.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’ve been at this for 3 years, and I am blown away by this.<br><br>By a big bipartisan margin, 63-37, the Senate just voted, for the first time, to move forward with a debate on ending American involvement in the Yemen war. <br><br>Thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMikeLee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenMikeLee</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenSanders</a> for their partnership.</p>— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1067894014853226508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="QDlZXR">Why senators are discussing this now</h3>
<p id="LrqvFB">Wednesday’s vote came just hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis briefed senators in a White House-directed effort to garner opposition to the bill. They argued that the war would be worse without America’s involvement, mainly because the US helps the Saudi-led coalition not kill as many civilians. </p>
<p id="wbbCgj">But while <a href="https://twitter.com/John_Hudson/status/1067825760684130308">lawmakers</a> have previously been receptive to this argument — in fact, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/20/17144332/senate-yemen-saudi-arabia-sanders-lee-murphy">exact same measure</a> failed in the Senate in March in a 55 to 44 vote — they evidently weren’t convinced this time around. And a big reason for that is the murder of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi in October.</p>
<p id="caV0ub"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/22/18008734/saudi-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-body-double-latest-updates">Khashoggi</a> was murdered and allegedly dismembered inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. Senators, many of whom have historically backed the US-Saudi relationship, are angry about the killing. In October, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a staunch Trump ally, said he felt <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/412558-graham-on-saudi-arabia-i-feel-completely-betrayed">“completely betrayed”</a> by Riyadh.</p>
<p id="FkFz2c">The brutality and brazenness of Khashoggi’s murder seems to have changed many senators’ calculations about the value of the US-Saudi relationship. And pulling US support for the Saudi war in Yemen — a war personally directed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, better known as MBS — is a powerful way to communicate their displeasure.</p>
<p id="e6FpGm">Senators were also angry that the White House ordered CIA Director Gina Haspel not to attend Wednesday’s briefing, and that may have provided an extra incentive to currently support the bill.</p>
<p id="UUkX34">Two weeks ago, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-jamal-khashoggis-assassination/2018/11/16/98c89fe6-e9b2-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.d92801cf0c93">Washington Post</a> reported that the CIA had determined that <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/17/18100179/jamal-khashoggi-murder-saudi-arabia-dismember-airport">MBS personally ordered</a> the murder of the journalist and dissident. MBS denies any involvement — and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18104995/trump-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-full-text">Trump</a> seems to believe him. It’s therefore likely that Trump didn’t want Haspel to dig into her agency’s findings with senators ahead of the vote — a decision that rankled lawmakers from both parties.</p>
<p id="k5JF3O">Experts say the Khashoggi murder, Trump’s coziness with MBS, and his unwillingness to let Haspel brief lawmakers contributed to the stunning result. That means it’s possible the Senate’s pushback on Trump was a moment of the president’s own making.</p>
<p id="dc4geY">“Trump has now successfully completed the process of making the Saudi alliance partisan,” Paul Musgrave, an expert on US foreign policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told me.</p>
<h3 id="ClCj4u">America’s involvement in Yemen is not over</h3>
<p id="sNboLJ">It’s the first time that a congressional chamber moved a War Powers Resolution-linked bill forward, showing how negatively senators from both parties view the Yemen war and US support for Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi’s murder. But what happens next is a little murky.</p>
<p id="sVoKQ0">What we do know is the vote only took the bill out of committee and allows for a full floor debate. There will be discussions about amending the bill to make it more palatable to the White House, and a full vote on passing the bill may or not may happen in the coming weeks.</p>
<p id="CxfLW2">Trump can veto the Senate’s bill if it’s fully passed, and the <a href="https://twitter.com/reporterjoe/status/1067877655477972992">White House</a> has already threatened to do so. The problem for Trump, though, is that a WPR bill in the House has special privileges that make it immune to a presidential veto. </p>
<p id="akMuf2"><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/13/18093236/yemen-war-republicans-khanna-vote-rules">House Republicans</a> changed the rules two weeks ago, so there won’t be a vote in this Congress. That means if House GOP leadership doesn’t change the rule again, it’s likely the Senate’s Wednesday vote will prove fruitless. “If the House doesn’t act on anything the Senate sends over, it’s back to square one in the new Congress,” a House Democratic aide told me.</p>
<p id="5p3rKA">But Democrats take control of the House in January. With their majority, Democrats tell me they are confident the veto-proof WPR measure will pass, mostly because top party leaders like California Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff have signed on to it. </p>
<p id="CPIYSc">The Senate would have to vote on Wednesday’s bill yet again, but it might be harder to get a similar result, as the chamber will feature more Republicans in the next Congress and months will have passed since Khashoggi’s death.</p>
<p id="MmehHO">Still, Trump would be in quite the bind. Even if the Senate vote fails — or it passes and Trump vetoes it — he would still have to contend with the House vote he can do nothing about. That would put him in a tough spot — and it’s unclear what would happen then.</p>
<p id="uaFKdf">“That’s when we get into really gray territory,” another House Democratic aide told me.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/28/18116442/yemen-war-powers-senate-vote-sandersAlex Ward