Senator Paul Ready to Lead Democrats and RINOs to Block US-Saudi Arms Deal

Senator Rand Paul, an outspoken critic of U.S. intervention in foreign affairs, particularly military intervention,  is leading the charge toward slowing down the momentum of President Trump’s U.S.-Saudi arms deal agreed to just a couple of days ago.  The $110B agreement will send equipment, software and trainers to the Saudi and United Arab Emirate governments, with Kuwait in the wings.  The deal is suspected to be a larger global contract that assists the United States military community in pulling together a more diverse and region-centric core of allies who will be a complimentary force next to NATO and its armed cooperative army.  With the rise of terrorism in the world, especially in light of ISIS’ displacement of hundreds of thousands of refugees into Europe, the Far East and North and South America, in addition to the rise of powers within the Shanghai Cooperative Organization (SCO), the need for greater integration of NATO-friendly forces in that region has never been more clear or urgent.

Paul’s legislation will be introduced to the Senate floor for a vote, aiming to block the U.S.-Saudi arms deal, which is expected to gain a lot of traction with the NeverTrumpers Establishmentariat and the Democrats.

Paul’s planned bill disapproving of the arms deal, confirmed by a Senate source familiar with the timeline, comes as Trump completes the first leg of an overseas trip that began with a warm welcome from the Saudi royal family in Riyadh. Paul recently joined three Democrats in proposing to make future arms sales contingent on reining in Saudi military involvement in Yemen’s civil war, and he is likely to take advantage of a 1976 law that allows any senator to force a vote on halting overseas arms sales.

Paul is going to be joined on the forthcoming resolution by Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, his partner last year in forcing a Senate vote to halt then-President Barack Obama’s plans for a $1.15 billion Saudi arms sale. Their effort was defeated on a 71-27 vote, with Republican Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada and Mike Lee of Utah joining 23 Democrats in voting to block the deal.

Murphy tweeted early Wednesday that the bill would not look to stop all $110 billion of Trump’s planned sales, but instead “target munitions used” in the ongoing violence in Yemen. Humanitarian groups have warned that the new Trump-backed sales are likely to be used against rebel factions in Yemen that the Saudi government sees as aligned with Iran.

The Connecticut Democrat also has spoken out against Trump’s Saudi arms sales, warning in a Saturday column that the inclusion of precision-guided munitions goes further than Obama’s weapons deal and runs the risk that “more — not fewer — civilians will be killed” in the ongoing Yemeni conflict. It remains unclear how many Democrats are preparing to join him in signing onto the latest disapproval measure.

Interestingly, we heard not a peep from the Democrats about Saudi Arabia’s interference in Yemen for Obama’s entire second term, but suddenly they’re ultra-concerned about the people of Yemen.  Seems a bit contrived and politically expedient.  But then again, we’re talking about a Connecticut career Senator here.

It’s not clear how much traction this will receive, especially in light of the glaring “success” of Trump’s foreign visits thus far, but rest assured, both the Establishmentariat and the Democrats (and their willing accomplices in the mainstream media) will ensure that the bill is perceived as being a huge set-back for Trump, regardless of its senatorial popularity.

Source:  Politico