US Sells Tanks to Saudi Arabia, Forgets Khashoggi Existed
The White House touts a deal for 'nearly 300' US-made Abrams tanks for Saudi Arabia, presented as strengthening their 'defense capabilities' and creating 'hundreds of American jobs.' This comes mere months after the same Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) oversaw the brutal murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a fact conveniently absent from Axios's polite framing.
These are the same tanks and F-35s that have been raining down on Yemen for years, where a Saudi-led coalition has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, funded and equipped by Washington. One might wonder at the specific 'defense' these weapons are intended for, considering Saudi Arabia's track record of intervention in neighboring countries, not to mention its domestic human
rights abuses. The US, it appears, is less concerned with its allies' moral compasses and more with the compass pointing towards defense contractor profits. General Dynamics (maker of the Abrams) stock, surely, is celebrating their newfound moral flexibility.