US to Halt Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia Over Yemen Casualties

[Drumboy44]

The US plans to halt some arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the high civilian death toll in the kingdom’s Yemen bombing campaign.

Quoting a US official, Reuters first reported that "systemic, endemic" problems in Saudi Arabia's targeting drove the US decision, which officials acknowledged Tuesday, to halt a future weapons sale involving precision-guided munitions made by Raytheon.

The contract — to convert dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions that can more accurately hit their targets — is valued at $350 million, according to a report in The New York Times.

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/us-to-halt-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-over-yemen-casualties

 

[Navarro]

That's interesting. Dumb bombs are more likely to cause inadvertent collateral damage than guided munitions. This action then has the effect of increasing the probability of civilian casualties.

 

[Drumboy44]

That's interesting. Dumb bombs are more likely to cause inadvertent collateral damage than guided munitions. This action then has the effect of increasing the probability of civilian casualties.

from that NYT article.

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday that the Obama administration has “long expressed some very significant concerns about the high rate of civilian casualties” in the Yemeni conflict.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/1...ww.nytimes.com/topic/destination/saudi-arabia