Pompeo defends Saudi arms sale after report on risk
PRAGUE:US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday his department did everything by the book in regards to arms sales to Saudi Arabia in 2019 after a government watchdog found the risk of civilian casualties in Yemen was not fully evaluated.
His comments came after a state department inspector general report earlier this week concluded that the department did not fully evaluate the risk of civilian casualties in Yemen when it pushed through a huge 2019 precision-guided munitions sale to Saudi Arabia.
“We did everything by the book,” Pompeo told reporters during a news conference with the Czech prime minister. “I am proud of the work that my team did. We got a really good outcome. We prevented the loss of lives.”
Congress had requested an investigation into the Trump administration’s May 2019 decision to move ahead with $8 billion in military sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries, sidestepping the congressional review process by declaring an emergency over tensions with Iran.
The secretary of state did not sit down for an interview for the report, instead submitting a written statement.
The criticism in the report sent to Congress on Tuesday wasn’t mentioned when state department officials portrayed the report as a total exoneration in a briefing the previous day.
The inspector general’s office did find that Pompeo used his “considerable discretion” under a 1976 law governing arms sales to other countries to determine that an emergency justified breaking congressional holds on the sales so that they could be completed.
“The IG has fully vindicated the dedicated professionals” of the state department, Pompeo said earlier in a tweet from Prague, the first stop on his Eastern European tour.
In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition is carrying out a campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. As recounted by the inspector general, the United Nations estimates that from March 2015 to November 2018 there were 17,640 combat-related civilian casualties in Yemen, including 10,852 caused by coalition airstrikes.