Trump aides warn against Saudi action
Pompeo, Mattis say U.S.’ Mideast interests at stake
WASHINGTON — Two members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet on Wednesday strongly defended continuing U.S. backing for Saudi Arabia in the war it is leading in Yemen, despite the murder of a Saudi journalist and a humanitarian crisis that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
But later in the day, senators sent a strong signal that they want to punish Saudi Arabia for its role in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. By a bipartisan 63-37 vote, the Senate opted to move forward with legislation calling for an end to U.S. involvement in the war.
Before the vote, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis briefed the Senate in a classified discussion where they also faced questions about the killing of Khashoggi, who was a U.S. resident.
Khashoggi’s death, in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, has raised new questions about the United States’ longtime alliance with Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is leading the yearslong assault against Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
In written remarks released just before the Senate briefing, Mattis defended the
Pentagon’s role in the war as necessary “for the good of innocent people in trouble.” He also said the U.S. could not afford to cast aside its partnership with Saudi Arabia and should not cut weapons sales to the kingdom.
“I must note we are seldom free to work with unblemished partners,” Mattis said in the statement. “Long-standing relationships guide but do not blind us. Saudi Arabia, due to geography and the Iranian threat, is fundamental to maintaining regional and Israeli security, and to our interest in Mid-East stability.”
Mattis contended it is necessary and possible to demand accountability from the Saudi government, which has told several, shifting versions of Khashoggi’s fate, “while recognizing the reality of Saudi Arabia as a necessary partner.”
Since the complex civil war ramped up in early 2015, an estimated 85,000 children are believed to have died of hunger and 14 million more people have been put on the brink of starvation. It also has evolved into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which has aided the Houthis.
The U.S. is part of the Saudi-led coalition that is targeting the rebels in Yemen. The coalition has been widely criticized by international observers and human rights organizations for indiscriminate attacks — including against a wedding party and on a school bus that killed more than 40 children — and for failing to pay compensation to the victims.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate majority leader, said concerns about the Saudis were justified.
“Senators on both sides of the aisle have legitimate concerns about the war in Yemen, the terrible humanitarian plight of Yemeni citizens caught in the crossfire, and the multiple U.S. interests wrapped up in this conflict,” McConnell said.
He also noted concerns “about the recent conduct of the Saudi government” from senators of both parties.
In his own written remarks, Pompeo cautioned against pulling back from Saudi Arabia. He said the kingdom was, in fact, following up on comfrustration mitments to compensate victims and had “been responsive to international concern about the humanitarian situation” — including by donating relief funding.
Pompeo also sought to unlink the concerns about Saudi Arabia’s conduct in Yemen with the circumstances surrounding Khashoggi’s death.
U.S. officials have said the CIA — which Pompeo led until last spring — has concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered Khashoggi’s killing.
“The October murder of Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey has heightened the Capitol Hill caterwauling and media pile-on,” Pompeo wrote in an editorial published Tuesday evening in The Wall Street Journal. “But degrading U.S.-Saudi ties would be a grave mistake for the national security of the U.S. and its allies.”
Pompeo and Mattis have called for a cease-fire in Yemen, and although peace talks between the Saudi-led coalition and its Houthi foes are scheduled for early December in Sweden, the two sides remain far apart.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said the two Cabinet officials had helped persuade him to vote against the resolution to limit the American role in Yemen.
“Based on what they have said today in terms of the peace process, in other words a commitment to have peace talks, I think voting ‘yes’ would be bad timing,” he said.
“They were both, as usual, comprehensive in their analysis of the pros and cons,” Portman said. “It was helpful.”
Other senators were unconvinced by the 90-minute briefing, held in a secure hearing room in the Capitol.
“It was unpersuasive,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. “I am for realpolitik, but that suggests that we accept the truth and I think we all know what the truth is.”
Referring to the crown prince, Flake added: “If he wasn’t directly involved, he certainly knew of it. And the intelligence agents we are saying were involved are under his direction.”
Some senators expressed anger that Gina Haspel, the CIA director, did not attend the briefing. Flake noted that “nobody was happy she wasn’t there.”
Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called her absence “outrageous.” Earlier, he said he would vote to end the military’s efforts in Yemen.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is often strongly allied with Trump, voted to move forward with the resolution and said he would insist on a briefing from Haspel. He even threatened to withhold his vote on key measures if that didn’t happen and declared, “I’m not going to blow past this.”
CIA press secretary Timothy Barrett said that no one kept Haspel away from the briefing. He said the CIA had already briefed the Senate intelligence committee and Senate leaders, and “will continue to provide updates on this important matter to policymakers and Congress.”
In another explanation, a White House official said Haspel decided not to participate in part because of with lawmakers leaking classified intelligence from such settings. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
Wednesday’s procedural vote sets up a floor debate next week. It would be largely a symbolic move, however, as House Republican leaders have given no indication that they would take up the war powers measure before the end of the year — the end of the current Congress.
The procedural vote received more Republican support than had been expected after the resolution, sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, fell six votes short earlier this year.
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in the past he had “laid in the railroad tracks to keep us from doing things that I believe are against our national interest as it relates to Saudi Arabia.” But he said he believes the Senate should “figure out some way for us to send the appropriate message to Saudi Arabia that appropriately displays American values and American national interests.”
He said the crown prince “owns this death. He owns it.”
Trump has said it may never be known who was responsible for the killing, and in public comments he reinforced the United States’ long-standing alliance with the Saudis. Trump has praised a pending arms deal with the kingdom that he says will provide the U.S. with jobs and lucrative payments, though some outside assessments say the economic benefits are exaggerated. Information for this article was contributed by Gardiner Harris, Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper and Nicholas Fandos of The New York
Times; by Karoun Demirjian, Carol Morello and Karen DeYoung of The Washington Post; and by Mary Clare Jalonick, Susannah George, Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller, Matthew Daly, Kevin Freking, Maria Danilova and Laurie Kellman of The Associated Press.