Topics in the News: Saudi
Joe Biden on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Mar 2, 2021)
No punishment for Saudis killing Jamal Khashoggi
PROMISE MADE:(Atlanta debate 11/20/19): "[Journalist Jamal] Khashoggi was murdered on the order of the crown prince. I would make it clear we were not going to sell more weapons to them, we were going to make them the pariah that they are.
There's very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia.PROMISE BROKEN: (A.P., 3/2/21): The Biden administration made clear it would forgo sanctions or any other major penalty against Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Khashoggi killing, even after a U.S. intelligence report concluded the prince ordered it. Ultimately, Biden administration officials said, U.S. interests in maintaining relations with Saudi Arabia forbid making a
pariah of a young prince who may go on to rule the kingdom for decades.
OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: Biden was criticized for giving Bin Salman a pass, limiting sanctions to underlings carrying out his orders--but Biden played "realpolitik."
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Source: Associated Press analysis of 2021 Biden Promises
John Hickenlooper on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Oct 10, 2020)
Supports cutting off military support to Saudi Arabia
Q: Block arms sales to Saudi Arabia over Yemen war and allegations about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death?John Hickenlooper: Yes. Supports cutting off military support. "I don't think supporting the Saudi campaign in Yemen is a great idea."
Corey Gardner: No. Voted against blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia in June 2019.
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Source: CampusElect on 2020 Colorado Senate race
Donald Trump on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Sep 8, 2020)
Unite moderate Arab countries to isolate & contain Iran
In May 2017, I joined the president on his first foreign trip, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel, & Brussels for a NATO meeting; Rome to visit the Vatican; and Sicily for the G7. The trip was important because it was the president's first trip abroad,
and in Saudi Arabia he planned to announce a new strategy for the Middle East to focus less on democracy and more on nation building and uniting Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the US-led coalition to isolate and contain Iran, our most
dangerous adversary in the region. The president was set to give a major speech and open the new Global Center to combat extremism and terrorism. Leaders from 55 Muslim countries attended the meeting in Riyadh. This was the first
such gathering and was a direct result of the leadership of the Trump administration. On the first day of the visit Trump also signed an investment deal with the Saudis that promised to bring $110 billion into the United States.
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Source: Speaking for Myself, by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, p. 79
Stacey Abrams on Saudi:
(Immigration Jun 9, 2020)
States' refugee resettlement refusal is emulated globally
Nations watch what we do, and they emulate to our behavior, even now. America's authority to question Russian president Vladimir Putin's treatment of dissidents weakened when
President Trump refused to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the murder of an American resident and journalist.
International calls to accept refugees from Yemen, Syria, and elsewhere go unanswered when the Trump administration offers individual states the right to refuse resettlement.
To the extent that they are emulating the behavior of America and the erosion of democracy is not a permanent good.
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Source: Our Time Is Now, by Stacey Abrams, p.240-1
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jan 14, 2020)
Passed bipartisan War Powers Act to stop Yemen war
SANDERS: When Congress was debating whether or not we go into a war in Iraq, I said that would be a disaster. I helped pass a War Powers Act resolution, working with a conservative Republican, Mike Lee of Utah, which said that the war in Yemen, led by
Saudi Arabia, was unconstitutional because Congress had not authorized it. We got a majority vote in the Senate. We got a majority vote in the House. Unfortunately, Bush vetoed that and that horrific war continues.
V.P. Joe BIDEN: I said 13 years ago it was a mistake to give the president the authority to go to war if, in fact, he couldn't get inspectors into Iraq to stop what--thought to be the attempt to get a nuclear weapon.
It was a mistake, and I acknowledged that. But the man who also argued against that war, Barack Obama, picked me to be his vice president. And once we were elected, he asked me to end that war.
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Source: 7th Democrat primary debate, on eve of Iowa caucus
Mike Bloomberg on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Dec 24, 2019)
Saudi Arabia's modernization is going in the right direction
Bloomberg's views on the Middle East have focused on his close ties to Israel, his ambivalence toward the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, and his support for Saudi Arabia's modernization efforts.Bloomberg hosted Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman in New York in 2018 and he has praised Saudi Arabia for its reform efforts, especially its expansion of women's rights, saying the country is going "in the right direction."
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2019 Democratic primary
Amy Klobuchar on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Nov 20, 2019)
New foreign policy: align with allies and call out misdeeds
Q: Would you go against the Saudis?KLOBUCHAR: We need a new foreign policy in this country, and that means renewing our relationships with our allies. It means rejoining international agreements. When the president did not stand up the way he should
have to that killing and that dismemberment of a journalist with an American newspaper, that sent a signal to all dictators across the country that was OK, and that's wrong.
V.P. Joe BIDEN: Khashoggi was murdered on the order of the crown prince.
I would make it clear we were not going to sell more weapons to them, we were going to make them the pariah that they are.
Q: And what about Russia and China?
KLOBUCHAR: We must start negotiating with Russia, which has been a horrible player on
the international scene. We must start the negotiations for the New START Treaty. When it comes to China, we need someone that sees the long term, like I do, like the Chinese do, because we have a president that makes decisions based on his next tweet.
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Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Joe Biden on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Nov 20, 2019)
Punish senior Saudi leaders; make them the pariah they are
Q: The CIA has concluded that Saudi Arabia directed the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The State Department says the Saudi government is responsible for executing nonviolent offenders and for torture. Would you punish the Saudis?BIDEN:
Khashoggi was murdered on the order of the crown prince. I would make it clear we were not going to sell more weapons to them, we were going to make them the pariah that they are. There's very little social redeeming value in the present government in
Saudi Arabia.
KLOBUCHAR: We need a new foreign policy in this country, and that means renewing our relationships with our allies. It means rejoining international agreements. It means reasserting our American values. When the president did not stand
up the way he should have to that killing and that dismemberment of a journalist with an American newspaper, that sent a signal to all dictators across the country that was OK, and that's wrong.
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Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Joe Biden on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Oct 10, 2019)
US should promote LGBTQ rights worldwide; stop aid if needed
Q: I recently visited a country where homosexuality is illegal and could result in the death penalty. What is your stance on LGBTQ rights when it comes to our relationships with countries that have different beliefs? BIDEN: In my State Department,
we will have a special office that's devoted directly to promoting LGBTQ rights around the world. I would curtail aid to countries that engage in that kind of behavior.
Q: Saudi Arabia?
BIDEN: Saudi Arabia, same thing.
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Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Bill Weld on Saudi:
(Homeland Security Sep 24, 2019)
Lesson of Iraq War: train Saudis, but no US troops there
Q: How would you handle U.S.-Saudi relations?WELD: One of the things that troubles me about Trump in the foreign area is he claims to be a non-interventionist but he's awful quick on sending those troops. A couple of months ago he said, "I'm sending
5,000 more troops to the Middle East immediately." Well, they never got there because they must have had a second thought. And he never said what it was for. I'm not quite clear why we're sending troops to Saudi Arabia to defend their oil supplies.
Don't they have any troops over there? I know they have a lot of weapons--because we sold them all to Saudi Arabia--but maybe we should make sure they know how to fly those planes and fire those missiles. I just I don't get it. Boots on the ground
to another country for regime change or to correct something that we see in the other country that we don't like? That's the height of the lessons we learned from the Iraq war --we shouldn't do that.
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Source: Business Insider 2019 GOP presidential primary debate
Joe Walsh on Saudi:
(War & Peace Sep 24, 2019)
Support Israel & Saudis, but no US troops in Mideast
Q: A drone attack recently crippled Saudi Arabia's oil production facilities. President Trump has responded by deploying US troops to the kingdom. And there are concerns of a hot war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. As president how would you deal with
the increasingly complicated U.S. Saudi relationship?Joe Walsh: I would be honest with the Saudis. Iran's the biggest threat in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is no great guy either. With these troops,
I worry about us getting further involved in a region that we shouldn't get involved in. Our men and women ought to be home from Afghanistan by now.
We support Israel and we've got to do whatever we can to encourage that part of the world to move toward a democracy. But I don't like us placing resources in there, especially placing American troops.
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Source: Business Insider 2019 GOP presidential primary debate
Bill Weld on Saudi:
(War & Peace Sep 24, 2019)
Troops out of Afghanistan; should have done it long ago
Q: A drone attack recently crippled Saudi Arabia's oil production facilities. President Trump has responded by deploying US troops to the kingdom. Your plan?Rep. Joe Walsh: I would be honest with the Saudis. Iran's the biggest threat in the Middle
East. Saudi Arabia is no great guy either. With these troops, I worry about us getting further involved in a region that we shouldn't get involved in. Our men and women ought to be home from Afghanistan by now. We support Israel and we've got to do
whatever we can to encourage that part of the world to move toward a democracy. But I don't like us placing resources in there, especially placing American troops.
Gov. Weld: I agree with the congressman our troops should have been home from
Afghanistan a long time ago. but we've been there 18 years. People say oh we can't bring them home now to which they respond. It begs the question "when?" How about "never?" Is never what you're for? Because that's what they really mean.
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Source: Business Insider 2019 GOP presidential primary debate
Mike Pence on Saudi:
(Energy & Oil Sep 14, 2019)
AdWatch 1990: "Thanks, America, for buying so much Arab Oil"
Pence was a great Saturday Night Live fan, and he had an SNL-type [TV ad idea]. They would open with a head-on shot of a man wearing a keffiyeh, a head scarf, and a traditional Arabic tunic. The man would wear aviator sunglasses and thank [Pence's
opponent Rep.] Phil Sharp for sending so much money to Saudi Arabia.On October 4, 1990, Pence let er' rip. "My people would like to thank you Americans for buying so much oil," Pence's Arab says. Then he clasps his ring fingers together, shakes them
in the air, and exclaims ,"Oh thank you Phil Sharp!"
"Congressional candidate Mike Pence's television ad with the phony Arab is so bad it's perversely delightful," the Indianapolis Star declared. But protests crept up. Pence acted like nothing was
wrong: "If I felt the ad was racist, or I felt it was playing to stereotypes, I wasn't going to run it. So, they made sure the dignity of Arabs was preserved. It does not invite you to laugh at Arabs, but it does invite you to laugh."
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Source: Ad-Watch in Piety & Power, by Tom LoBianco, p. 74-5
Marianne Williamson on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Aug 16, 2019)
Stronger position on Saudi Arabia; end involvement in Yemen
The United States needs to take a much stronger position with regard to Saudi Arabia. We must stop US involvement in the war in Yemen.
We should reject all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. We should press for an independent criminal investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi including any role that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have played.
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
Bill de Blasio on Saudi:
(War & Peace Aug 12, 2019)
Opposes U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen
De Blasio opposes U.S. support for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. Back in March, he applauded the Senate's passage of a resolution that would have ended U.S. support, calling the intervention "brutal and immoral." More broadly, he wants
Congress to more vigorously exercise its war powers. "As president I would want the Congress to authorize major military actions because getting away from that has made it bluntly too easy for these kind of interventions to occur."
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2019 Democratic primary
Andrew Yang on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Aug 9, 2019)
Let our values lead us: no aid to Saudi Arabia against Yemen
The United States should be providing no aid to Saudi Arabia in its assault on Yemen. We must be pragmatic in our foreign policy in recognizing that we will often have to deal with countries that have bad values. We should also be sure to always let our
values lead us. A reset of the relationship with Saudi Arabia under this understanding would prevent us from getting involved in another conflict like the one in Yemen by centering our diplomacy around our values and ideals.
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
Joe Sestak on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Jul 30, 2019)
Join with allies to compel improved behavior by Saudis
For decades the United States considered Saudi Arabia our closest ally in the Arab world, even though this meant turning a blind eye to their egregious human rights record, including abhorrent treatment of women. Saudi Arabia has made clear that its
incoming leader will fail to have the values necessary to change the nation's illiberal behavior. We must work within and in leadership of a global concord to compel behavior by the Saudis that moves it toward a rules-based world order.
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
Pete Buttigieg on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Jul 30, 2019)
We must reset our relationship with Saudi Arabia
The United States must halt military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen. As president, I would suspend all arms sales to Saudi Arabia that could be used in the Yemen war. We need to increase our diplomatic efforts and work with our allies to
end the conflict itself, which has generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis and helped to spread extremism. We must reset our relationship with Saudi Arabia, so that our interests and values drive the relationship--not the other way around.
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
Seth Moulton on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Jul 30, 2019)
Need to push Saudis on human rights, not arm Yemen war
Saudi leadership is playing a double game of implementing some limited societal and economic reforms while, at the same time, cracking down on dissidents--including Jamaal Khashoggi, the journalist living in the United States who the
Saudis brutally murdered. In 2020 and beyond, we need to push the Saudis on human rights, stop giving them weapons to kill civilians in Yemen, and make the terms of our alliance conditional on their compliance.
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
Marianne Williamson on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jul 28, 2019)
We're spending $350B supporting genocidal war against Yemen
Q: What should be America's role in the world?WILLIAMSON: Moral leadership. Our grandparents would be rolling over in their graves to see something like, for the sake of a $350 billion-dollar arms deal over the next ten years, we are giving aerial
support to a genocidal war that Saudi Arabia is waging against Yemen. I'm not saying that America was ever perfect, but there was a time on this planet when other nations, and Americans ourselves, saw that we at least tried to stand for de
Click for Marianne Williamson on other issues.
Source: CBS Face the Nation interviews in 2019
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jun 27, 2019)
Used War Powers Act to get US out of Saudi-Yemen war
Q [to Joe Biden]: You voted for the Iraq war. You have said you regret that vote. Why should voters trust your judgment when it comes to making a decision about war the next time?V.P. Joe BIDEN: I was responsible for getting 150,000 combat
troops out of Iraq. I also think we should not have combat troops in Afghanistan. It's long overdue. It should end.
Sen. Bernie SANDERS: One of the differences that Joe and I have in our record is Joe voted for that war,
I helped lead the opposition to that war, which was a total disaster. I helped lead the effort for the first time to utilize the War Powers Act to get the United States out of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, which is the most horrific
humanitarian disaster on Earth. Let me be very clear. I will do everything I can to prevent a war with Iran, which would be far worse than disastrous war with Iraq.
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Source: June Democratic Primary debate (second night in Miami)
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jun 23, 2019)
No support of Saudis against Iran; it's a never-ending war
It is the Congress that has war-making authority, not the President. If you're attacked immediately, you have to respond. Nobody believes that we are in that type of emergency situation with Iran right now. The function of a President should be to say
to Saudi Arabia, "We're not following your lead; you're going to have to sit down with Iran. The United States does not want to continue to lose men and women and trillions of dollars in never-ending wars in the Middle East. Work it out."
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Source: CBS Face the Nation 2019 interview
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jun 2, 2019)
US shouldn't favor Saudis or Iran; broker diplomatic answer
The function of the president is not simply to side with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a totalitarian, despotic, murderous regime. They are not our friends. They do not share any of our values. Iran also has played a very bad role in that region,
supporting terrorist organizations. The role of the United States is to bring Saudi Arabia and Iran together and help work out some kind of diplomatic agreement. I do not want to see perpetual warfare in that region.
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Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 interview
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy May 19, 2019)
Even-handed Mideast policy; open to moving Jerusalem embassy
Q: Would you move embassy out of Jerusalem, if you thought it was a way to get a peace deal?A: I can't give you a definitive answer, but yeah. Whether it is Iran and Saudi Arabia, whether it is Israel and the Palestinians, the
United States needs to bring people together, needs an even handed policy. We'll take that one step at a time. We are the most-powerful country on Earth. Let's bring people together and try to bring peace.
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Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Donald Trump on Saudi:
(War & Peace Apr 17, 2019)
Vetoed resolution withdrawing support for Yemen war
Trump vetoed Congress's bipartisan resolution to withdraw US support from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, cementing American involvement in a deadly humanitarian crisis abroad. "This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional
authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future," Trump said in a memo to the Senate signaling his veto.The Constitution gives war declaration powers to Congress, not the president.
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Source: CNN.com on Trump Administration
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Apr 17, 2019)
Led bipartisan War Powers resolution against Yemen war
Trump vetoed Congress's bipartisan resolution to withdraw US support from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, cementing American involvement in a deadly humanitarian crisis abroad. "This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my
constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future," Trump said in a memo to the Senate signaling his veto.Passing the War Powers Resolution, an effort led by
Bernie Sanders and Mike Lee in the Senate and Ro Khanna in the House, took immense political capital. It was the result of progressive antiwar activism and a rare coalition of lawmakers to claw back war-approving authority from the president.
The final resolution passed in the Senate with the support of seven Republicans, and in the House with the support of 16 Republicans, including some of Trump's closest conservative allies.
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Source: CNN.com on Trump Administration
Marianne Williamson on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Apr 14, 2019)
Return moral principles to our foreign policy
I want the moral leadership of our State Department back. When you're willing to -- for the sake of a $100 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, go along with support for a genocidal war that we know has starved tens of thousands of Yemenis, when
Mike Pompeo says, "well, sometimes you can have strategic partnerships with people who do not share your values," no, you can't. It means you have sacrificed your values. I want the moral principles that should be central to American foreign policy back.
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Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Mike Gravel on Saudi:
(War & Peace Apr 9, 2019)
End military aid to Saudi Arabia; no support for Yemen war
The US' relationship to Saudi Arabia is extraordinarily corrupt. For decades, the Saudi royal family has used oil money to influence American policy; from the prominence of "Bandar Bush" to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman claiming to have Jared
Kushner "in his pocket," our leaders have been serving Saudi interests for far too long. Saudi Arabia is a repressive dictatorship which regularly engages in torture and murder, as seen most recently in the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Its curtailment of
women's rights has been appalling.The United States government serves as a salesman of death around the globe. The only way to clamp down on the military-industrial complex, the greatest enemy of the American people, is a hard line against selling
weapons abroad.
The United States should: - End all aid to Saudi Arabia.
- End all material and logistical support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
- Prohibit American companies from selling arms abroad, including to non-state actors.
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Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeGravel.com
Elizabeth Warren on Saudi:
(War & Peace Mar 27, 2019)
No intervention in Yemen; but intervention in Gaza OK
- Her Peace Action voting record is 84% and she was one of the first five Senators to cosponsor the Yemen War Powers bill in March 2018 [requiring Congressional authorization to arm the Saudis in Yemen].
- In 2014 she supported Israel's invasion
of Gaza that left more than 2,000 dead, and blamed the civilian casualties on Hamas.
- She opposed a bill to criminalize boycotting Israel and condemned Israel's use of deadly force against peaceful Gaza protesters in 2018.
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Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Feb 19, 2019)
End Syrian conflict; pull out U.S. troops
- Foreign Policy: Use diplomacy to end Syrian conflict. Pull out troops, but in different way from Trump. Cut U.S. support in the conflict in Yemen, hold the Saudi crown prince "accountable" for crimes.
- Sanders would pull U.S. troops from
Syria, but said he would do it in a different, less "erratic" way than Trump recently announced. He believes diplomacy with Russia and Iran can turn things around in Syria.
-
He also believes the president did not have the right to launch airstrikes against the Assad regime and that war powers must get more rigorous oversight and/or approval from Congress.
- A longtime anti-war activist, Sanders voted against the Iraq
war resolution in 2002.
- He regularly called for the U.S. to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
- In both Afghanistan and Syria, Sanders has said that he believes the U.S. should remain involved, though with no ground troop presence.
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Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Kamala Harris on Saudi:
(War & Peace Feb 11, 2019)
Opposes US support for Saudi military action in Yemen
Harris opposes U.S. support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen. She joined with 55 other senators to support a resolution to end all U.S. military actions in Yemen that aren't aimed at defeating al-Qaeda. Harris spelled out her reasoning
for opposing U.S. policy toward Yemen: "More than 10,000 people have been killed in this conflict that was not authorized by Congress. I believe we must reassert our constitutional authority to authorize war and conduct oversight."
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 candidates
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Feb 5, 2019)
Our Saudi allies give US-made weapons to Al Qaeda in Yemen
As important as it is to respond to what President Trump said [in the State of the Union speech], it is even more important to discuss what Trump refused to talk about --which happens to include some of the most important issues facing our country and
the world. How can the President say nothing about Yemen, where the worst humanitarian crisis in the world is currently taking place, brought on by a Saudi-led war that the United States is supporting? Just yesterday, a CNN report detailed how our
Saudi and Emirati allies have been giving U.S.-made weapons to Al Qaeda-linked fighters in Yemen, and have also fallen into the hands of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. This war is a disaster, which is why the Senate passed my resolution last
December calling on the president to end our support for it, and why colleagues in both the House and Senate re-introduced that legislation last week. Yet the president did not even mention it.
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Source: Progressive response to 2019 State of the Union speech
John Delaney on Saudi:
(War & Peace Feb 4, 2019)
Withdraw military aid from Saudi forces fighting in Yemen
- Foreign policy: Supports punishing Saudi crown prince for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- Delaney strongly supports the Senate vote declaring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal
Khashoggi.
- Delaney has also praised the Senate's decision to withdraw military aid from Saudi forces fighting in Yemen.
- He has not spoken publicly about Trump's decision to withdraw American forces from Syria.
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Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Cory Booker on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Feb 1, 2019)
Re-examine relationship with Saudi Arabia
- A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Booker has grown increasingly critical of the Trump administration's policy in Saudi Arabia, especially after the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
-
Booker believes it's time to "re-examine" the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia and previously voted against arms sales to the kingdom.
-
Booker has also criticized U.S. policy and airstrikes in Syria, and believes the 2001 military authorization passed by Congress after the 9/11 terror attacks should not be used to justify continued action in Syria.
-
Booker believes Trump's planned withdrawal of troops from Syria is "reckless and dangerous" but also voted against a Senate resolution that warned against a hasty withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
Click for Cory Booker on other issues.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Kirsten Gillibrand on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jan 16, 2019)
End military aid to Saudi Arabia to attack Yemen
- Gillibrand co-sponsored legislation that would end U.S. support for the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen.
- She has written that Saudi Arabia is using American weapons to "terrorize Yemeni civilians."
- In regards to the murder of journalist
Jamal Khashoggi, Gillibrand wrote that the U.S. should hold "the Saudi government to account."
- It is not clear where she stands on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman personally was responsible for the killing.
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Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Tulsi Gabbard on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jan 14, 2019)
End US support for Saudi-led conflict in Yemen
- In general, Gabbard believes the U.S. should be less involved in foreign conflicts and have a smaller troop presence in many places around the world. She has specifically called on the U.S. military to pull out of Afghanistan.
- Gabbard also
opposes US military presence and action in Syria.
- The congresswoman believes U.S. action around the world often benefits extremists. She also has argued that Democrats and others should not back away from the term "Islamic extremists."
- Gabbard
has said the US is complicit in a humanitarian disaster by giving support to the Saudis, because they have cut off aid to large parts of the Yemeni population while battling rebels there.
- She also sent a controversial tweet that was highly critical
of Trump following news that the U.S. was standing by Saudi leadership despite intelligence implicating the kingdom's crown prince in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- Gabbard believes Saudi Arabia is a hub of anti-Western extremism.
Click for Tulsi Gabbard on other issues.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Nov 25, 2018)
Withdraw US support for Saudi-led war in Yemen
Q: You back a resolution for pulling back any kind of U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Do you see, given the scrutiny in the wake of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi new support for this bill?SANDERS: I do. When we brought this
up in March we ended up with 44 votes--only 5 Republicans. I think we now have a chance to get a majority of the Senate. I think people are looking at the horrific humanitarian disaster now taking place in Yemen. There was a recent report that over the
last number of years some 75,000 children have died of starvation. This is a country dealing with cholera, with a terrible level of famine. This war was never authorized by the US Congress in violation of our constitution. And you got the Khashoggi
incident which says that we have a Saudi government led by a despotic ruler who killed a political opponent in cold blood. Add that all together. I think the American people & Congress are now saying let us end our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: CBS Face the Nation 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls
Rand Paul on Saudi:
(War & Peace Nov 18, 2018)
Cut off arms sales to Saudis; war in Yemen hurts US security
Q: The CIA has determined that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. PAUL: That evidence is overwhelming and, no, I don't think we can sweep this under the rug.
Q: President Trump
imposed sanctions.
PAUL: The [Saudis] will see sanctions as weakness and if the President wants to act strongly he should cut off the arms sale not only because of the killing but until they stop indiscriminately bombing civilian populations.
Q: You're talking about in Yemen?
PAUL: Yes, in Yemen.
Q: Should this trigger some change in policy? The president says he's not going to hurt the economic benefits of arms sales.
PAUL: The arms sales don't make us safer.
When we sell arms to a foreign country, it should not ever be for jobs, it should be for our national security. The Saudis' involving us in their war in Yemen is not good for our national security. So we should quit arming the Saudis.
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: CBS Face the Nation 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls
Rand Paul on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Oct 21, 2018)
End support of Saudis and Iran won't need nukes
Q: President Trump says that we depend on Saudi Arabia as a potential counterweight to Iran and its ambitions in the Middle East.PAUL: This is a 1,000-year-old war in the Middle East between Sunni & Shia, and Saudi Arabia is pitted up against Iran.
The biggest thing that destabilize the Middle East--and I think the president agrees with me on this--was the Iraq war. There was much more of a balance in the Middle East at that time, but if you look at military spending right now, the Saudis and the
gulf sheikhdom that are their allies spend eight times more than Iran. And so, there is an arms race, but when we supply arms to Saudi Arabia, Iran responds. So when we complain about the Iranians having ballistic missiles that they are developing,
they are doing that in response to the arming of the Saudis. It's a bilateral arms race that goes on and on. And so, I wouldn't continue it, I don't think we need the Saudis.
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls
Rand Paul on Saudi:
(Homeland Security Oct 21, 2018)
Don't sell arms abroad as a jobs program
Q: You propose terminating arms deals with Saudi Arabia. What about the president's argument that these create hundreds of thousands of American jobs?PAUL: I don't think arms should ever be seen as a jobs program. Our arms, our military arms, the
sophistication of our arms are part of our national defense. These aren't something that are just owned by private companies, they are owned by the country, and I think we should never sell arms to any country in less it's in national security interest.
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls
Rand Paul on Saudi:
(War & Peace Oct 21, 2018)
Decide if Saudis are an ally or an enemy
Q: Do you believe the Saudi account that Khashoggi was killed by accident?PAUL: Absolutely not. We should put this brazen murder in context with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has basically over the decades been the largest state sponsor of radical Islam
and violent jihad. They sponsor thousands of madrassas that teach hatred of Christians and Jews and Hindus around the world. So, this is just another in the line of long instances of Saudi insults to the civilized world.
Q: And what should we do about it?
PAUL: We really need to discontinue our arms sales to Saudi Arabia and have a long and serious discussion about whether or not they want to be an ally or they want to be an enemy.
I think the Saudis need to be treated as who they are in the context of who they are. I don't think they are a friendly ally. They have been spreading hatred of our country for a decade after decade.
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls
Rand Paul on Saudi:
(War & Peace Oct 21, 2018)
Yemen War is part of 1000-year civil war
Q: What about US involvement with the war in Yemen?PAUL: I think the war in Yemen actually increases our national risk. It makes us less secure in the Middle East. We should not be supplying the Saudis with bombs. They've been indiscriminately
killing civilians. Just last month, 50 schoolchildren were killed in the bombing of the school bus. They killed 150 people at a funeral possession. The Saudis have not been acting in a just fashion. Yemen's one of the poorest planets on the earth.
Millions of people there face starvation, over a million people had cholera and the Saudis continue to block their ports. I don't think that there's a national security reason for us to be involved in the war in Yemen. This is a thousand-year-old war in
the Middle East between Sunni and Shia, and Saudi Arabia is pitted up against Iran [Note: In Yemen, and the Saudis support the Sunni government, and the Iranians support the Shia Houthis].
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls
Donald Trump on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Jan 5, 2018)
$350B of American arms to Saudis: jobs, jobs, jobs
On the empty roads of Riyadh, the presidential motorcade passed billboards with pictures of Trump and the Saudi King with the legend TOGETHER WE PREVAIL. The Saudis would immediately buy $110 billion's worth of American arms, and a total of
$350 billion over ten years. "Hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the United States and jobs, jobs, jobs," declared the president. Plus, the Americans and the Saudis would together "counter violent extremist messaging, disrupt financing
of terrorism, and advance defense cooperation." And they would establish a center in Riyadh to fight extremism.
It was, in dramatic ways, a shift in foreign policy attitude and strategy--and its effects were almost immediate. The president, ignoring,
if not defying foreign policy advice, gave a nod to the Saudis' plan to bully Qatar. Trump's view was that Qatar was providing financial support to terror groups--pay no attention to a similar Saudi history.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Fire and Fury, by Michael Wolff, p.230-1
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Sep 21, 2017)
1991: We give $7B to feudalistic dictatorships in Mideast
As a freshman congressman in 1991, I voted against the first Persian Gulf War, which laid the groundwork for our future involvement in the Gulf. In one of my earliest speeches in Congress, I went to the house floor and said, "Despite the fact that we
are now aligned with such Middle Eastern governments such as Syria, a terrorist dictatorship, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a feudalistic dictatorships, and Egypt, a one-party state that receives $7 Billion in debt forgiveness to wage this war with us,
I believe that, in the long run, the action unleashed last night will go strongly against our interests in the Middle East. Clearly, the United States and its allies will win this war, but the death and destruction caused will, in my opinion, not be
forgotten by the poor people of the Third World and the people of the Middle East in particular... I fear that one day we will regret that decision and that we are in fact laying the groundwork for more and more wars in that region for years to come."
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Where We Go From Here, by Bernie Sanders, p.88-9
Tulsi Gabbard on Saudi:
(War & Peace May 27, 2017)
Opposes fighting in Afghanistan & Syria; end arms to Saudis
She has called for pulling out of Afghanistan, the longest war in US history, suggesting that the government invest the money instead into "rebuilding our own nation through long-term infrastructure projects." She's opposed US intervention in
Syria since 2013, air strikes in Iraq, and arms sales to Saudi Arabia. She backed Sanders in the Democratic primary because of Clinton's record of supporting "interventionist regime change wars."
Click for Tulsi Gabbard on other issues.
Source: Jacobin Mag., "Not your friend": 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mike Pence on Saudi:
(Immigration Feb 5, 2017)
Obama certified 7 Muslim countries compromised by terrorism
Q: Is it time to say about the controversial travel ban from 7 Muslim countries, "Rescind the order. Go through Congress"?PENCE: Pres. Trump has made it clear he's going to put the safety and security of the American people first. And using a list of
countries that the Obama administration and the Congress have certified were compromised by terrorist influence, seven different countries, is consistent with the President's commitment to do just that.
Q: But on this travel ban, no Egypt, no Saudi
Arabia. No Pakistan, no Afghanistan. Why weren't those countries included? Because you wanted that Obama talking point.
PENCE: Well, no. It was done because both the Congress and the prior administration identified seven countries, one in Syria, torn
asunder by civil war, and the other six--these are countries that do not have the internal systems in place so that we can be confident today that, when people present themselves for access to the United States, that they are who they say they are.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: Meet the Press 2017 interview by Chuck Todd
Hillary Clinton on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Sep 26, 2016)
Honor treaties with South Korea & Japan: our word is good
TRUMP: We defend Japan, we defend Germany, we defend South Korea, we defend Saudi Arabia, we defend countries. They do not pay us. But they should be paying us, because we are providing tremendous service and we're losing a fortune. We can't defend
Japan, a behemoth, selling us cars by the million. They may have to defend themselves or they have to help us out. CLINTON: Let me start by saying, words matter. Words matter when you run for president. And they really matter when you are president.
And I want to reassure our allies in Japan and South Korea and elsewhere that we have mutual defense treaties and we will honor them. It is essential that America's word be good. And so I know that this campaign has caused some questioning and worries
on the part of many leaders across the globe. I've talked with a number of them. But I want to--on behalf of myself, and I think on behalf of a majority of the American people, say that, you know, our word is good.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: First 2016 Presidential Debate at Hofstra University
Hillary Clinton on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Sep 26, 2016)
For long-term US policy against nuclear proliferation
Trump: I agree with her on one thing. The single greatest problem the world has is nuclear weapons.Clinton: Donald has said he didn't care if other nations got nuclear weapons,
Japan, South Korea, even Saudi Arabia. It has been the policy of the US to do everything we could to reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
His cavalier attitude about nuclear weapons is deeply troubling. That is the number-one threat we face. It becomes particularly threatening if terrorists ever get their hands on any nuclear material.
A man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: First 2016 Presidential Debate at Hofstra University
Donald Trump on Saudi:
(Homeland Security Sep 26, 2016)
We defend Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia: they need to pay
TRUMP: We defend Japan, we defend Germany, we defend South Korea, we defend Saudi Arabia, we defend countries. They do not pay us. But they should be paying us, because we are providing tremendous service and we're losing a fortune. It's very possible
that if they don't pay a fair share, because this isn't 40 years ago where we could do what we're doing. We can't defend Japan, a behemoth, selling us cars by the million. They may have to defend themselves or they have to help us out. We're a country
that owes $20 trillion. They have to help us out.CLINTON: I want to reassure our allies in Japan and South Korea and elsewhere that we have mutual defense treaties and we will honor them. It is essential that America's word be good. On behalf of a
majority of the American people, I want to say that our word is good.
TRUMP: And as far as Japan is concerned, I want to help all of our allies, but we are losing billions and billions of dollars. We cannot be the policemen of the world.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: First 2016 Presidential Debate at Hofstra University
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Feb 4, 2016)
Encourage Saudis and Iran to work together, despite distrust
CLINTON: A group of national security experts issued a concerning statement about Senator Sanders's views on foreign policy and national security, pointing out some of the comments he has made on these issues, such as inviting Iranian troops into
Syria to try to resolve the conflict there; putting them right at the doorstep of Israel. Asking Saudi Arabia and Iran to work together, when they can't stand each other and are engaged in a proxy battle right at this moment.
You are voting for a president and a commander in chief. SANDERS: I concede that Secretary Clinton, who was secretary of State for four years, has more experience in foreign affairs. But experience is not the only point, judgment is. In terms of Iran
and in terms of Saudi Arabia, of course they hate each other. That's no great secret. But John Kerry, who is I think doing a very good job, has tried to at least get these people in the room together because both of them are being threatened by ISIS.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: MSNBC Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire
John Kasich on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Jan 14, 2016)
Supports Saudi Arabia but knock it off with radical clerics
In terms of Saudi Arabia, look, my biggest problem with them is they're funding radical clerics. That is a bad deal and presidents have looked the other way. We better make it clear to the Saudis that we're going to support you,
we're in relation with you just like we were in the first Gulf War, but you've got to knock off the funding of radical clerics who are the people who try to destroy us.
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: Fox Business Republican 2-tier debate
John Kasich on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Jan 14, 2016)
We need coalition of Arab countries, like Bush-41 did
If we're going to have a coalition, we're going to have to have a coalition not just of people in the western part of the world, our European allies, but we need the Saudis, we need the Egyptians, we need the Jordanians, we need the Gulf states.
We need Jordan. We need all of them to be part of exactly what the first George Bush put together in the first Gulf War. It was a coalition made up of Arabs and Americans and westerners and we're going to need it again.
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: Fox Business Republican 2-tier debate
Barack Obama on Saudi:
(Homeland Security Jan 13, 2016)
We spend more on military than next 8 nations combined
President Obama said, "We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined." Is that literally true? We found the answer on Wikipedia, for the top 9 countries in military expenditures (in billions per year): - $581B United States
- $129B China
- $81B Saudi Arabia
- $70B Russia
- $62B United Kingdom
- $53B France
- $48B Japan
- $45B India
- $44B Germany
The "next eight nations combined" add up to $532 billion annual military expenditures. Compare that to the
U.S.'s annual total of $581 billion, and Pres. Obama is accurate. (Sen. Rand Paul said in 2015 the same statement about "the next ten countries combined," and we rated his statement "loosely accurate", but Obama could have gone up to "the next nine
nations combined" adding in South Korea's $34B). Obama's point was the same as Paul's: the U.S. has by far the strongest military on earth, and we need not increase military spending to maintain our military dominance.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: 2016 State of the Union: OnTheIssues FactCheck
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Dec 19, 2015)
Tell Qatar and Saudi Arabia that they must fight ISIS
There must be an international coalition, including Russia, a well-coordinated effort. This is a war for the soul of Islam. The troops on the ground should not be American troops. They should be Muslim troops.
I believe that countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have got to step up to the plate, have got to contribute the money that we need, and the troops that we need, to destroy ISIS with American support.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
John Kasich on Saudi:
(War & Peace Nov 29, 2015)
No-fly zone 1st priority, but ok with more aid for refugees
Q: Ben Carson is saying what we need to do is give more money to Jordan and other places to help Syrian refugees. Is that the answer?KASICH: I don't mind if we give some humanitarian aid to the Jordanians or the Saudis if need be, but I've been for
this no-fly zone so that we can have a sanctuary for people to be safe. And it was the Kurds and perhaps the Jordanians who could defend it. But the Russians have now deployed S-400 air defense system that threatens our ability to move around.
The only thing you can do with that air defense system is to take it out. And of course that's very serious.
Q: You would take out a Russian air defense system?
KASICH: No, I think that we should proceed with moving forward on a no-fly zone.
And I think we should proceed by putting boots on the ground and a coalition with Europeans and with our friends in the Middle East like we had in the first Gulf War to destroy ISIS once and for all.
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2015 interview on Syrian Refugee crisis
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Nov 14, 2015)
Moral responsibility to reach out to Syrian refugees
Q: You've been a little vague on what you would do about the Syrian refugees. What's your view on them now?SANDERS: I believe that the US has the moral responsibility with Europe, with Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia to make sure that when people
leave countries like Afghanistan and Syria with nothing more than the clothing on their back that, of course, we reach out. Now, what the magic number is, I don't know, because we don't know the extent of the problem. But I certainly think that the
US should take its full responsibility in helping those people.
Q: Gov. O'Malley, you have a magic number. I think it's 65,000.
O'MALLEY: I was the first person on this stage to say that we should accept the 65,000 Syrian refugees that were fleeing
the sort of murder of ISIL, and I believe that that needs to be done with proper screening. But accommodating 65,000 refugees in our country today, people of 320 million, is akin to making room for 6.5 more people in a baseball stadium with 32,000.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: 2015 CBS Democratic primary debate on Syrian Refugees
Rand Paul on Saudi:
(Homeland Security Nov 10, 2015)
FactCheck: Yes, military spending as much as next 10 nations
Senator Rand Paul said, "We need a safe country, but, you know, we spend more on our military than the next ten countries combined. I want a strong national defense, but I don't want us to be bankrupt." Is that literally true? We found the answer on
Wikipedia, for the top 11 countries in military expenditures (in billions per year): - $581B United States
- $129B China
- $81B Saudi Arabia
- $70B Russia
- $62B United Kingdom
- $53B France
- $48B Japan
- $45B India
- $44B Germany
-
$34B South Korea
- $32B Brazil
The "next ten countries combined" add up to $598 billion annual military expenditures. Compare that to the U.S.'s annual total of $581 billion, and Sen. Paul is pretty much correct. He spoke a bit loosely,
saying "we spend MORE than the next ten countries combined," when he should have said "we spend A COMPARABLE AMOUNT to the next ten countries combined." But we rate his statement as ACCURATE.
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on Fox Business/WSJ debate
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Oct 11, 2015)
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar should take charge in Syria
Q: The Pentagon has announced they are no longer doing this training program for the so-called moderate rebels in Syria. Good idea?SANDERS: Well, it failed. I mean, the president acknowledged that. Syria is a quagmire inside of a quagmire.
I think what the president has tried to do is thread a very difficult needle. And that is keep American troops from engaging in combat and getting killed there. And I think that is the right thing to do. So I think we continue to try to do everything
that we can, focusing primarily on trying to defeat ISIS. But I am worried about American troops getting sucked into a never ending war in the Middle East and particularly in, you know, Iraq and Syria. I don't think the United States can or should be doi
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Meet the Press 2015 interview moderated by Chuck Todd
Donald Trump on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Sep 28, 2015)
Reimbursement for US military bases in rich countries abroad
As for nations that host US. military bases, Trump said he would charge those governments for the American presence. "I'm going to renegotiate some of our military costs because we protect South Korea. We protect Germany. We protect some of the wealthies
countries in the world, Saudi Arabia. We protect everybody and we don't get reimbursement. We lose on everything, so we're going to negotiate and renegotiate trade deals, military deals, many other deals that's going to get the cost down for running our
country very significantly."Trump then got into a specific example: Saudi Arabia, one of the more important US allies in the Middle East. Saudis "make a billion dollars a day. We protect them. So we need help. We are losing a tremendous amount
of money on a yearly basis and we owe $19 trillion," he said.
Walking back trade deals and agreements that allow the US military to operate overseas is easier said than done. But Trump has tapped into a powerful anti-Washington populist sentiment.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Foreign Policy Magazine on 2016 presidential hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Sep 13, 2015)
Address humanitarian crisis in Syria with allies in region
Q: The UN wants up to 65,000 Syrians placed here. How many refugees do you think the US should take in?SANDERS: I think it's impossible to give a proper number until we understand the dimensions of the problem. What I do believe is that Europe, the
United States and, by the way, countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, must address this humanitarian crisis. People are leaving Iraq, they're leaving Syria with just the clothes on their backs. The world has got to respond.
The United States should be part of that response.
Q: When it comes to Syria, how much of the problem is the United States' fault, of policy, whether Bush in Iraq or Obama in Syria?
SANDERS: Look, I voted against the war in Iraq; much of what
I feared would happen, in fact, did happen: Massive destabilization in that region. The issue now is not who is at fault. The issue is now what we do. And what we do is bring the region together.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Aug 30, 2015)
Middle Eastern countries must contribute to fight ISIS
The US cannot defeat this evil alone. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has the third largest military budget in the entire world. They're going to have to get in and take on ISIS as well as other countries in that region.
The US should be supportive; we should be working with other countries. But we cannot always be the only country involved in these wars.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls
Rand Paul on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Apr 12, 2015)
Boycott countries that demonize women, like Saudi Arabia
Q: Hillary Clinton's getting into this race. You have been comfortable bringing up a lot of her past and saying that it should be thought about and debated. Why?A: I think the thing about the Clintons is that there's this grand hypocrisy in the sense
that we've got this war on women thing that they like to talk about. And yet Hillary Clinton has taken money from countries that rape victims are publicly lashed. In Saudi Arabia, a woman was gang raped by seven men. She was publicly lashed 90 times.
And then she was convicted of being in the car with an unmarried man. We should be voluntarily boycotting a country, not buying stuff from a country that does that to women.
Q: What would you say to Hillary on that?
A: I would expect Clinton--if she
believes in women's rights--she should be calling for a boycott of Saudi Arabia. Instead, she's accepting tens of millions of dollars. And I think it looks unseemly. And there's going to be some explaining she's going to have to come up with.
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls
John Kasich on Saudi:
(Foreign Policy Jan 15, 2015)
Criticizes Saudis for extremism in Sunni-Shia split
During the Fox Business Network debate in Charleston, the moderator asked John Kasich about Saudi Arabia's recent execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. The Ohio governor is nearly alone in discussing Saudi Arabian support to
Sunni extremist groups in such a public forum.As Saudi Arabia has courted international controversy--by launching a bloody war in Yemen last year and embarking on a steep increase in executions for minor or political crimes--
the country has also ramped up its efforts to influence the American policy debate. Still, one of the main goals of Saudi outreach is to promote the idea that the country serves as a strong ally to U.S. efforts in
Syria, a point referenced by Kasich. The truth, however, is that Saudi shifted much of its military from striking ISIS targets in Syria to focus on the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: Lee Fang in The Intercept on 2016 Presidential hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Oct 12, 2014)
Get Saudis & regional powers involved with fighting ISIS
Q: You have warned that you think ISIS is dangerous & needs to be stopped.SANDERS: ISIS is a brutal, awful, dangerous army and they have got to be defeated. But this is not just an American problem. This is an international crisis. This is a regional
crisis. And I think the people of America are getting sick and tired of the world and the region, Saudi Arabia and the other countries saying "hey, we don't have to do anything about it. The American taxpayer, the American soldiers will do all the work
for us." Most people don't know is that Saudi Arabia is the 4th largest defense spender in the world, more than the U.K., more than France. They have an army which is probably seven times larger than ISIS. They have a major air force.
Q: Sure. But they
have shown no sign at all that they want to go in and neither have the Jordanians.
SANDERS: The question that we have got to ask is why are the nations in the region not more actively involved? Why don't they see this as a crisis situation?
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: CNN SOTU 2014 interview series: 2016 presidential hopefuls
Barack Obama on Saudi:
(War & Peace Oct 22, 2012)
Supported "Iron Dome" defense shield for Israel
ROMNEY: The reason I call it an "apology tour" is because you went to the Middle East and you flew to Egypt and to Saudi Arabia and to Turkey and Iraq. And you skipped Israel, our closest friend in the region, but you went to the other nations, and they
noticed that you skipped Israel. OBAMA: When I went to Israel as a candidate, I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable. And then
I went down to the border towns of Sderot, which had experienced missiles raining down from Hamas. And I saw families there who showed me where missiles had come down near their children's bedrooms, and I was reminded of what that would mean
if those were my kids, which is why, as president, we funded an Iron Dome program to stop those missiles. So that's how I've used my travels when I travel to Israel and when I travel to the region.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: Third Obama-Romney 2012 Presidential debate
Donald Trump on Saudi:
(Energy & Oil Mar 16, 2011)
It's incredible how slowly we're drilling for oil
[Saudi Arabia and OPEC] are absolutely salivating. Now who knows how long they're going to be around. They are only there because of us. It always amazes me when they raise the price. Nobody ever talks to them, nobody ever says no, you're not going to
do this. It's not the market [raising the price], it's OPEC. They set the price of oil. If they did it in this country, it would be called illegal.
I think it's incredible that we're going slow on drilling. I think it's beyond anything
I've ever seen that we're going slow on drilling.
there are always going to be problems. You're going to have an oil spill. You clean it up and you fix it up and it'll be fine.
I have people in the business and they say it's almost impossible to
get a permit to drill. So you can imagine how hard it is to get nuclear and other things but they say it's almost impossible. If you look at natural gas, we're the Saudi Arabia times 100 of natural gas--but we don't use it.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Devonia Smith Political Transcripts Examiner
Barack Obama on Saudi:
(Budget & Economy Nov 17, 2009)
OpEd: Stimulus trillions must be borrowed, printed, or taxed
Within six months of taking office, Pres. Obama put the US on track to double its already staggering national deficit. The new debt, which will burden future generations, is immoral. And all of it in the name of fixing an economy broken by too much debt
in the first place.Servicing the $11.5 trillion debt is a huge annual expenditure in the federal budget. Those who hold our debt, including foreign countries like China and Saudi Arabia, must be paid first. Last year we spent more than $400 billion to
service our debt. Is that what the president meant by "change"?
Where is all of this money going to come from? It can come from only three places. Government borrows it, government prints it, or government taxes the people for it. So far the
administration has done the first two. We've borrowed massive sums from foreign countries & we've also simply printed money. Economists call this practice "monetizing the debt," and it's not something we hear much about. Higher taxes won't be far behind.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: Going Rogue, by Sarah Palin, p.388-389
Mike Gravel on Saudi:
(Homeland Security May 2, 2008)
Foreign arms sales funnel money back to defense industry
In May 1978 there was a controversial vote to sell F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and F-5s to Egypt. The vote caused an outcry in the American Jewish community. But Congress approved the deal to support Carter’s more even-handed approach to the
Middle East quandary. I supported the idea that in the long run it would be better for Israel’s security. But Barney saw it as a betrayal. Just four months later, on September 17, 1978, the Camp David Accords were reached, and Egypt made peace with
Israel the following year: Carter’s greatest achievement. Arms sales to foreign governments were increased in these days to make up for Carter’s initial defense spending at home. Since many of these foreign sales were purchased with
US military aid, it was a way of funneling taxpayers’ money through foreign capitals and back into the US defense industry pockets--the point of the exercise.
Click for Mike Gravel on other issues.
Source: A Political Odyssey, by Mike Gravel, p.202
Hillary Clinton on Saudi:
(Tax Reform Feb 21, 2008)
Rescind tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year
When Bush came into office, he inherited a balanced budget and a surplus. It is gone. We now are looking at a projected deficit of $400 billion, under the new Bush budget, and a $9 trillion debt. We borrow money from the Chinese to buy oil from the
Saudis. I will get us back to fiscal responsibility. I will make it clear that the Bush tax cuts on the upper income, those making more than $250,000 a year, will be allowed to expire. My priorities are middle-class tax cuts and support for the middle
class, to make college affordable, retirement security possible, health insurance affordable. It’s important that we look at where the money has gone under Bush -- no-bid contracts, cronyism, outsourcing the government in ways that haven’t saved us money
and have reduced accountability. We can get back on the path we were on. It was one of the reasons why the economy was booming. I’ve got that clearly in my economic blueprint, because it’s part of what we have to do again.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: 2008 Democratic debate at University of Texas in Austin
Barack Obama on Saudi:
(War & Peace Feb 11, 2008)
Humanitarian aid now for displaced Iraqis
Q: Will you use every tool in our country’s arsenal to prevent civil war in Iraq after troops are pulled out?A: If we are doing this right, if we have a phased redeployment where we’re as careful getting out as we were careless getting in, then there’
not reason why we shouldn’t be able to prevent the wholesale slaughter some people have suggested might occur. And part of that means we are engaging in the diplomatic efforts that are required within Iraq, among friends, like Egypt, and Turkey and Saudi
Arabia, but also enemies like Iran and Syria. They have to have buy-in into that process. We have to have humanitarian aid now. We also have two-and-a-half million displaced people inside of Iraq and several million more outside of Iraq.
We should be ramping up assistance to them right now. But I always reserve the right, in conjunction with a broader international effort, to prevent genocide or any wholesale slaughter than might happen inside of Iraq or anyplace else.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview
Joe Biden on Saudi:
(War & Peace Aug 19, 2007)
Leaving Iraq will cause generation-long regional war
There’s much more at stake in our security in the region depending on how we leave Iraq. If we leave Iraq and we leave it in chaos, there’ll be regional war. The regional war will engulf us for a generation. It’ll bring in the Shia, it’ll bring in the
Saudis, it’ll bring in the Iranians, it’ll bring in the Turks. We should do is separate the parties, give them breathing room in order to establish some stability. I notice most of my colleagues are coming around to that plan these days.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate on “This Week”
Barack Obama on Saudi:
(War & Peace Oct 12, 2004)
Terrorists are in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran
OBAMA: The Bush administration could not find a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda. WMD are not found in Iraq. And so, it is absolutely true that we have a network of terrorists, but it takes a huge leap of logic to suddenly suggest that that means
that we invade Iraq. Saudi Arabia has a whole bunch of terrorists, so have Syria and Iran, and all across the globe. To mount full-scale invasions as a consequence is a bad strategy. It makes more sense for us to focus on those terrorists who are active
to try to roll them up where we have evidence that in fact these countries are being used as staging grounds that would potentially cause us eminent harm, and then we go in. The US has to reserve all military options in facing such an imminent threat-
but we have to do it wisely.KEYES: That’s the fallacy, because you did make an argument just then from the wisdom of hindsight, based on conclusions reached now which were not in Bush’s hands several months ago when he had to make this decision.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: [Xref Obama] IL Senate Debate, Illinois Radio Network
Bernie Sanders on Saudi:
(War & Peace Jun 17, 1997)
1990: Opposed authorizing all-out war in Kuwait with Iraq
On Aug. 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein, a former ally who was well supplied with American equipment, invaded Kuwait. On Aug. 9, US troops sent by Pres. Bush began arriving in Saudi Arabia to prevent further Iraqi aggression. Now, in early January Bush was
seeking congressional authority for an all-out war with Iraq. I was opposed to giving him that authority.From the very beginning of the Persian Gulf crisis, I was of the belief that the US could push Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait without having to
resort to war. Diplomacy, economic boycott, isolation, financial leverage: we had many means for reversing the invasion. I was not only opposed to the war because of the potential destruction and loss of life, but also because I believe it IS possible
for the major countries of this planet, and a virtually united world community, to resolve crises without carnage. If this matter could not be solved without massive bombing & killing thousands of people, then what crisis could ever be solved peacefully?
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Outsider in the House, by Bernie Sanders, p.110-1
Page last updated: Mar 02, 2022
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