We should not sell arms to anybody who is fighting enemies we are not (directly) fighting? Strikes me as a very restrictive policy.
Duh. No shit, Sherlock.
Restrictive <> bad.
Then I guess US should not have been arming the Brits before Germany declared war on US? If we follow the Bilby Doctrine to the letter, that would have been the outcome.
Fucking right they shouldn't.
They should have been at war with Germany.
When all your regional allies but one have been invaded, occupied and are being systematically looted and 'ethnically cleansed', it's long past time to declare war.
When one of your regional allies, that's perfectly capable of defending herself, and that has recently been involved in an attack on your nation, is bullying a neighbour in a proxy war against another nation with whom you have no bigger grievances, it's long past time to stop selling them arms, and to seriously reconsider your status as their ally.
Much less allies who are fighting Iranian proxies. Particularly if that fighting is effectively shutting down humanitarian aid to people who genuinely need it.
I agree Yemen needs aid. Condoms and birth control pills first and foremost.
And the apparently-totally-not-terrorist
Houthis are the ones diverting aid.
I do not see how letting the entire country fall under the yoke of the Houthis is going to help anything.
Do you also not see how dropping bombs on people drives them to support extremists who they otherwise might have shunned? Or are non-Americans just cartoonish characters without strong motivations of their own in your view?
Fuck the US and her proxy wars. You're big enough and bad enough to fight any dozen other armed forces on the whole fucking planet at the same time. So shit, or get off the pot. If you have a valid casus belli, go to war. If not, butt the fuck out.
I think US should intervene in Yemen directly. I also think taking out Iranian nuclear facilities and IRGC assets would be a legitimate use of armed force.
You are preaching to the choir! But alas, that is not politically possible right now.
Then by definition (in a democracy) it's a bad idea.
The poor bloody Yemenis don't need your half-baked allies dropping 'made in USA' ordinance on their heads.
Because letting the Houthis win would be so much better?
Better than being bombed? Probably.
Especially since it would destabilize the entire region and may even lead to Iran invading Saudi Arabia once they have a beachhead on the Peninsula.
That's a wild and crazy fantasy. Iran has shown no interest in invading anyone.
If the Saudis want to bomb their neighbours, let them make their own fucking bombs.
Or maybe they can buy them elsewhere, with those other countries making those profits.
Sure. If something's immoral, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, because if you don't, someone else will.
That's why you should rob people who appear weaker than you. After all, if you don't steal his wallet, somebody else will, so you might as well be the one to benefit, right?
Biden is babbling about "Buy American" but he doesn't even want to "Sell American" ...
Not everything is for sale. Not everything should be for sale. And the USA is wealthy enough to survive just fine without selling arms to scumbag theocrats of any kind.
