BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:45 P.M.) – U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis met with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Washington, today, as the Saudi royal completes his three week long U.S. visit.
According to a Fox News report, Mattis told the Crown Prince about his objections to the Senate resolution that called on the U.S. to halt military support to Saudi Arabia.
Mattis believes that halting military support to Saudi Arabia will jeopardize their counter-terrorism cooperation and embolden Iran to amplify their support to the Houthi forces.
When asked about civilian casualties in Yemen, the U.S. Defense Secretary told a reporter that Saudi Arabia is part of the solution to the crisis and that they are actively working to end the war.
“We believe that Saudi Arabia is part of the solution,” Mattis stated.
“They have stood by the United Nations-recognized government, and we are going to end this war. That is the bottom line. And we are going to end it on positive terms for the people of Yemen but also security for the nations in the peninsula,” he continued.
Mattis allegedly thanked the Saudi Crown Prince for his nation’s humanitarian role in the Yemen War, despite the fact that half the country is under a land, air, and sea siege by the Saudi Coalition.
“Your significant amounts of humanitarian aid is critical to help the innocent caught up in this conflict (and) we applaud you for that,” Mattis concluded.
59 - 59Shares
Be Civil
This is a Civilized Place for Public Discussion
Please treat this discussion with the same respect you would a public park. We, too, are a shared community resource — a place to share skills, knowledge and interests through ongoing conversation.
These are not hard and fast rules, merely guidelines to aid the human judgment of our community and keep this a clean and well-lighted place for civilized public discourse.
Make it better
Improve the Discussion
Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.
The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.
Now the hard part!
Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree
You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:
Instead, provide reasoned counter-arguments that improve the conversation.