Oil, Oil Everywhere

In recent decades, the Middle East has become a Cold War-esque battleground for its two main powers: Iran and Saudi Arabia. This is mainly due to the Sunni-Shia split in Islamic faith that originated in the 700s, but tensions were exacerbated by the Iranian Revolution, a religious uprising that challenged the spiritual dominance of Saudi Arabia. In attempts to outmaneuver each other and gain the upper hand in the region, both countries routinely fund and support local rebel groups and military organizations.

The conflict in Yemen is one of the chief manifestations of this power struggle. Iran-backed Houthi rebels overthrew the democratically elected government in 2014, leading Saudi Arabia to form a coalition of Arab nations in an attempt to reinstate the government.

The coalition has made no progress. Missiles regularly fly in both directions over the countries’ borders, and the war shows no sign of slowing down. As a result of the conflict, Yemen is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history; many civilians do not have access to clean water or necessary medical supplies, and diseases long beaten in the developed world run rampant. Despite all this, the Saudi government continues to show little to no concern about the plight of the Yemeni people. In fact, it has done the complete opposite. Jet fighters regularly bomb funerals and wedding halls, and on August 9, they bombed a stalled school bus near a group of young children. None of these can logically be thought of as “military targets,” yet they were all attacked.

The war has led to serious questions about America’s role in the Middle East. Relations between the Saudi Arabian monarchy and the U.S. government have never been better, especially after the signing of a massive $110 billion arms deal in 2017. President Trump will likely steer clear of any real action to avoid endangering the lucrative oil trade that the Saudis control. But if the conflict is to be resolved and the human suffering reduced, the United States must take drastic action.

First and foremost, America should cancel any and all pending arms deals with Saudi Arabia. The regime has proven time and time again that it does not take human rights or civilian casualties into account when taking military action. The U.S. cannot let this continue unimpeded. The first step to ending the human suffering and hastening the end of the conflict is to cut off the massive arms trade between the two countries. Doing so would boost America’s reputation in the Middle East, which has long been tarnished by the Iraq War, and appease Iranian tensions with the U.S., which were inflamed by the revoking of the Iran nuclear deal.

Second, the U.S. should apply economic sanctions against Saudi Arabia and companies that do business with it, especially companies that deal with arms manufacturing and the oil trade. The missile that struck the school bus on August 10 was manufactured by Lockheed Martin, a company that has long benefited from U.S. government contracts. The Trump administration should cease to do business with any companies that can be proven to have exacerbated the Saudi-Yemen conflict.

Supporters of the Saudi regime have claimed that restrictions on America’s involvement in the lucrative oil trade could hurt the American economy and lessen its influence in the Middle East. But with the U.S. as the newly-crowned world’s top producer of oil, this critique no longer holds up. America has more than enough natural resources to sustain its economy and energy sector for decades. Any international action by other oil-rich countries, like the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, would likely have very little effect. On the other hand, the Saudis would not survive for long without their main source of wealth in the world.

It certainly is possible that the Saudis would turn to other less morally driven countries in pursuit of trading partners—namely, Russia. However, Russia itself has a vast supply of natural resources, enough to largely take care of itself. More importantly, with the involvement of both Russia and Saudi Arabia in the Syrian Civil War, the Russians would be unlikely to get tangled up in another alliance that would deepen their dedication to the conflict. Add to that the fact that the Saudis support Syrian rebels that oppose the Russian-backed Assad government, and the chances of Saudi Arabia finding other dedicated recipients of its oil are greater.

To take any action other than a drastic reversal of international relations would be a betrayal of the ideals that the postwar Western world was built upon. The policy of turning a blind eye to human rights violations, especially by the liberal, democratic West, should end immediately. The time has come for the West to give its answer to Saudi Arabia’s obvious and arrogant violation of international human rights agreements. Doing so would be the first step in bringing some semblance of stability and peace to one of the most brutal places in the world.

Timeline breakout[a]:

2015

March 19 → Saudi-Yemen War begins.

March 25 → Saudi airstrikes against Houthi rebels begin.

March 26 → Coalition launches airstrikes on civilian and military airports. 17 people are killed.

2016

Mid-March → U.S.-supplied precision-guided Mark 84 bomb kills 97 people in Yemen market.

October 8 → Airstrike is launched on funeral in Sana’a.

2017

April 18 → Houthis claim to have shot down a Saudi Black Hawk helicopter. 12 soldiers die in the attack.

November 4 → A Houthi-launched missile is intercepted over King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

2018

January 28 → Yemen PM appeals to Saudi Arabia for help after coup is launched after capture of government HQ in Aden.

July 3: Saudi planes bomb a wedding party in Saada; at least 8 people are killed.

July 6: A suspected U.S. drone strike kills 7 al-Qaeda militants in Shabwah.

August 9: A Saudi airstrike hits a bus in Dahyan, Sa'dah, killing dozens of children.

[a]Note to layout: This should be printed as a timeline!