US President Donald Trump’s administration has bypassed congressional review to approve military sales totaling more than US$8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The US Department of State’s announcements on Friday came as the US and Israel’s war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales, the department said.
Photo: AFP
The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defense replenishment services costing US$4.01 billion, as well as Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) worth US$992.4 million.
They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing US$2.5 billion, and APKWS worth US$992.4 million and US$147.6 million to Israel and the UAE respectively.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales was BAE Systems, the department said.
RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system, and the Patriot air and missile defense replenishment sales, it added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.
Over the years, Washington has faced scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar over those countries’ human rights track records that rights advocates said involve restrictions on and reported abuses of minorities, journalists, voices of dissent, the LGBT community and laborers.
Those nations have denied supporting or engaging in domestic rights abuses.
US support for Israel has also come under scrutiny from rights experts, particularly over Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to assessments of genocide from academics and a UN inquiry.
Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in an October 2023 attack.
Washington has maintained support for its allies.
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