Ted Cruz tells Mike Pompeo to 'follow the damn law' on arms sales

[corbe]

Ted Cruz tells Mike Pompeo to 'follow the damn law' on arms sales

by Joel Gehrke

July 10, 2019 04:13 PM
 
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent decision to authorize emergency arms sales to Saudi Arabia was an exercise in "foolishness" that flouted federal law, a prominent Senate Republican charged.

“The process that the State Department followed for these weapons sales, not to put too fine a point on it, was crap,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday during a Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “The simpler process is follow the damn law and respect it.”

Pompeo used an emergency provision of federal law to break a logjam over arms sales to Saudi Arabia, citing “many months of congressional delay” in approving the deals amid heightened tensions with Iran. That maneuver angered Democrats who opposed the sales, but Cruz’s emphatic rebuke showed irritation has spread across party lines.

<..snip..>

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/ted-cruz-tells-mike-pompeo-to-follow-the-damn-law-on-arms-sales

[Sanguine]

"Follow the damn law"!

[corbe]

   Is it possible Ted got his balls out of hock from the West Wing Pawn Shop?

[Formerly Once-Ler]

What could go wrong with selling arms to our friends?

Hijackers by Airplane:
American Airlines Flight 11
Mohamed Atta - Egypt, tactical leader of 9/11 plot and pilot
Abdul Aziz al Omari - Saudi Arabia
Wail al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
Waleed al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
Satam al Suqami - Saudi Arabia
United Airlines Flight 175
Fayez Banihammad - United Arab Emirates
Ahmed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Hamza al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Marwan al Shehhi - United Arab Emirates, pilot
Mohand al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
American Airlines Flight 77
Hani Hanjour - Saudi Arabia, pilot
Nawaf al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia
Salem al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia
Khalid al Mihdhar - Saudi Arabia
Majed Moqed - Saudi Arabia
United Airlines Flight 93
Saeed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Ahmad al Haznawi - Saudi Arabia
Ziad Jarrah - Lebanon, pilot
Ahmed al Nami - Saudi Arabia

[Applewood]

When is this country going to realize Israel is our only friend and ally in the Middle East?  Saudi Arabia is not a friend. 

[Smokin Joe]

What could go wrong with selling arms to our friends?

Hijackers by Airplane:
American Airlines Flight 11
Mohamed Atta - Egypt, tactical leader of 9/11 plot and pilot
Abdul Aziz al Omari - Saudi Arabia
Wail al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
Waleed al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
Satam al Suqami - Saudi Arabia
United Airlines Flight 175
Fayez Banihammad - United Arab Emirates
Ahmed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Hamza al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Marwan al Shehhi - United Arab Emirates, pilot
Mohand al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
American Airlines Flight 77
Hani Hanjour - Saudi Arabia, pilot
Nawaf al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia
Salem al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia
Khalid al Mihdhar - Saudi Arabia
Majed Moqed - Saudi Arabia
United Airlines Flight 93
Saeed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Ahmad al Haznawi - Saudi Arabia
Ziad Jarrah - Lebanon, pilot
Ahmed al Nami - Saudi Arabia

Yeah!

Box cutter control NOW!

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Yeah!

Box cutter control NOW!

@Smokin Joe
Sounds like maybe you are comfortable selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.  Is this correct?  Perhaps just joke?  I am very uncomfortable with it.

[Smokin Joe]

@Smokin Joe
Sounds like maybe you are comfortable selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.  Is this correct?  Perhaps just joke?  I am very uncomfortable with it.

Comfortable selling weapons? Not even a box cutter (what 9/11 was really done with).

I think we should keep the very best for us. We should sell better'n most in a region to allies, who will likely upgrade it anyway. Sell third world stuff to the third world.

If our Arms makers solely depend on military contracts from the USA, we won't have an industry, or it will be a lot more expensive for us to arm ourselves.  Recall, if you will, we sold the Shah of Iran F-14 Tomcats, but those have never been a threat, even after the overthrow by Khomeni. Just make sure there is some critical spare part they'll need to buy often, and then don't sell it to them if they get out of line. When those parts reach the end of their service life, the whole fleet will be grounded.

(“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.” )

Build in the 'nail', and then don't sell it to them. It can even be something that can be activated in the software systems any more in sophisticated weapons.

That bunch on 9/11 didn't even have an AK-47, much less some fancy weapons. They used the planes, commercial airliners, as the weapons, which is a fine example of asymmetrical warfare tactics, as much as I hate what they did.  Typical of fanatics, much damage can be done with little when the mission is a one way trip.

[Night Hides Not]

When is this country going to realize Israel is our only friend and ally in the Middle East?  Saudi Arabia is not a friend.

We're finally in a position to satisfy our own energy needs, no need to prop up Saudi Arabia. Sure, defense contractors will lose out on weapons sales to other countries, but that's about the only downside IMO.

The Saudis have practiced their own version of taqqiya on the US for decades, to include establishing and funding madrassas here in the US.

[libertybele]

IF only those in this administration (including the President) would listen to Cruz, this country wouldn't be in half the turmoil that it's in.  Cruz has been correct on most issues.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Comfortable selling weapons? Not even a box cutter (what 9/11 was really done with).

I think we should keep the very best for us. We should sell better'n most in a region to allies, who will likely upgrade it anyway. Sell third world stuff to the third world.

If our Arms makers solely depend on military contracts from the USA, we won't have an industry, or it will be a lot more expensive for us to arm ourselves.  Recall, if you will, we sold the Shah of Iran F-14 Tomcats, but those have never been a threat, even after the overthrow by Khomeni. Just make sure there is some critical spare part they'll need to buy often, and then don't sell it to them if they get out of line. When those parts reach the end of their service life, the whole fleet will be grounded.

Build in the 'nail', and then don't sell it to them. It can even be something that can be activated in the software systems any more in sophisticated weapons.

That bunch on 9/11 didn't even have an AK-47, much less some fancy weapons. They used the planes, commercial airliners, as the weapons, which is a fine example of asymmetrical warfare tactics, as much as I hate what they did.  Typical of fanatics, much damage can be done with little when the mission is a one way trip.

I agree that weapon sales to our allies can be mutually beneficial.  My concern is Saudi Arabia is not a good ally.  I also doubt that the F-14 Tomcats you reference "never been a threat, even after the overthrow by Khomeni."  How would one quantify that "threat?"

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/irans-air-force-flies-american-made-f-14-tomcats-24750

For the next five decades, the United States would do everything in its power — short of war — to ground the ayatollah’s Tomcats. But the Americans failed. Through a combination of engineering ingenuity and audacious espionage, Iran kept its F-14s in working order — and even improved them. The swing-wing fighters took to the air in several conflicts and even occasionally confronted American planes.

Today Iran’s 40 or so surviving F-14s remain some of the best fighters in the Middle East. And since the U.S. Navy retired its last Tomcats in 2006, the ayatollah’s Tomcats are the only active Tomcats left in the world.

[TomSea]

IF only those in this administration (including the President) would listen to Cruz, this country wouldn't be in half the turmoil that it's in.  Cruz has been correct on most issues.

Apparently Cruz has not voted against selling arms to the Saudis, Rand Paul has. Not sure of what you are claiming.

. “I voted with the administration on the substance because of the threat of Iran, but I tell you, from my end, if the administration does it again and there is not a live and exigent emergency, you will not have my vote, and I predict you will not have the vote of a number of other Republicans as well." - from article.

[TomSea]

What could go wrong with selling arms to our friends?

Hijackers by Airplane:
American Airlines Flight 11
Mohamed Atta - Egypt, tactical leader of 9/11 plot and pilot
Abdul Aziz al Omari - Saudi Arabia
Wail al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
Waleed al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
Satam al Suqami - Saudi Arabia
United Airlines Flight 175
Fayez Banihammad - United Arab Emirates
Ahmed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Hamza al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Marwan al Shehhi - United Arab Emirates, pilot
Mohand al Shehri - Saudi Arabia
American Airlines Flight 77
Hani Hanjour - Saudi Arabia, pilot
Nawaf al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia
Salem al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia
Khalid al Mihdhar - Saudi Arabia
Majed Moqed - Saudi Arabia
United Airlines Flight 93
Saeed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia
Ahmad al Haznawi - Saudi Arabia
Ziad Jarrah - Lebanon, pilot
Ahmed al Nami - Saudi Arabia

You can lay out all of that but most of the hijackers were also in Iran in the previous year. To me, I don't see the evidence of Iranian complicity but a judge certainly found so.

US judge: Iran must pay $6bn to victims of 9/11 attacks

Lawsuit alleges Iran trained September 11 hijackers but official investigation found no evidence of Iranian involvement.
1 May 2018

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/judge-iran-pay-6bn-victims-911-attacks-180501120240366.html

Iran and 9/11: Down the Rabbit Hole of Blame
10/25/2017 09:11 am ET Updated Oct 25, 2017

Largely unreported and unknown to almost everyone is the recent push to re-establish an Iranian role in the 9/11 attacks. To be more specific, some in Washington are currently trying to allege that Iran played a larger role in the 9/11 attacks than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Why this assertion about Iran— that has been lying fallow for years—is so recently being resurrected raises questions, bears scrutiny, and begs an examination.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/iran-and-911-down-the-rabbit-hole-of-blame_b_59ef7e1be4b04809c0501194

Iran Admits To Facilitating 9/11 Terror Attacks[/size]
Top Iranian official admits for first time Iran aided al Qaeda terrorists

Adam Kredo - June 8, 2018 6:03 PM

Iranian officials, in a first, have admitted to facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. by secretly aiding the free travel of al Qaeda operatives who eventually went on to fly commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City, according to new remarks from a senior Iranian official.

Mohammad-Javad Larijani, an international affairs assistant in the Iran's judiciary, disclosed in Farsi-language remarks broadcast on Iran's state-controlled television that Iranian intelligence officials secretly helped provide the al Qaeda attackers with passage and gave them refuge in the Islamic Republic, according to an English translation published by Al Arabiya.

"Our government agreed not to stamp the passports of some of them because they were on transit flights for two hours, and they were resuming their flights without having their passports stamped. However their movements were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence," Larijani was quoted as saying.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-admits-facilitating-9-11-terror-attacks/

If only Trump had listened to Mike Lee and Rand Paul, perhaps, the country would be in better shape.

I don't see Iran as responsible but I don't have the same data that some of these people do.  I've been skeptical of arming the Saudis for quite some time; and in Yemen,  the Trump admin is basically taking up where Obama left off who got us involved there.

We've already talked about this quite a bit in the forum. I don't see the tip-top Royal family as responsible but perhaps, down the line some and there are bound to be a lot of millionaires if not billionaires there.

But the hawks, Cotton and Cruz has been supportive, Rubio too, want us to help the Saudis.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

You can lay out all of that but most of the hijackers were also in Iran in the previous year. To me, I don't see the evidence of Iranian complicity but a judge certainly found so.
If only Trump had listened to Mike Lee and Rand Paul, perhaps, the country would be in better shape.

I don't see Iran as responsible but I don't have the same data that some of these people do.  I've been skeptical of arming the Saudis for quite some time; and in Yemen,  the Trump admin is basically taking up where Obama left off who got us involved there.

Agreed.

[Smokin Joe]

I agree that weapon sales to our allies can be mutually beneficial.  My concern is Saudi Arabia is not a good ally.  I also doubt that the F-14 Tomcats you reference "never been a threat, even after the overthrow by Khomeni."  How would one quantify that "threat?"

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/irans-air-force-flies-american-made-f-14-tomcats-24750

The numbers you provide far exceed other sources.

It is said that the IRIAF only have some twelve to fourteen operational F-14A and F-14AMs left.

The picture in this post features the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) F-14A Tomcat that crashed yesterday .

According to Scramble Facebook News Magazine, it is now (still unconfirmed) reported that the aircraft involved is F-14A 3-6003. According to the picture of the fatal Tomcat, the airframe is completely destroyed.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/one-irans-last-f-14a-tomcats-just-crashed-65241

I had seen similar numbers (or less) of operational aircraft in other sources as well.

Even so, the airframe is only part of the equation, also required are the avionics, the pilots, and the weaponry.
I seriously doubt the Iranian Aircraft are a match for our own, or that they ever were.

Like I said, you sell 'allies' you can't trust good, but never the best weapons. That prevents two things: those weapons being turned on you, and the reverse engineering of your best weapons systems for sale or use against you. It is rare that our next generation isn't being tested by the time we sell the early model blocks of the last, and the onboard systems aren't the same as our own. Beyond that, it takes training, time on the stick to get to levels of proficiency our people have. With parts in short supply, that training must be balanced against operational readiness and maintenance requirements.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

The numbers you provide far exceed other sources. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/one-irans-last-f-14a-tomcats-just-crashed-65241

I had seen similar numbers (or less) of operational aircraft in other sources as well.

Even so, the airframe is only part of the equation, also required are the avionics, the pilots, and the weaponry.
I seriously doubt the Iranian Aircraft are a match for our own, or that they ever were.

Like I said, you sell 'allies' you can't trust good, but never the best weapons. That prevents two things: those weapons being turned on you, and the reverse engineering of your best weapons systems for sale or use against you. It is rare that our next generation isn't being tested by the time we sell the early model blocks of the last, and the onboard systems aren't the same as our own. Beyond that, it takes training, time on the stick to get to levels of proficiency our people have. With parts in short supply, that training must be balanced against operational readiness and maintenance requirements.

I'm sure the people of Yemen will be relieved that we are only selling our crappy F-15s to SA.  I don't know for sure because I typically refer to journalist Jamal Khashoggi to explain the intentions of the Saudi royal family.