Trumps softens his position agrees that active military troops not needed to control protests

(June 4) US Defense Secretary Mark Esper opposed President Donald Trump's idea of invoking the Insurrection Act so as to deploy active-duty US troops in US cities to quell protests against the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.

Esper ordered troops away from Washington but then reversed himself

Esper ordered 200 active-duty troops from the 82nd Airborne immediate response force, which had been brought to the national capital to deal with unrest if needed, to return to their base after two days of relatively peaceful demonstrations. However, after just a couple of hours he reversed his decision after a meeting at the White House and after internal Pentagon discussions.

No doubt the Trump administration wanted to make sure that Esper did not by direct action contradict the president's position.

Esper had said on Wednesday: "The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire situations. We are not in one of those situations right now.I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."

Even many Republican lawmakers agree with Esper

While a few hawkish senators do support Trump's position, many Congress members both in the House and Senate agree with Esper that active armed forces should be used to control protests only as a last resort. Several retired military officials criticized Trump's position as reported by the New York Times.

In spite of Esper's critical remarks White House officials have said that there are no plans to fire Esper at present.

Trump softens his own position

Trump on Wednesday did not immediately counter his critics' objections but moved to modify his own stance, saying to White House Secretary Sean Spicer: "It depends. I don’t think we’ll have to. We have very strong powers to do it. The National Guard is customary, and we have a very powerful National Guard...As far as going beyond that? Sure, if it was necessary. We have antifa. We have anarchists. We have terrorists, looters. We have a lot of bad people in those groups."

For once, Trump may have compromised on an issue rather than exacerbating disagreements by adding rhetorical fuel to the fire.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Trump administration to sell $500 million in weapons to Saudi Arabia

(June 1 )The Trump Administration has notified the US Congress confirming plans to sell $500 million in weapons to Saudi Arabia in an upcoming round of arms sales.

Plan includes the sale of Paveway bombs

The sales to the Saudis would include Paveway laser-guided bombs. Raytheon would also receive licenses to manufacture such bombs within Saudi Arabia itself. The Paveway bombs are part of a 2019 deal that saw the Saudis intend to buy 60,000 precision munitions.

The new deal would see the Saudis buy 7,500 of Paveway IV precision-guided missiles that are manufactured by Raytheon Technologies Corp. This would be in addition to the 60,000 that were bought in the 2019 deal. The US government is also committed to Raytheon manufacturing an additional $106 million in weapons within Saudi Arabia with details to be determined.

Deal faces resistance in the US Congress

Many US critics of the sales argue that the Saudis have been committing war crimes using US-supplied munitions in their air war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

US concerns were also exacerbated when the Saudis assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi giving rise to a considerable negative political backlash. So far the Trump administration has gone ahead with sales in spite of all Congressional critics.

Middle East weapons sales pushed by US presidents

For years US presidents have made large arms sales to Middle East countries especially those who are well off such as the Saudis a high priority in spite of many critics pointing out serious human rights issues with the sales. Such sales also exacerbate instability in the region.

The May 2019 deal

In May of last year the Trump administration declared an emergency that Mike Pompeo the US Secretary of State claimed involved threats from Iran. This declaration enabled the Trump administration to bypass US Congress notification procedures applicable to arms sales and sell more than $8.1 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The move elicited protests from Democrats and even a few Republicans but failed to prevent the weapon sales.

Previously published in the DIgital Journal