YEMEN
In a briefing for the press Secretary of State Michael Pompeo talked about the administration’s position on the conflict in Yemen and the US Senate’s vote to end support of Saudi Arabia over its involvement in the conflict. Pompeo said that the US “fundamentally disagrees that curbing our assistance to the Saudi-led coalition is the way to achieve these goals.”
In a strongly worded statement the Secretary pointed out senators who voted “aye” stating that “…we really need to think about whose human rights. If you truly care about Yemeni lives, you’d support the Saudi-led effort to prevent Yemen from turning into a puppet state of the corrupt, brutish Islamic Republic of Iran. If we truly care about Saudi lives, you’d want to stop Iran-backed Houthis from launching missiles into Riyadh. If you truly care about Arab lives in the region, you’d support allied efforts to prevent Iran from extending its authoritarian rule from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea and on down to Yemen. And if we truly care about American lives and livelihoods, and the lives and livelihoods of people all around the world, you’d understand that Iran and its proxies cannot be allowed to control the shipping lanes that abut Yemen.”
To date the United States has given over $2 billion in aid to Yemen. Last year Saudi Arabia provided over $500 million to the Yemeni people with another $500 million pledged for 2019. In contrast, Iran has not given any humanitarian aid funds to Yemen. Pompeo sees the Senate vote as tying Saudi Arabia’s hands when they are contributing significant humanitarian funds to stop the crisis.
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
The United States decided in 1998 not to join the International Court of Justice due to its broad and unaccountable prosecutorial powers and to the threat it poses to its sovereignty. According to Pompeo the US is “… determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation. We feared that the court could eventually pursue politically motivated prosecutions of Americans, and our fears were warranted.”
Pompeo described a November 2017 ICC prosecutorial request to initiative an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan. He said: “That could illegitimately target American personnel for prosecutions and sentencing. In September of 2018, the Trump administration warned the ICC that if it tried to pursue an investigation of Americans there would be consequences. I understand that the prosecutor’s request for an investigation remains pending.”
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NORTH KOREA
In response to North Korea’s statement this past week that it may end the moratorium on weapons development and proliferation, Pompeo told the press simply that he expects Chairman Kim to live up to his word. He reminded reporters that negotiators have made progress over the past year. As the start of the negotiations President Trump warned the American people that patience would be needed and to expect the process to take time. Progress had been made with the return of hostages and the cessation of testing of nuclear weapons and missiles. It remains uncertain if North Korea will give up its nuclear program.
DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.
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