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On Thursday, Democratic senators introduced legislation to block a sale of $5 billion worth of bombs and bomb kits to Saudi Arabia, protesting the kingdom’s human rights abuses amid its escalation in fighting in Yemen.

Senators Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), with support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), introduced a joint resolution of disapproval (JRD) targeting the sale, which was announced last week. JRDs are privileged legislation, which means that a senator can force a vote on the legislation.

The sale includes 10,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits, 5,000 2,000-pound bombs, and other measures including U.S. government support services. In its notification of the sale to Congress, the State Department stated that it “will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region.”

Saudi Arabia has ramped up its fighting with Yemen’s Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah. The conflict also serves partly as a proxy war between the U.S. and Iran, and has seen the Houthis making major advances to seize control over the crucial Bab al-Mandeb Strait in recent weeks. Meanwhile, attacks on Saudi Arabia’s critical East-West crude oil pipeline have forced Saudi Aramco to halt part of its crude oil supply to Europe, throwing even further chaos into the energy crisis........

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