Bahrain ducks congressional scrutiny over Yemen war
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had hoped to send a message to the Saudi coalition in Yemen by holding an arms sale to Bahrain hostage. It didn’t work.
Bahrain has dodged a bullet as Congress takes aim at the Gulf country's close ally Saudi Arabia.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had hoped to block a pending arms sale to the tiny kingdom as a reprimand of the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s war against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. But the vote overwhelmingly failed 77-21, with even some of Saudi Arabia’s harshest critics on Capitol Hill coming to Bahrain’s defense.
Ahead of the vote, Paul said, “This is a proxy vote on the war in Yemen.”
“The Bahrainis are a part of a nine-country coalition fighting this war that have had casualties,” he said. “They have dropped bombs, been on the ground in Yemen.”
