saudi arabia, yemen and bombs "made in the usa"

It is more than interesting that this week the US Senate has passed a bill which will allow families who were victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia. In all likelihood, this bill will be vetoed by the president.

Probably at least two reasons for a presidential veto.

1. The Saudi government is essentially threatening to destroy our economy if it does pass (see article in the link above).
2. We (the US) have this really weird, if not somewhat disturbing relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This story catches my attention, not because of the complex and inevitable economic impact. Although, it is worth noting that with our economy's current state of oil dependence and petrodollars - Saudi Arabia could completely ruin us tomorrow, if they wanted to.

Nor does this catch my attention because of the mounting evidence that the Saudi Kingdom was way more involved with the 9/11 attacks than any of the countries we used 9/11 as an excuse to invade.

This story catches my attention because we really do have an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship with a country that is guilty of some of the greatest human rights violations on the planet. This story about a woman who fled to Canada and who's husband is facing years of torture for a blog that the the Saudi Kingdom didn't like is heartbreaking - and merely anecdotal of a greater problem.

US - Saudi relations are much like this photo: weird. 

There is a major humanitarian crisis happening in the tiny nation of Yemen, and much of that has to do with the fact that Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting a war by proxy through Yemeni factions. Most disturbing is the fact that Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni civilians with bombs stamped "Made in the USA".

It's no wonder folks in the Middle East don't like us very much.

We're going to have to get out of bed with the Saudi Kingdom at some point. When we do, the morning after is not going to be pretty.

This is a helpful article on understanding a bit more of the complexities of the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

The global Church should be praying for this land, and intervening and advocating for her people. Currently there are 21 million Yemenis who are in need of life-saving assistance.