CNN host Wolf Blitzer said that Rand Paul’s call on the US to stop to arm Saudi Arabia is immoral because he has not taken into account defense contractor job losses.
Photo: CNN
American Republican Senator Rand Paul called on the US to stop to arm Saudi Arabia, and his call was immoral because he has not thought about defense contractors, who would lose their jobs, CNN host Wolf Blitzer said.
Paul argues that Saudi Arabia was responsible for empowering extremists in the Middle Eastern region and killing thousands of civilians with American missiles and bombs, and thinks that the US should stop to sell weapons to Riyadh.
In spring 2016, a bill that would require Riyadh to follow safeguards to minimize civilian deaths in the region was proposed by Paul and Senator Chris Murphy. The politicians noted that over 4,000 civilians were killed during an ongoing Saudi-led bombing campaign there.
However, CNN host Wolf Blitzer noted that such a step would negatively affect weapon builders’ jobs, forgetting about civilian victims. According to Blitzer, “a $1.1 billion sale deal would harm the US economy and cause fewer jobs for weapons manufacturers, distributors and retail sellers.”
“So for you this is a moral issue. Because, you know, there are a lot of jobs at stake,” Blitzer told Paul in a live broadcast. “Certainly if a lot of these defense contractors stop selling warplanes, other sophisticated equipment to Saudi Arabia, there’s going to be a significant loss of jobs, of revenue here in the United States. That’s secondary from your standpoint?”
The Senator answered that it was both a moral question, and a constitutional issue.
“Our founding fathers very directly and specifically did not give the president the power to go to war. They gave it to Congress. So Congress needs to step up and this is what I’m doing,” Paul said.