Jesse Kline: Canada should have been selling more arms to the Saudis - National Post

Photo by OpenStreetMapArticle contentEver since the Conservatives inked a deal to sell light-armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia in 2014, Ottawa has been hounded by opponents arguing that Canada shouldn’t be transferring arms to the kingdom, largely because they could end up being used in Yemen’s civil war. Given the destruction wrought by the Houthis over the past three years, it’s now clear that we should have been selling the Saudis more military equipment, not less.

There is, of course, good reason not to trust the Saudis. Fifteen of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi born. The kingdom was also responsible for the brutal 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Columnist Jesse Kline keeps you up to date with what’s happening in Israel and the effects of antisemitism on life here in Canada. Friday mornings.

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But the primary rationale for blocking arms sales to Riyadh was its involvement in the Yemeni civil war, where a Saudi-backed coalition led a military campaign in support of the country’s internationally recognized government.

There’s no doubt that the war has been particularly brutal, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 377,000 people between 2015 and 2022, or about 54,000 fatalities a year. (In Gaza, by comparison, even going by Hamas’s questionable numbers, around 24,000 have died each year — remember that the next time someone claims Israel is committing “genocide.”)

Yet despite all the lawsuits, activist campaigns, fear-mongering reports and a clause within the contract that forbade the Canadian equipment from being used in Yemen, there was very little discussion about whether the Saudis were right to try to prevent an Islamist terrorist organization from taking over a country that’s strategically situated next to a critical Red Sea choke-point and within striking distance of both the kingdom and Israel.

Despite Saudi Arabia’s problems, and there are many, there is little question that it has taken meaningful steps toward westernization and ending its support for Wahhabism since 9/11, a process of reform that accelerated after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) assumed effective control in 2017.