Friday, August 12, 2016

Saudi Accounts Hijack Rand Paul's Twitter Poll on Saudi Arms Sales - The Libertarian Republic

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Twitter Poll Hijacked by Saudi Accounts


By: Elias J. Atienza


Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is looking to head a bipartisan coalition to block a $1.15 billion arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The arms sales would include 130 Abrams tanks, 20 armored vehicles, and other military equipment.


“I will work with a bipartisan coalition to explore forcing a vote on blocking this sale,” Paul told Foreign Policy in a statement. “Saudi Arabia is an unreliable ally with a poor human rights record. We should not rush to sell them advanced arms and promote an arms race in the Middle East.”


This comes as Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemen at the head of an Arab coalition set on combating Houthi rebels after they seized control of the capital last year.


Paul ran a Twitter poll, asking his followers whether or not the United States should sell Saudi Arabia weapons. In response, several Saudi accounts asked their followers to vote yes in the poll, which had over 52,000 votes.




There are hundreds of replies to Paul’s tweet in both English and Arabic, often criticizing him.




Fayezzz_8 has over 445,000 followers on Twitter and he asked his followers to vote yes.


In the replies to Paul’s tweets, several Saudi accounts attacked him.






Justin Amash observed this on Twitter.




Related: Rand Paul To Force Vote on Ending Pakistan Arms Sales


What’s worth noting is that Saudi Arabia is a well-known sponsor of terrorism. The New York Times editorial board wrote that Saudi Arabia has spent “untold millions promoting Wahhabism, the radical form of Sunni Islam that inspired the 9/11 hijackers and that now inspires the Islamic State.”


In addition to this, Paul has been one of the fiercest critics of intervention in the Middle East. While he has advocated for the destruction of ISIS through airstrikes, he opposes arming Syrian rebels, bombing Libya, and the Iraq War. As Conor Friedersdorf points out, Paul is much different on foreign policy than the rest of the GOP.


For example, during the December CNN debate, Paul said:



There is often variations of evil on both sides of a war. What we have to decide is whether or not regime change is a good idea. It’s what the neoconservatives have wanted. It’s what the vast majority of those on the stage want. They still want regime change. They want it in Syria. They wanted it in Iraq. They wanted it in Libya. It has not worked. Out of regime change you get chaos. From the chaos you have seen repeatedly the rise of radical Islam. So we get this profession of, oh, my goodness, they want to do something about terrorism. And yet they’re the problem, because they allow terrorism to arise out of that chaos.



The State Department defended the arms sales to Saudi Arabia.


“This proposed sale is aimed toward strengthening Saudi Arabia’s long-term defense capabilities,” David McKeeby, a State Department official told Foreign Policy. “If finalized, this proposed sale will require major refurbishment of some existing tanks, and manufacturing of the rest over the course of several years.”


Saudi Arabia spends $87.5 billion on its military, making it the third highest military budget in the world. It is also the top recipient of military equipment from the United States.





Arms Salesforeign policyGOPMiddle Eastmilitary interventionmilitary spendingrand paulSaudi ArabiaSenateTwitter




About The Author


Elias J. Atienza




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