Top General Says Human Rights Shouldn't Hold Up U.S. Arms Sales

The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said foreign arms sales to allies shouldn’t be burdened with preconditions tied to human rights, citing the case of Bahrain. Army General Joseph Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command, told a congressional committee Wednesday that the U.S.’s military-to-military relationship with the Gulf ally has been hurt by delays in a proposed sale of as many as 19 new F-16 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and upgrades for older ones in a deal totaling almost $4 billion. “While we have historically enjoyed a strong mil-to-mil relationship with our Bahraini counterparts, the slow progress on key FMS cases, specifically additional F-16 aircraft and upgrades to Bahrain’s existing F-16 fleet, due to concerns of potential human rights abuses in the country, continues to strain our relationship,” Votel said in prepared testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, referring to the Pentagon’s Foreign Military Sales program. The Obama administration told Congress in September it wouldn’t complete approval of the sale until Bahrain demonstrated progress on human rights issues after its Sunni-dominated government suppressed nonviolent opposition and dissolved the main opposition group of the country’s Shiite majority. “We continue to urge the Government of Bahrain to reverse steps it has taken over the past year to reduce the space for peaceful political expression in its Shia population and have encouraged the Bahrainis to implement needed political reforms while assuring them of our strong commitment,” he said.