{"id":65524,"date":"2015-10-26T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=65524"},"modified":"2015-10-25T12:31:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-25T12:31:52","slug":"lockheed-martin-boeing-rally-around-saudi-arabia-wave-off-humanitarian-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/10\/lockheed-martin-boeing-rally-around-saudi-arabia-wave-off-humanitarian-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockheed Martin, Boeing Rally around Saudi Arabia, Wave Off Humanitarian Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

23 Oct 2015 – <\/em>Representatives from two major defense contractors whose advanced weaponry is being used in the Saudi Arabia-led bombing campaign that has killed scores of civilians in Yemen were quick to defend the human rights record of the Persian Gulf kingdom in a panel discussion held last week in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/a>

Smoke billows following an air strike by Saudi-led coalition on May 11, 2015, in the capital Sanaa.
Mohammed Huwai, AFP\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Ronald L. Perrilloux Jr., an executive with Lockheed Martin, complained of an atmosphere of\u00a0\u201chostile media reports\u201d shaping the views of Congress, most of which, he said, are \u201cpatently false.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother significant irritant,\u201d Perrilloux said, \u201cis the application of human rights laws\u201d toward U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Perrilloux argued that these countries, despite being \u201cbetter partners to us than some of our NATO allies,\u201d were being unfairly judged compared to Chinese human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

Democrats on Capitol Hill recently\u00a0blocked<\/a>\u00a0arms transfers to Saudi Arabia over concerns regarding\u00a0the rising civilian death toll caused by the campaign.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Kohler, a retired Air Force lieutenant\u00a0general who left the military and now\u00a0work as a vice president at Boeing, declared, \u201cWe ought be encouraging that type of cooperation and facilitating and helping them with the gaps instead of just throwing stones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perrilloux added that \u201cthe biggest thing we can do to help them finish the job is to provide them with the benefit of our experiences, with training of their forces, and probably replenishment of their forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to the discussion\u00a0below.<\/p>\n