The former commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Admiral James Stavridis, called for punishing Saudi Arabia and not allowing the incident of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death to be held without accountability. But he stressed that Washington's relations with Riyadh were "vital."
Admiral Stavridis, in a US radio program, stressed the need to respond to Khashoggi's murder, which he described as a mistake, by imposing increasing diplomatic sanctions on Saudi Arabia, stressing that "when a good friend and ally commit the wrong thing of killing a journalist, we have to respond."
According to the former commander of the NATO forces, America has many options to respond to the Khashoggi crime, including the withdrawal of US Consul in Saudi Rashna Korhonen, in addition to delaying the arrival of the new US ambassador to Riyadh, General John Abizaid.
He also suggested reducing US support for the Saudi-UAE alliance campaign in Yemen and reducing US intelligence support to the alliance.
Senate
The US Senate voted Wednesday to vote for a bill ending military support for the war in Yemen.
The vote followed a briefing during which Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Matisse defended the position of President Donald Trump's administration on Saudi Arabia, although the door remained open for further sanctions against Khashoggi's killers.
The White House has threatened to reject a bill that would end military support for the war in Yemen if approved in its current form by Congress.