A government watchdog report said on Tuesday that the US State Department had not fully assessed the risk of civilian casualties when it went ahead with the massive sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia last year.
The report stated, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s Inspector General found that the Ministry did not fully assess the risks or track the necessary measures to reduce civilian casualties and legal concerns associated with the transfer of precision-guided munitions in the emergency accreditation of the Foreign Minister in May 2019.”
Congress had requested an investigation into President Donald Trump's administration’s decision in May 2019 to proceed with a military equipment deal worth more than $ 8 billion to Saudi Arabia and other countries that was approved without Congressional review by describing it as an "emergency" due to tensions with Iran.
Members of Congress blocked some sales out of concern that smart bombs and other equipment made by Raytheon Technologies could contribute to heavy civilian casualties and a humanitarian disaster in Yemen's civil war.
The report did not take a position on whether the emergency citation was deserved, and said that the State Department had not violated the Arms Export Control Act.
He did not find that the department allowed some small sales of precision-guided munition parts without congressional review even before its decision in May 2019, saying it was below the threshold for a Congressional review.
The report indicated that most of the arms sales approved according to the emergency order had not been delivered when the investigation began this year.
The report on sales to Saudi Arabia was central to President Donald Trump's sudden dismissal in May of then-Inspector General Steve Linnick, who was conducting the investigation.
Congressional committees are investigating the dismissal of Linnick, which was one of a series of sackings by Trump, raising censorship concerns.