Senate Heeds Reagan Veto, OKs Saudi Arms by 1 Vote : $265 Million Sale Will Go Through | LA Times - 5 June 1986 |

Cranston told his colleagues, "We believe it ill serves America to sell our most advanced weapons to nations which consistently thwart our fundamental national interests."

Goldwater's Protest

But Lugar said the sale needs to go ahead if the United States wants to be "an effective player" in efforts to broker an Arab-Israeli peace treaty.

Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), who backed Reagan in the vote, said he rose in protest that members of the Senate were under pressure "of other countries to persuade us to vote against our commander in chief and our President.

"I think it is wrong," Goldwater said. "I think we are making a mistake.

"I hope this is the last time we are subject to the intense pressure, money and threats of another country."

Barry ain't seen nothing yet ...

The Arms-Oil Connection: Fueling the Arms Race | Spring 1982 |

'Sapere aude'

U.S. Policy in Iraq | 31 July 2003 |

Senator Joseph Biden talked about the Bush Administration's handling of reconstruction in Iraq, and offered some of his own ideas on foreign policy issues. The senator argued for a foreign policy of "enlightened nationalism", which would recognize the value international cooperation but not shrink from unilateral action when it was in the national interest. He said that Saddam Hussein's loss of power in Iraq was a positive development, but criticized the Bush Administration for making faulty assumptions prior to the invasion and not being more forthcoming about the human and monetary costs of reconstruction.

It took @POTUS 4 months, billions of $ of weapons, >120k Palestinians massacred, maimed or orphaned; bombed w/ nowhere safe to go, ceasing @UNRWA funding to ensure famine kills the 2.2m left for him to prove conclusively that he is 100% complicit in the Gaza Genocide @CIJ_ICJ @UN [_link]

— Rula Zein-Iddin 🌻 (@rula_z) February 19, 2024