In a detailed report published this week, The Washington Post revealed that more than 500 retired US military personnel have taken lucrative jobs since 2015 working for foreign governments, mostly in countries known for human rights abuses and political repression.
The Washington Post investigation affirmed that 15 retired US generals and admirals have worked as paid consultants for the Saudi Defense Ministry since 2016.
The ministry is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, who US intelligence agencies say approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Post contributing columnist, as part of a brutal crackdown on dissent, the investigation reads.
The document showed that Saudi Arabia’s paid advisers have included retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, a national security adviser to President Barack Obama, and retired Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who led the National Security Agency under Obama and President George W. Bush, according to documents obtained by The Post under Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.
The investigation also revealed that several officers had continued to work with the kingdom after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by Saudi agents in the country’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
MBS’ threat to Saudi security
In an interview with The Post, Jones said that he was encouraged by the Trump administration to accept more contracts from the country’s Defense Ministry. According to Jones, his companies have four such contracts, with 53 U.S. citizens in Riyadh. Eight are retired generals and admirals, and 32 are former lower-ranking military personnel, The Post reported.
Imaginary salaries
The Post reported that “Saudi Arabia hired a former Navy SEAL to work as a special operations adviser for $258,000 a year.” In 2020, a retired general known as Bradley Baker was appointed as director of a military project in Saudi Arabia, knowing that he was dismissed by the US military for being involved in an “inappropriate relationship with a woman” in 2019.
Still, dozens of military personnel have accepted jobs contracted from Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi’s killing.
MBS paid heavy cost for Yemen war
Despite the large amounts of money paid to the US retired generals, MBS has lost the war in Yemen with a heavy price.
Six years ago, MBS vowed to end Yemen war and to eliminate the Houthi group in three months. However, he recently admitted that Yemen war must come to an end.
In the five years before the war, US arms transfers to Saudi Arabia amounted to $3 billion; between 2015 and 2020, the U.S. agreed to sell over $64.1 billion worth of weapons to Riyadh, averaging $10.7 billion per year.
Together, the U.S. (74%) and the U.K. (13%) accounted for 87% of all arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia in that five-year time frame.
According to Foreign Policy, two US warships were chartered by Saudi Arabia during Yemen war with 6000 soldiers on board, 450 aircrafts and long-range cannons and missiles with a cost of 300 million dollars per day. Thus, the total costs of the two battleships reached 54 billion dollars within 6 months.
Saudi Arabia has been offered two high-resolution reconnaissance satellites said to be worth U.S.$800 million and two satellite communication and ballistic missile early warning satellites valued at U.S.$4 billion.
