DoD: We Haven’t ‘Adequately’ Charged Saudi Coalition For Refueling Missions In Yemen

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY IAN TIMBERLAKE A picture taken on November 16, 2015 shows a Saudi pilot walking past a F-15 fighter jet at the Khamis Mushayt military airbase, some 880 km from the capital Riyadh, as the Saud... TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY IAN TIMBERLAKE A picture taken on November 16, 2015 shows a Saudi pilot walking past a F-15 fighter jet at the Khamis Mushayt military airbase, some 880 km from the capital Riyadh, as the Saudi army conducts operations over Yemen. AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE === PHOTO TAKEN DURING A GUIDED MILITARY TOUR === / AFP / FAYEZ NURELDINE (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS

The military admitted last week that it failed to “adequately” charge the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen for “fuel and refueling services” in the war in Yemen, an oversight costing potentially tens of millions of dollars, The Atlantic reported.

That Saudi-led war has depended on American fuel and mid-flight refueling missions; it’s also created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Senators are set to vote this week on whether to continue America’s involvement in the war.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / This picture taken on November 22, 2018 shows Yemeni mother Nadia Nahari holding her five-year-old son Abdelrahman Manhash, who is suffering from severe malnutrition and weighing 5 kilograms, as she sits on a bed at a treatment clinic in the Khokha district in the western province of Hodeidah. - As many as 85,000 infants under the age of five may have died from starvation or disease since 2015 in war-ravaged Yemen, humanitarian organisation Save the Children said on November 21, basing its estimate on UN-compiled data, which has warned that up to 14 million people are at risk of famine in Yemen where Saudi-backed forces are battling Iran-aligned Huthi rebels. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)
This picture taken on November 22, 2018 shows Yemeni mother Nadia Nahari holding her 5-year-old son Abdelrahman Manhash, who is suffering from severe malnutrition and weighing 5 kilograms, as she sits on a bed at a treatment clinic in the Khokha district in the western province of Hodeidah. As many as 85,000 infants under the age of 5 may have died from starvation or disease since 2015 in war-ravaged Yemen. (AFP/Getty Images)

“Although DoD has received some reimbursement for inflight refueling assistance provided to the Saudi-led coalition (SLC), U.S. Central Command recently reviewed its records and found errors in accounting where DoD failed to charge the SLC adequately for fuel and refueling services,” a Pentagon spokesperson admitted to The Altantic.

The admission came in response to the magazine obtaining an internal Defense Department letter from Nov. 27, the conclusions of which were made after a request for information from Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), according to the report.

Per The Atlantic, the letter states that while the Pentagon “believed” both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates “had been charged for the fuel and refueling services, they in fact had not been charged adequately.” 

“It is clear that the Department has not lived up to its obligation to keep Congress appropriately informed or its responsibility to secure timely reimbursement,” Reed said of the news, adding: “U.S.-provided aerial refueling assistance was provided to the Saudi-led coalition for more than 3.5 years, activities that likely cost tens of millions of dollars. We must ensure that U.S. taxpayers are fully reimbursed for that support.”

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  1. That child.

  2. How fucking hard is it to set up a Square account?

  3. Why are we doing refueling services at all?

  4. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    The War On Terror.

    The real victims.

  5. Because we don’t like Iran and the Houthis.

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