“[The Emirati ambassador’s comment] ignores inconvenient facts like [the UAE’s] illegal arms transfers in Libya and the Trump administration’s rushed effort [to ram the arms deal through].”

“The planned arms sales to the UAE, a party to the conflicts in Yemen and Libya, would fuel continued civilian harm and further exacerbate these humanitarian crises… Delivery of the sales would undermine US national security interests.”

“To sell such advanced military equipment to the UAE now would be to endorse those policies and threaten US interests and regional stability.”

“The hope is to stop these sales altogether. But if that is not possible in the short term, this sends an important signal to the incoming Biden administration that there is a diverse group of organizations that oppose delivery of these weapons.”

“[Trump’s rhetoric] takes away the illusions some people have convinced themselves of, that we used to be a force for good. The harm is significant. We don’t get that soft power back right away.”

“To state the obvious, the ‘peace in the Middle East’ theme touted by Trump and Kushner re. UAE-Israel agreement is disconnected from reality given that the 2 countries never fought a war and the agreement does nothing to end the Middle East wars.”

“I don’t see the region as a whole as a ‘dystopia’… I think that is actually too bleak, and it casts the entire region with sort of one brush of unsolvable conflict.”

“[Trump wants] to generate business opportunities [with Gulf countries] for after he leaves office.”

“I’m concerned that this could facilitate the sale of weapons under less than ideal circumstances and could lead to an almost lackadaisical approach to selling weapons with destructive power around the world.”

“When you have someone whose interests are not aligned with the US government who is prioritizing his private financial interests, that… makes it a possibility that there’s going to be some compromising of US national security.”