UN Weapons Ban Is Toothless

(Sana'a, Yemen) In a report from last week, it was confirmed that the Yemeni government sold weapons to Somalia in violation of a UN imposed ban. Discussions of the issue between the UN Security Council Weapons Experts Committee and the Yemeni government have consisted primarily of bickering over semantics with no consensus. Furthermore, according to the following entry in the Yemen Times, there will likely be no consequences.

The difference of opinion is getting Yemen into hot water, but with international resources already so overstretched international grumbling is unlikely to have any real teeth.

Of course, the international grumblers are the UN weapons experts.

In summary, the government of Yemen knowingly violated a UN imposed weapons ban by selling arms to Somalia. When accused of the violation, the Yemeni officials merely argued, fully expecting no further action by the toothless United Nations. To add insult, the country's major newspaper publishes the fact that the UN is considered to be just a bunch of grumblers and there's no expectation that it will do anything.

I think the Yemenis are on to something.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.