President Joe Biden released a memo Thursday highlighting the standards foreign governments that receive US military aid must adhere to, according to the White House.
Under the memo, the secretary of state must “obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments receiving defense articles,” Biden wrote.
“The Secretaries of State and Defense are responsible for ensuring that all transfers of defense articles and defense services by the Departments of State and Defense under any security cooperation or security assistance authorities are conducted in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” according to the memo.
The Biden administration sought to downplay the move, noting that while these standards are not new, this marked an opportunity to “(spell) out publicly the existing standards set by international laws,” a senior administration official said.
The official dismissed any suggestion that Israel’s actions in Gaza were a motivating factor. More than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 66,000 injured since the October 7 Hamas attacks, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, in Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground assault on the strip, which has flattened entire neighborhoods.
“We’re not issuing this because we think any country or countries are violating these standards. If we did, you’d have heard it about long ago – and seen the consequences,” the senior official said.
The official continued, “Quite the opposite, in fact: this is an opportunity to be transparent with the American public what the standards we require countries to adhere to are and how we go about obtaining…
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