Two longtime senators leaned on questionable geographic analysis Wednesday as part of their successful defense of a $1.15 billion proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

The Strait of Hormuz would be threatened if Houthi rebels had taken over all of Yemen before Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention last year, they agreed before leading colleagues to shoot down a bid to block the arms sale.

But the shipping bottleneck actually separates Iran and an Omani peninsula hundreds of miles north of Yemen, where Shiite rebels and backers of a deposed and formerly U.S.-supported strongman are resisting a Saudi-led campaign that has killed many civilians.

The Strait of Hormuz is identified with an arrow, far from Yemen. Wikimedia Commons

The misidentification came from a surprising pair: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has specialized in foreign policy matters as a senator.

McCain brought up the strait as part of his argument that Yemeni rebels are friendly with Iran, and that therefore it's intolerable to allow them to control the poor south Arabian nation.

“Could I ask again from the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, suppose that unimpeded the Houthis, the clients of the Iranians, had taken over the country of Yemen,” McCain said to Corker. “What would that do? Would that indeed pose a threat to the Straits [sic] of Hormuz, where they are already harassing American naval vessels?

Corker responded: “It creates greater instability in a region that already has had tremendous amounts of it. But no question, I mean, it borders the strait and again it puts more of that in Iranian hands.”

Watch the exchange:



Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., led arguments for the other side, offering a blistering and comprehensive attack on Saudi Arabia's internal human rights record -- noting a young activist is sentenced to beheading and crucifixion -- and its role in civil wars in Yemen and in Syria, where he said the Saudis reportedly have given arms to extremists.

Paul did not correct the misidentification, but said Saudi interventions in Syria and Yemen have caused many refugees without benefiting the United States.

"As they sit back in their long robes sipping tea, refugees bob about the Mediterranean," he said.

Paul's effort to block the sale of mostly tanks required a majority vote. He failed, 27-71.