U.S. trying to sell arms to Saudi Arabia

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is developing a proposed $20 billion, 10-year arms sales package for Saudi Arabia, a senior administration official confirmed on Saturday.

 

The proposed sale, first reported in The New York Times, is intended to upgrade the Saudi military's ability to counter possible Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf region, the official said.

 

"This is all about Iran," said the official, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because discussions with the Saudis are still going on and the arms sale deal has not been completed.

 

Israel is expected to raise objections to the arms package, and has expressed concerns about previous Saudi arms deals.

 

The official said the Bush administration is mindful that Israel must maintain its "qualitative edge" in the region.

 

Besides Saudi Arabia, other countries in discussion with the United States about arms sales include the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

 

One of the more controversial proposals will probably be selling the Saudis, for the first time, satellite-guided bombs known as JDAMs. The sale may include a 500-pound and a 2,000-pound version of the aerial bomb.

 

The Israelis are said to be very concerned about the Saudis having that precision-strike capability, so the United States will discuss basing the weapons as far away from Israel as possible, the official said.

 

Other elements under discussion are new naval vessels, an advanced version of air-to-air missiles already used by the United States, and advanced Patriot missiles.

 

The proposed sale is expected to be a major topic of discussion next week when U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meet with Saudi officials.

 

The sale would have to be approved by Congress.

 

Source

 

I doubt this will get approved, but it still boggles the mind that it's being considered.

[bobobrazil1984]

well i s'pose they gotta get money from somewhere to try and replace the $inkhole that is Iraq.

[Danville_Wrestling]

Well this might make sense from a strategic standpoint. After all, arming the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia against a Shiite agressive nation like Iran might provide a bit of a deterrent to escalating violence in the region. However, there are many downsides to a deal. First, I don't really trust the Saudis as they have been using double speak on the topic of terrorist groups for years and these arms could fall into the wrong hands. Second, we will have to spend even more money giving more stuff to Israel so that they stay ahead of the Saudis (which the article discusses). Third, simply giving more arms to the Saudis might prompt more of an arms race in the region that might encourage even more violence than now.

 

For any of you conspiracy wonks out there we could just be arming every damn country in the region to invite some type of epic Shiite-Sunni nation war in the area (which part of me thinks we are headed for anyway) and reap the benefits when all the destruction has occurred.

[Guest]

Fucking stupid.

[Gary Floyd]

Yeah, this won't have reprecussions...

[Dobbs 3K]

"We're going to fight Al-Qaeda by arming the nations that are only secretly supporting them."

[Big Ol' Smitty]

Yeah, this won't have reprecussions...

 

Don't be crazy.

 

It never has in the past, right?

[Guest]

It was sarcasm. Only a fool would believe that this won't lead to problems down the road.

[Big Ol' Smitty]

Mine was sarcasm, too. It's hard to emote sarcasm on the interweb.

[World's Worst Man]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

[Guest]

Mine was sarcasm, too. It's hard to emote sarcasm on the interweb.

Yeah, way too hard.