White House bearing gifts of arms in Middle East

Here we go again .... How do you secure peace in the Middle East and rest of the world? Why, by selling arms to all sides in any conflict. The USA can't be both arms dealer and peace broker.

Of course, we are trying another new tactic: ship them palletts of billion$ of unmarked dollar$ that disappear in "payroll errors." But then, do we really need to pretend to 'sell' them more?

The last time Congress, on behalf of the Jewish lobby, stopped an arms purchase by Saudi Arabia it established a weapons industry in France and all those billions went to the French economy along with the jobs. The French ended up developing fighter planes and missles that they sold all over the World in competition with American products. Please, not again.

I wonder if Tony Snowjob knows that 15 of the 19 Sept. 11th hijackers were Saudi's and over 50 percent of the suicide bombers in Iraq are Saudi's. The United States is basically funding international terrorists at the taxpayers expense. Nothing new there, though.

This is some high stakes diplomacy. I'm not refering to the money.

The Bush Administration has apparently decided that it is in the US interest to have a balance of power in the region pitting vast quantities of high-tech conventional weapons/delivery systems against the region's nuclear capabilities.

The other thing going on here is the Bush Administration is turning up the heat on the vacationing Iraqi Government. Essentially saying, we're out here working the hood and you're (popular verb starting with "f") off. If the Government of Iraq wants to have in a say in their future they better figure out how to cut a deal.

Although I'm no fan of the Bush Administration, I like what I see here.

Country over party.

Honestly it looks like we are paying off Israel to allow us to arm Saudi Arabia (I don't see Israel allowing us to do that without providing for their safety);who hasn't done that much to counter terrorism, given that most of the hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi, and given that Saudi aren't stopping insurgents from crossing into Iraq from their border. It is a no brainier that most of our aid is based around national interests, mainly going to areas of security and oil, and this whole "reconciliation" fits in perfect with the neo-conservative aim (Iraq unlocking the ME dilema and isolating Iran) in the Gulf. Yet, I'm glad that Condi has decided to put off scheduled visits to Africa and Asia in order to concentrate on Iraq and the ME. No more visions for the Middle East, and time to squeeze out some ingenuity. The writing off of debts for Iraq sounds like a good idea, but they also want the ME to make their presence known, represent, in Iraq. I don't see that happening with the way kidnappings and abductions have targeted specifically foreign bodies in Iraq; essentially driving them out. Selling arms to several states in order to counter balance the power vaccume Iran might like to fill could backfire, but I don't see us being able to prevent all of the parties involved from trying to fill the vacuum to "feel secure" without giving them something to prevent them from trying. Plus, as a way to bring them to the table as far as the Israel-Palestine and larger Arab relationship is concerned and in relation to the the Middle Eastern states and Iraq concern.

The Saudis' ? I trust them as far as I can throw them !!

I could find better ways to spend billions of dollars of tax payers' money. How about education, health care, and infrastructure to start with?

Here we go again.... and again... and again.... like the energy bunny we keep going and going. We are the number one arms merchant in the world. The rationale, if we don't sell arms to the Saudis then No. Korea or China, or somebody else will. The arms manufacturers are just drooling at the mouth. What do the Saudis need arms for? To fight the Israelis? To fight the Iranians? Or to fight the terrorists within their own country? or to give to the terrorists who cross their border into Iraq to shoot at Americans?

"CULTURE OF CORRUPTION
IS BACK ON K STREET"

What no Sand Bowling out in the backyard? Here David, where are you David, Come Out Come Out where ever you are. Had some loose ends to tie up from Dr. Safavian last procurement report.

The idea of trading or selling arms during a time of "War on Terror" and to the same region as our "Axis of Evil" is a war crime at best.
This is not only "Circumventing The Law" but it is out right treason in my book. Trading with what might turn out to be your daytime enemy. Now is not the time. Where is the "Transparency and Disclosure" on this deal.

Maybe this the GOP money needed not only to bring it current and to give it some everlasting "Victory" in the region.

Sounds like the Ol "Cut and Run" is seeping out of the GOP towards meeting their goal. "VICTORY"

"The USA can't be both arms dealer and peace broker..."

Posted by: snalg | July 31, 2007 10:33 AM

No, but we can be the official caterer for Armageddon, can't we?

Just what are we gaining by selling this stuff to the dictators in Saudi Arabia? Condi and Gates are getting squat from these people! NO assurances, NO help. The Saudis are arming the insurgents who are killing our troops! WTF??? How can this even be considered????

C Perry,

So you're suggesting that in the interests of money & jobs, that the US continue subsidizing the arms industry? Potentially hundreds of thousands dead because of our participation in the arms trade, which you evidently support, for the sake of "dollars, American jobs, & the economy". What a compassionate humanitarian you are.

Of the world's top 10 "defense" companies, 7 are American. Of the top 100, 43 are American. (Look it up in "Defense Weekly", or just google it.) A +$1 trillion industry largely subsidized by the US government via US taxpayer dollars.

The US is already the world's top manufacturer & exporter of arms in the world, with +25% of the global market.

http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2006_12/ArmsMarket.asp

Not surprising, since the US spends $400+ billion on "defense" every year, which is +45% of the WORLD TOTAL BY ALL GOVERNMENTS. (#2 = China, which spends about $50 billion. Google it.)

The 5 members of the UN Security Council (US, UK, Russia, China, France), also happen to be the world's top arms producers/exporters.

And then some people wonder why there are so many wars and no world peace??? Follow the money trail. War is simply more profitable in the short-run than peace.

Look at the big picture. Instead of pointing fingers at terrorists and their primitive RPGs, IEDs, and AK-47s, look at the nukes, cruise missiles, smart bombs, Stealth fighters, UAVs, Apache helicopters, etc. in our own hands, which obviously play a major role in escalating worldwide tensions & conflict.

No government is going to spend +$400 billion/year on a high-tech military... and then just let it sit there to rust.

So what a coincidence that the US involves itself in a major war every 10 years or so... and never on its own borders, but in some far-flung country overseas thousands of miles away.

And yet the vast majority of Americans still naively think the US government is primarily concerned with "American freedom & democracy", and will go to war for only those reasons.

So please, no more. But of course, nothing's ever gonna change unless Americans wake up & see themselves, their country, & their government as part of the world's problems, instead of blaming everybody else.

Unfortunately, many Americans (such as yourself), operate on the macho, trigger-happy principle of "Might Makes Right", or "Whoever has the Bigger Bombs Makes the Rules", or "Challenge us and we'll nuke you to Kingdom Come".

What a truly enlightened & civilized foreign policy.

The number one arms supplier in the known universe; America. We supply more weapons to the world than Western Europe and Russia combined.

This is another example of Bush 'planning'; You shake the box up, toss the pieces up in the air, then hope they land with a good result. If not, repeat.

The shampoo rationale.

Why arm these (or any) filthy cockroaches?! Let's just stop beating around the "bush" and take over then entire region! We should have steam rolled them in the 1940's when we had the muscle and they were riding on camels with vintage rifles. If we take out the mid-east population centers (with small scale nuclear attacks that could be blamed on terrorists), then we can take the oil, have a HUGE sand box to play in (I'm thinking Arab Disney), and we wont have to worry about an insurgency or unsightly numbers of Americans dying! Brilliant!!!!.........

......Or perhaps we could just rid ourselves of the need for oil and starve all of these bastards to death slowly and peacefully (Cut off the cash flow). Nothing like a nice slow death for our enemies made sweeter by being able to watch the entire region tear itself to pieces on CNN!!! We could even send in a few planeloads of pork and beer to show them how much we care! Brilliant!!!

War/conflict is nothing but one savage act after another. The bottom line is that we need to get these energy companies to get off of the oil addiction and then PEACEFULLY regain the upper hand through scientific and economic might (cut back on defense spending just a tad and invest in other areas!!!!) just as we did in the past.

Evenel L.
Please explain the benefit to the U.S. or the World of the spending of many billions of dollars in France or Great Britain rather than in this country.

My comment on the $63,000,000,000 arms deal to Arabs

Wake up America, phone, fax, write, scream whatever at your Senators and Congresspeople and at the White

House over this insane policy move. We are arming people that do NOT care about us, who when we stop buying

or stealing their oil will turn on us in a minute, and who have in 4,000 years not been able to live together in peace

with one another. Saudi Arabia supplied the 911 attackers and is home to the Ben Laden family. Israel has after 40

years still not been able to come to peace with any of it neighbors. Egypt has a history of instabiliy as does Kuwait,

and several other countries in the area. To this mix we want to start WWIII with Iran and have these people do it

for us? Impeachment should be on everyone's mind.

C. Perry,

Still talking about "benefit"... You prove my point exactly about placing dollars over lives.

There is no dollar benefit for reduced "defense" spending. It is a MORAL decision to not sell billions of dollars of arms all over the world.
You make less money, but less people die.

But I guess less people dying doesn't mean anything to you, does it? Especially if they're Middle Easterners or other foreigners.

If the UK or France want blood on their hands, that's their business - quite literally. They're only following our current leadership, in any case.

Only a morally challenged individual (such as yourself, it seems) would dismiss morality as a criteria for political or economic decision-making.

WHY ARE WE SELLING ARMS TO THE ARAB COUNTRIES AND GIVING THEM TO ISRAEL? SO ISRAEL CAN BLOW UP ANOTHER OF OUR SHIPS OR TRADE CENTERS?

Evenel L.
We are way past morality here. Once the decision is made to sell arms to Arab countries, we are in competition with the rest of the world. You might look up the history of the Mirage jet fighter and see how our "morality' developed that plane and created an industry in France.