Selling Weapons to Our Friends the Saudis

[Patriot Heart]

From an email by Chuck Colson.

Selling to Saudi


Last month, the president announced his intention to sell Saudi Arabia some of our most sophisticated weapons. This is a bad idea, and you should let your representative know it right away.
The proposed $20 billion deal includes “satellite-guided weaponry” and “high-tech munitions,” including 900 JDAM bombs. The JDAM is arguably the smartest “smart bomb” in our arsenal. Its electronics can “guide the bomb to its target regardless of weather.” And, it is also resistant to the jamming of its GPS system.
According to Reuters, the deal appears to be part of an “effort to persuade <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on">Saudi Arabia</ST1:COUNTRY-REGION> . . . to help contain Iran.” I am concerned about Iran, of course, but the Saudis do not need this kind of “persuasion.” They already have a good reason: Their oil is controlled by a Shiite minority that Iran, also Shiite, could exploit.
Then there is the nature and actions of the Saudi regime. Defense expert Frank Gaffney, Jr. reminded Washington Times readers this week of what the deal’s proponents hope they will forget: The Saudis are not a “reliable ally” of the United States.

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=7520

[Rhino]

Post edited to comply with copyright restrictions.

[Rhino]

And the alternative would be?????

[Patriot Heart]

I don't see the benefit of selling high tech weaponry to those that breed terrorists. It does not appear to me that deal making works in the long run with muzzies.

[Beowulf]

How brilliant! Sell the Arabs MORE arms to blow themselves or us up with!!

[Rhino]

So we let Iran take over? Again, the alternative would be?????

[Patriot Heart]

What's tp prevent them from making some future deal with Iran and letting THEM have the technology? Why not beef up our people there instead of handing over equipment that would likely be used against us at some point?

[Rhino]

We don't have people there, and if we predicated support on remote possibilities in the future, we would support no one on earth. The Saudi and Iranian governments are mortal enemies.

[Lazarus]

The Saudis cannot be trusted... They are opportunists and have been working us for their benefit for years... With all their oil money they can't build their own military? Sadam did and he did it with far less financial resources than the Saudis have...

Selling our hardware to the Saudis is the worst kind of false security... Bush's hardon for the Arabs is only surpassed by the one he has for the Mexicans... And its a foolish thing he does with this hardware...

The Saudis will not be a defense against Iran... If they had the courage and the will to stand up to Iran they would have done so ON THEIR OWN years ago... They are the richest kids on the block... There is no reason why they should not be the military power in the Middle East except for their glaringly apparent selfishness and total lack of moral fortitude...

This deal is foolishness in the extreme...

Bush's doctrine of courting other nations to step up and be responsible little members of Bush's Democracy Club is going to lead us into a national disaster... If Iran needs to be dealt with, then deal with them... Or not... But this KUMBAYA, globalist circle jerk approach to foreign policy is lunacy...

It's precisely the kind of foreign policy I would expect from Jimmy Carter...:rolleyes:

[Rhino]

The Saudis cannot be trusted... Trusted to do what? They can be trusted to oppose the Iranians, since the Iranians openly advocate the destruction of Saudi Arabia.

They are opportunists and have been working us for their benefit for years... That's why every country works with other countries.

With all their oil money they can't build their own military?That's exactly what they're doing.

Sadam did and he did it with far less financial resources than the Saudis have...Yes, by buying arms from other countries, just as is being done here.

Selling our hardware to the Saudis is the worst kind of false security... Bush's hardon for the Arabs is only surpassed by the one he has for the Mexicans... And its a foolish thing he does with this hardware...Yet again, what is the alternative? The Iranians are a definite threat to Saudi Arabia, the entire region, and thus the rest of the world. I would be extremely pleased if we didn't need to do this, but I haven't seen anyone offer a viable alternative yet. At some point, you have to consider the reality that Iran is a growing threat to other countries in that region, and to Saudi Aribia in particular. If we don't sell them arms, what other way can we counter that Iranian threat? The reality may not be pretty, but it is the reality, and we ignore it at our peril. Stability in the region, and the way that would affect the world, was the prime motivator behind invading Iraq. How can that motivator be valid there, but not in other countries?

The Saudis will not be a defense against Iran... If they had the courage and the will to stand up to Iran they would have done so ON THEIR OWN years ago... They are the richest kids on the block... There is no reason why they should not be the military power in the Middle East except for their glaringly apparent selfishness and total lack of moral fortitude...That's exactly what they're trying to do here. You are arguing against exactly what you say they should be doing. Very few countries on earth can produce advanced armament. When faced with advanced armament from neighboring countries, their only option is to also buy advanced armament from countries that have it. They could buy it from other countries of course, but that would affect our relations with an ally in a critical region, and they'd still end up having advanced armament anyway. So you would not achieve your goal of denying them advanced armament, but you would succeed in alienating a staunch ally in the most critical region on earth. What would be the point in that?

Besides, we've been selling advanced arms to Saudi Arabia for many yeras, long before the Gulf Wars. None of it has ever been used against us, but much of it has been used to support us, and to save American lives, on numerous occasions.

[Lazarus]

Brother, When they publicly reverse their position against Israel and declare their willingness to live in peace with the Israelis, I'll be on board with this policy...

And for the record, I'm opposed to selling our best weaponry to anyone... Second best, maybe... Third best, yeah sure... But never our best stuff...

I understand your position on this - We'll just have to disagree on this one...

[Rhino]

Like I said, I'd also be happy if it wasn't necessary, but unfortunately it is.

[Un Con Troll Able]

It's amazing how some can rationalize the sale of arms to dictatorships. The fact is that the Arab members of OPEC must sell their oil to America (at least until India's and China's economies expand some more) unless they want to commit economic and political suicide. And that goes for even the most firebrand of Islamic groups.

Fifty years from now, usable supplies from the region will have dried up and we won't want to have anything to do with that region.

I'd prefer during that time that we didn't spend hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of American lives in a futile attempt to save those ultimately unreformable fools from themselves -- not to mention transferring trillions of dollars outside our country's borders to pay for their dark gold (while they use the money to buy weapons that can then be used against us).

Talk about a sick, violent, twisted, bizarre, vicious circle.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave. I can't imagine what George Washington's reaction would be to all of this.

[Lazarus]

Like I said, I'd also be happy if it wasn't necessary, but unfortunately it is.Maybe we should just turn Iran into a glass factory - Problem solved... :biggrin:

[Incident_command]

Well now that they have these they will have to participate more in joint coalition operations. In the past a lack of smart weapons limited them and we did the bulk of the work.
We have sold these to over a dozen other nations.

[Patriot Heart]

No offense I.C., but I can hardly imagine a scenario where the Saudis would fire upon fellow Muzzies, not at this time and place, I just don't see it happening. They may find a thousand other ways to twist a knife into their "brethren" but somehow I just don't see them doing it with weapons from the "Great Satan".
I do see those weapons making their way into terrorists hands...wait a sec, the Saudis ARE terrorists......

[PrezLeefun]

Frankly we need to cut the Saudis off all together.

[Incident_command]

No offense I.C., but I can hardly imagine a scenario where the Saudis would fire upon fellow Muzzies, not at this time and place, I just don't see it happening. They may find a thousand other ways to twist a knife into their "brethren" but somehow I just don't see them doing it with weapons from the "Great Satan".
I do see those weapons making their way into terrorists hands...wait a sec, the Saudis ARE terrorists......


None taken, but they have kicked a good dent in Iraqs butt over the last few years. I think they would do what it takes to protect their oil.

[Rhino]

Maybe we should just turn Iran into a glass factory - Problem solved... :biggrin:Tempting. Veeeery tempting. :evilgrin:

Wouldn't it be great if it were that easy? We could have a national raffle to see who got to push the button. We could probably wipe out the deficit in one fell swoop. :lol:

[Rhino]

None taken, but they have kicked a good dent in Iraqs butt over the last few years.They fought quite well in both gulf wars, and protected quite a few American troops in the process. I'll never forget talking to the American pilots who were saved by a Saudi F-15 when it shot down an Iraqi Mig or Mirage that was attacking. Another Saudi F-15 downed an Iraqi Mirage that was about to fire Exocet missiles at American ships too, as I recall.

And by the way, shots fired in anger between the Saudis and Iranians would not be anything new. They have exchanged shots on several occasions in the Persian Gulf, mostly over shipping disputes. These encounters have been mainly small, but they clearly demonstrate that the Saudis are not afraid to fire on the Iranians if necessary.

[Lazarus]

Tempting. Veeeery tempting. :evilgrin:

Wouldn't it be great if it were that easy? We could have a national raffle to see who got to push the button. We could probably wipe out the deficit in one fell swoop. :lol:We keep being accused around the world as being evil colonialists... Maybe its time we show our political enemies just what colonialism is... Eradicate Iran and set up a massive combination military base and oil refinery...

The plan solves a lot of problems:

We gain a permanent military presence in the Middle East eliminating the need to go begging for air space and friendly ports...

We eliminate the SOURCE of the vast majority threats in the Middle East, not only from the direct threat of Iran, but also drying up supplies to Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas...

The American consumer gains the significant positive effect of much lower gasoline prices due to the injection of oil supplies where the purchase price of the crude itself is eliminated... Which of course will be felt right across all consumer products due to lowered transportation costs...

After a short period of "outrage" and protest in the UN, once we withdraw our ambassador from the UN and give them a deadline to move their operations to a new location outside of the borders of the US, we gain the benefit of respect thru fear of all our enemies around the world - I suspect we'll see much improved behavior from the likes of Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, and probably Russia and China too...

The more I think about it, the better it sounds... But we don't reach out and take hold of this opportunity because we fear being called meanies by all the other kids...