Biden admin intends to move forward with $23B UAE weapons sales

[DonViejo]

Source: CNN


By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

Updated 10:31 AM ET, Wed April 14, 2021

Washington (CNN) - The Biden administration intends to move forward with $23 billion in proposed arms sales to the United Arab Emirates even as it continues its review of pending weapons transfers, a State Department spokesperson told CNN Wednesday.

The Trump administration last year pushed forward the controversial sale, which includes F-35 aircraft and armed drones, despite bipartisan congressional concern about the speed at which it was pursued and its potential impact on human rights and broader regional security.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken said in January that the administration was reviewing pending arms sales, as is typical at the start of a new administration, "to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives, and advances our foreign policy."

-snip-

"We can confirm that that the administration intends to move forward with these proposed defense sales to the UAE, even as we continue reviewing details and consulting with Emirati officials to ensure we have developed mutual understandings with respect to Emirati obligations before, during, and after delivery," the spokesperson said Wednesday

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/14/politics/uae-f-35-arms-sales/index.html

[rockfordfile]

1. I don't agree with that

[Bayard]

2. This surprises me

[JCMach1]

3. After the crap they have been pulling in Libya?

[bluestarone]

4. Hope there is more to this story coming up.

[inwiththenew]

5. One of the few bipartisan things in Washington is making sure our defense contractors

are taken care of. Democratic or Republican president doesn't matter. Got to keep selling those tanks, planes, bombs, and guns.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. While private gunrunners continue to thrive...

...the world's biggest arms suppliers are the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, and China. They are also the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

The final scene from the movie Lord of War.

[Mr.Bill]

6. Unfortunately, the manufacture and sale of weapons to foreign

governments is, among other things, a huge government jobs program. It's one of those things that makes the stock market go up and unemplyment go down. I wish it were not so, but it's been that way for most of our lives. Hopefully, change will come to this system, but it will take time.