Israel’s Protests Are Said to Stall Gulf Arms Sale

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

Israel’s Protests Are Said to Stall Gulf Arms Sale

By DAVID S. CLOUD and HELENE COOPER
Published: April 5, 2007

WASHINGTON, April 4 — A major arms-sale package that the Bush administration is planning
to offer Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to deter Iran has been delayed because
of objections from Israel, which says that the advanced weaponry would erode its military
advantage over its regional rivals, according to senior United States officials.

Israeli officials, including the former defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, have come to
Washington in recent months to argue against elements of the planned sales. In particular,
the Israelis are concerned about the possible transfer of precision-guided weapons that
would give Saudi warplanes much more accurate ability to strike targets, officials said.

The United States has made few, if any, sales of satellite-guided ordnance to gulf countries,
several officials said. Israel has been supplied with such weapons since the 1990s and used
them extensively in its war against Hezbollah last summer.

-snip-

The Israeli complaints have introduced a new uncertainty into the administration’s plan
to beef up Persian Gulf militaries as a bulwark against Iran and as a demonstration that,
no matter what happens in Iraq, Washington remains committed to the Sunni Arab
governments around the region.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/world/middleeast/05weapons.html?hp

[pelsar]

1. is there a dilemma?

for me, its clear, no need to arm the fanatical saudis against the fanatical iranians....who knows how long those regimes will last and who knows where the arms will end up....

for those who are against israels influence or against israels military power, does this cause a dilemma?...in this case do they find themselves on the same side of israel in being against futher arming the arab regimes in the area....which then also ensures israel as the dominate power?

or is better to be against israel and sell more sophisticated arms to the saudis?

[breakaleg]

2. If the goal is to arm the middle east in order to be perceived as a deterrent to Iran, then

defensive weapons only won't cut it.

[pelsar]

3. feeding the saudis

to protect the world from iran......

can the saudis (you know those guys who cut off heads, stone homosexuals, practice gender apartheid....like the iranians) actually be trusted to be on the "wests" side against other muslims, even though they are persians (horror of horrors!!).

of course iraq one day might join in with the saudis..or iranians or over throw jordan (now theres a shaky regime) or maybe hizballa might actually get lebanon and .....so on an so forth.

feeding fanatical dictatorships is not really a good idea......

[breakaleg]

4. Having no other country balancing Israel in the ME is also not a good idea.

[msmcghee]

5. LOL . . but you forgot sarcasm thingy ! n/t

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[breakaleg]

7. I have issues with all kinds of apartheid. But the issue here seems to be war with Iran, which

Israel seems to be pushing for and which would be a disaster for everyone. War mongers around the globe need to be kept in check.

[pelsar]

8. we're looking for war with iran?

didnt know that....thanks for informing me...seems our newspapers, radio shows, talk shows, etc have also missed that, since its not even in the news here......

anyway i 'm sure arming saudi arabia will really help that situation....how does that go again?...we attack iran (which the saudis would be very happy about) and the saudis then attack israel?.....or is there another scenario i'm missing?

[breakaleg]

9. The article seemed to be about allowing weapons in the ME as a deterrent to Iran.

It's all there.

[Shaktimaan]

10. Isn't that like supporting

rebuilding Russia's arms stock to balance against America's?

[breakaleg]

11. You are equating Israel with America?

[Shaktimaan]

12. Sure.

What is the difference as you see it in terms of their respective "responsible" use of arms? If anything, I feel like Israel acts in a more restrained manner than America does. (Or almost anyone actually, provided we are comparing Israel's actions to those taken by others under similar circumstances.)

[AdHocSolver]

13. Selling arms to Sunni Saudi Arabia sounds like a reprise of US selling arms to Iraq under Saddam.

Arming Iraq by the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld crew back in the 1980's led to the Iran-Iraq war and then the Kuwait invasion by Iraq. The Saudis were the chief bankrollers of the Arab-Israeli wars, the chief organizers and bankrollers of international terrorism, including the PLO, and if memory serves me correctly, Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis.

So why on earth would Bush/Cheney want to give them modern offensive weapons systems? Either they have short memories...or maybe they WANT to start a major war in the Middle East. Could this be the case due to their desire to bring on Armegeddon? Could it be a plan to create a major war in the Middle East to support the significant rise in OIL and GAS prices in the last three weeks? Could it be to generate big profits for Bush/Cheney pals over at Military-Industrial Complex Corporation? Could it be to have the Saudis start a war with Iran that Bush/Cheney want, but would be unpopular with Americans right now? Would war with Iran accomplish all these goals? It seems to me that Israel is doing Americans a BIG favor in bringing this plan to public attention. Why aren't more Americans who want to keep the U.S. from getting sucked into a wider war in the Middle East questioning this sale. I can say with complete assurance that the Saudis are NOT our friends.

I see selling arms to the Saudis as a way to have them widen the war in the Middle East so as to have an excuse to keep our troops in Iraq forever, to protect not only Iraq from those "nasty" Iranians, but to protect our Saudi "allies", also.