Live by the gun, die by the gun. These seem to be the words the Bush administration continues to live by as today they prepare to announce the proposed sale of $20 Billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia. This deal is being seen as a way for the Bush administration to convince Saudi leadership to support further sanctions on Iran. The sale will also amplify the United State’s threat to Iran, which essentially at this point seems to be, “We’ve got you surrounded, please step away from the oil.”
This announcement does not guarantee that the sale will go through; Congress still has the opportunity to block the sale in the next thirty days, and questions about the proposal are being raised by both Republicans and Democrats.
However, what is fascinating about the questions being raised by Congress is that generally the concerns are regarding the possiblity that the weapons being sold to an Arab country could possibly pose a danger to Israel. The concerns had very little to do with the fact that the Bush Administration is willing to sell $20 billion in weapons to a non-democratic absolute monarcy, whose horrific human rights record in the previous year alone includes the beheading of 134 individuals and the lashing of a rape victim.
But true to the Middle East axiom, your enemy’s enemy is your friend; the Bush administration gives the Saudi government piles upon piles of precision guided missiles.
And in response to the concern raised by members of Congress, of the potential threat to Israel, the administration decided to simply balance it out and sell Israel $30 billion in weapons.
The press in the United States generally fails to acknowledge that by continuing to support Israel militarily the Bush Administration undermines any attempts at brokering peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which by deduction reveals the true agenda (gathering support for further sanctions on Iran) of this current tour of the Middle East. The 30 Billion in military aid represents a substantial 25% increase in planned US aid to Israel in the next 10 years.
It seems the military industrial complex has grown to the point where it is able to have the President of the United States go door to door in the Middle East selling weapons.
Despite the large sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United States has no illusions that Saudi Arabia will again allow the United States as a launching pad for an attack on Iran.
According to a newspaper that speaks the mind of Saudi leaders, “We refuse to be used to launch wars or tensions with Iran.” They go on to say, “This issue can be solved through diplomatic means and through dialogue.”
We can only hope all of these weapons flooding the Middle East, provided by US corporations, do not come back to harm us in the near future.
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