Thread: $30 BILLION Arms Deal, U.S. Bolsters Saudi Ties

With $30 Billion Arms Deal, U.S. Bolsters Saudi Ties

By MARK LANDLER
Published: December 29, 2011

HONOLULU — Fortifying one of its key allies in Persian Gulf, the Obama administration announced a major new weapons deal with Saudi Arabia on Thursday, saying it had agreed to sell the Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 fighter jets valued at nearly $30 billion.

The agreement is part of a broader 10-year, $60 billion arms package for Saudi Arabia that Congress approved a year ago. But its timing is laden with significance, with tensions over Iran mounting in the Persian Gulf and the United States pulling its last soldiers out of Iraq.

It could also indicate that the chill between the United States and Saudi Arabia has thawed a bit since the two longtime partners fell out over how each side handled the Arab Spring.

The administration announced the sale during a week when Iranian officials threatened to close the strategically-vital Straits of Hormuz in response to indications that the United States plans to impose tough new sanctions on the Iranian oil exports.

Saudi Arabia is a longtime foe of Iran — a relationship that soured further after the United States broke up what it said was an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington.

Under the terms of the agreement, the United States will sell Saudi Arabia 84 new F-15SA jets manufactured by Boeing Corporation, and upgrade 70 F-15’s in the Saudi fleet with new munitions and spare parts. It will also offer help with training, maintenance, and logistics.

“The agreement reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a strong Saudi defense capability as a key component to regional security,” said Joshua R. Earnest, the deputy press secretary, in a statement issued in Hawaii, where Mr. Obama is vacationing with his family.

With the United States withdrawing its last troops from Iraq last week, the administration has been eager to demonstrate it will remain a presence in the Middle East and Persian Gulf. It is pushing ahead with weapons sales to Iraq, even though political frictions there are deepening.

The sale to Saudi Arabia may also suggest that the two countries have decided to get over their clash earlier this year, when political upheavals swept through the Arab world.

The Saudis were furious that President Obama withdrew support for Egypt’s embattled president, Hosni Mubarak, after he faced massive protests in Cairo and other major cities. Mr. Mubarak was a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia, as well as of the United States.

Later, it was the White House’s turn to be upset, when Saudi tanks rolled into in neighboring Bahrain in a show of support for that kingdom’s Sunni monarchy.

But Saudi Arabia and the United States continue to collaborate in areas like counterterrorism. In recent weeks, the two have worked to resolve the crisis in Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh has formally agreed to cede power in a Saudi-brokered agreement and has applied for a visa to travel to the United States for medical treatment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/wo...di-arabia.html

RELATED
White House Announces Weapons Sale To Saudi Arabia
01-01-2012, 02:21 AM
http://www.alipac.us/threads/246976-...o-Saudi-Arabia