Thread: Bush Delivers Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

Bush Delivers Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

Monday, January 14, 2008 12:00 PM

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- President Bush, on his first visit to this oil-rich kingdom, delivered a major arms sale Monday to a major ally in a region where the U.S. casts neighboring Iran as a menace to stability.

Bush's talks with Saudi King Abdullah also were expected to cover peace between Israelis and Palestinians and democracy in the Middle East.

The administration was notifying Congress of its intent to sell $20 billion in weapons, including precision-guided bombs, to the Saudis. It is "a pretty big package, lots of pieces," national security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters on Air Force One.

The sale is an important part of the U.S. strategy to bolster the defenses of oil-producing Gulf nations, such as Saudi Arabia, against threats from Iran. The official announcement will start a 30-day review period during which Congress could try to block the sale, which has already raised concern among some lawmakers.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, which have majority Sunni Muslim populations, harbor deep suspicions about Shiite Iran's apparent designs to establish itself as a major power. They have reacted skeptically to the conclusions of a new U.S. intelligence estimate about Iran.

As for the topic of rising oil prices, Hadley would only say "we'll have to see" when asked whether Bush would raise the issue with the king. The Saudis are responsible for almost one-third of OPEC's total output.

Bush also has promoted democratic principles during his trip. While Abdullah has tried to push some reforms on education and women's rights, and there have been limited municipal council elections, the king has been cautious and limited in his efforts. He apparently has been hampered by others in the royal family worried that fast changes could upset the country's conservative clerics and citizens.

Arriving Monday afternoon in Riyadh from Dubai, Bush was expected to hear Abdullah urge him to keep up the pressure on Israel to halt settlements in Palestinian territories. The administration was able to persuade the Saudis to participate in the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., in November.

Bush enjoyed a warm embrace from Abdullah. He was staying both nights at the monarch's home _ a rare show of hospitality to a visiting dignitary that reflects Bush's hosting of Abdullah twice at his own ranch in Crawford, Texas.

And the king greeted Bush at the base of the steps of Air Force One _ a gesture the president never affords foreign leaders visiting the U.S. A band played each country's national anthem as the leaders walked on a red carpet behind a high-stepping uniformed officer carrying a gold sword.

The hospitality masked Bush's deep unpopularity among ordinary Saudis.

A recent poll conducted for Terror Free Tomorrow, a bipartisan group whose goal is undermining world support for terrorism, found only 12 percent here view Bush positively _ lower than Iran's president or even al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden _ and more think warmly toward Iran than America. Top among the reasons are the chaos in Iraq that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the widespread Arab feeling that the United States is biased toward Israel and not serious in seeking Mideast peace.

A rare cold front brought clouds and rain to Riyadh for the visit. Tight security was evident: Hundreds of police cars have deployed along major roads and sharpshooters are on some rooftops. In one neighborhood, police using loudspeakers demanded that cars be removed from some streets as two helicopters hovered overhead.

Earlier in Dubai, Bush got a flavor of the cosmopolitan banking and business hub, whose glass skyscrapers and booming construction have turned it into the capital of Middle East hustle. The soaring Persian Gulf city-state was Bush's second stop in the seven-state United Arab Emirates federation. On the first, in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, he delivered a gentle lecture on democracy to authoritarian Arab allies and attended an opulent picnic at a desert horse camp.

Bush began his Dubai visit with a stop at the historic home of the city-state's former ruler, now a museum loaded with photos and artifacts of the emirate's history. The president grinned and tapped his foot as a group of girls stepped rhythmically to Arabic music. Continuing the day of cultural diplomacy, Bush then had lunch on cushions set in a circle with students of the Dubai School of Government, a research and teaching institution that focuses on public policy in the Arab world.

Bush later told a gathering of entrepreneurs and others affiliated with a young leaders' group that he wanted them "to understand something about America: that we respect you, we respect your religion and we want to work together for the sake of freedom and peace." The session was held in a conference room high atop one of Dubai's signature buildings, a luxury hotel shaped like a tall ship sail. The Burj Al Arab occupies its own manmade island.

Dubai has installed one of the world's most comprehensive homeland security and anti-terrorism systems. Many anti-terror analysts believe the threat of attack by Islamic extremists in Dubai is growing _ fueled by the city's image as a bastion of Western-style capitalism and nightlife, its new status as home to the world's tallest building and the frequent port calls by U.S. Navy ships.

Dubai also is caught in the middle of the West's efforts to crack down on business in and out of Iran to protest its nuclear ambitions. Dubai, with a powerful Iranian business community, is eager to maintain its lucrative financial ties with Tehran, but wary of angering the United States and the United Nations.

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/bush_m ... 64201.html

I can't help but marvel on this. The 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia, not Iraq.

And we never fail to sell arms to Arab countries that hate Israel, but yet send all our sons to die for Israel.

Has anyone figured any of this out yet?