i think i saw another thread about his but i cant seem to find it now... although saudi arabia is an ally it seems dangerous selling weapons to them. why??? 1) iran used to be an ally and we sold weapons to the sha. then the sha got over thrown... 2) iraq was an ally and we sold weapons to saddam (rumsfeld, reagan and iran contra affair). turns out that he wasnt a very good person and we "had to" take him out. now we're selling weapons to saudi arabia. will they continue to be an ally? seems like we have a bad track record here.
I don't think we have a choice. We are obligated by treaty to stockpile the Israelis and Egyptians, so not selling to the Saudis upsets a balance and is a snub to them. Saudi Arabia and the corrupt royal family is target #1 for the jihadists, so we want to make sure we keep them in power and their oil flowing. So I think the logic is that selling arms is a lesser evil than not selling arms. Plus, it's not like the Saudis can't buy from other arms dealers: China, Russia, France, etc. Weapons are one of our biggest exports you know. Gotta keep them wheels of capitalism greased, and people's mortgages paid. We don't want to make the Saudis mad. They own a big chunk of our economy and could take a crap on it if they felt like it.
yeah, i guess they can get the weapons from other sources if we didnt sell to them. but it seems like we're setting ourselves up for bad events to happen in the future.
I'm not sure there's an easy solution. The only way not to be in bed with the house of Saud is to have a an economy that doesn't need their investments and a transportation infrastructure that doesn't require oil. I think it's a moot point though. If the regime is on the edge of collapse I think everyone in Congress not named Ron Paul will be beating the drums of war.
theyre not going to bring rpices down. why would they. theyre making an insane amount of money. check out the article below from the associated press. Saudis rebuff Bush, say market will dictate oil output Associated Press RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia will raise oil production only when the market justifies it, the kingdom's oil minister said today, in response to President Bush's request that OPEC nations increase output to reduce world oil prices. "Our interest is to keep oil supplies matching demand with minimum volatility in the oil market," Oil Minister Ali Naimi told reporters. "We will raise production when the market justifies it. This is our policy." Naimi said inventory levels appear to be "normal," adding, "we want the inventories to be healthful, but we don't want it to be extremely high or extremely low." Earlier Tuesday in Riyadh, Bush warned that soaring oil prices could slow the U.S. economy. "High energy prices can damage consuming economies," the president told a small group of reporters traveling before meeting late Tuesday with Saudi King Abdullah, whose country holds the world's largest supply of oil. Bush said U.S. consumers are feeling the pain of rising oil prices, which topped $100 a barrel this month. "When consumers have less purchasing power, it could cause the economy to slow down," Bush said. "I hope OPEC nations put more supply on the market," he added. "It would be helpful." Naimi said the U.S. economy is significant to the oil market and demand and no one wants to see a recession in the United States. "I'm sure no one will look with pleasure on a recession in the U.S. On the contrary, all our effort is to maintain prosperity and growth in all countries particularly the number one consuming nation in the world," he said. "The concern for the U.S. economy is valid, but what affects the U.S. economy is more than the supply of oil." The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries next meets Feb. 1 in Vienna, Austria, to consider increasing output. OPEC oil accounts for about 40 percent of the world's needs, and OPEC ministers often follow the lead of the Saudis when discussing whether to increase production to take the pressure off rising prices. The Saudis' views carry great weight because Saudi Arabia is responsible for almost one-third of the cartel's total output.
A commodities trader I know here claimed that once oil hit the $100 barrier it could soar easily to $150 or $200 because a psychological barrier had been breached, and the market would tolerate a huge spike in prices. A lot of y'all work in the energy field...do you think this is true?
In the world of ideas, I support a secular democracy of free choice for all people. In the real world, I'm glad there are military dictatorships to keep theocracies at bay.
Not based on any kind of fundamentals. If we get WWIII sometime soon, perhaps. back to your other point about the Saudis taking a crap on the US economy - they would never do that - it would send oil prices straight down, which is the last thing they want.
youre right it wouldnt make sense that saudis hurt their biggest consumer. but with emerging markets such as china and india, they dont have to cater to us as much. if we dont but their oil, someone else will. seems like the administration is using the arms sale as an enticement for the saudis to increase output. but they just got a big slap in the face. maybe its time we go nuclear power so we dont have to have all these jacked up foreign policies.
Chindia is indeed increasing the worldwide demand, but make no mistake about it - if the US economy suffers, Chindia will be reeling, also, affecting oil demand worldwide, and sending prices down.
tru but 20-30 years from now, i dont think the world economy will be linked as closely to the US economy as it is now. china and india have close to 1/2 the worlds population. their potential to consume goods will surpass ours as their middle class grows. if we think gas is expensive now... when that finally happens, the US will be in a craptastic position. we need to seriously start considering energy alternatives now bc time will fly between now and then. and drilling in the anwr/building more refineries/ethanol is like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. we need to start looking at real long term solutions.
That's the key part there. They have the money, they have the highest defense budget in the region (by a sizable margin, actually), and they've already signed big contracts with EU arms dealers and if we don't sell them state-of-the-art stuff they will just buy them elsewhere. P.S.: the new French president was there recently offering his country's cooperation with Saudi on a nuclear program, should they desire so...just saying!
Absolutely hilarious that W goes out there purely in the capacity as a salesman for his cronies and people actually think it's us that's doing these middle east countries a favor by allowing them to spend tens of billions on military contracts with us.......I actually gotta give it up for Chimpie, you can't deny he did pretty well for his boys......even got 16 of those new 787s sold off for Boeing....
Bush's family makes money when oil revenues are higher. This has nothing to do with what's good for America - the Bush family and the Saudi oil billionares have had a personal relationship for a long time. Bush is taking our **** and giving it to the Saudis because it's good for the Bush family and others like them. It's not a national thing (economically, socially, or diplomatically) - it's a cash-between-capitalists thing.
woops. but the US did encourage private arms dealers and friendly middle east states to sell arms to iraq in order to counter balance the increasing influence of iran in the middle east. technically, the US did not directly sell to iraq. however, without US approval, iraq would not have been able to attain arms from western friendly middle east states. btw, this all occured during the reagan administration.
The Bush administration announced its intention on Monday to sell $123 million worth of sophisticated, precision-guided bomb technology to Saudi Arabia as part of a larger arms package to the country and its Gulf neighbors, estimated to total $20 billion. Congress has 30 days to lodge objections to the sale. The notification was the sixth to be made since December under the administration's Gulf Security Dialogue proposals to boost the defenses of friendly Arab nations, particularly with an eye toward containing Iranian ambitions in the region. The deadline for congressional approval of more than $11.5 billion in sales has already passed. According to the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the earlier proposed sales of advanced U.S. weaponry, which are subject to final purchase orders, include: _A total of $9.763 billion to the United Arab Emirates for a Patriot missile system, "various munitions and weapon systems," and upgrades and refurbishment of E-2C early warning aircraft. _A total of $1.691 billion to Kuwait for precision missiles, missile upgrades and upgrades to its Patriot missile ground support system. _A total of $743 million to Saudi Arabia for Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, AWACS aircraft upgrades, sniper target pods and associated equipment and services. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080114/ap_on_go_co/us_saudi_arms_sales_glance Well you can't say we aren't getting some of that oil money back.
