Tinpot dictatorships throughout the Middle East are arming themselves to the teeth, to a significant extent with materiel supplied by United States arms-dealers. In 2010, defense procurements totaled $19 billion in Saudi Arabia, $4.4 billion in Iran, $3.3 billion in UAE, and $1.6 billion in Egypt. U.S defense contractors are currently salivating on multibillion-dollar arms deals to Gulf States that are engaged in or preparing to turn those weapons loose to put down popular uprisings.
The Obama administration is aggressively pushing to sell sophisticated arms to oil-rich ‘ Arab ‘allies’, whose contempt for their own people is now increasingly apparent. As recently as October 2010, the U.S. government unveiled a record 10-year $60 billion deal to sell advanced F-15 fighters, helicopters and other arms to the Saudi Arabia dictatorship.
Even now, the Obama administration is hedging any decision to curtail arms deals with Bahrain, following the murderous use of such weapons on innocent citicens by the ruling dictator. A senior Obama administrator (notably unnamed) announces that ‘any Bahraini unit involvement in human-rights abuses would be a factor in the future as we contemplate support for specific units.” A senior U.S. military official (also unnamed) states that “It is premature to make any decisions about future military assistance to Middle East allies.”
How contemptible must government officials and military apologists become before the media rips the masks off their faces? By the way, does Colonel Gaddafi still rank among those favored Middle Eastern allies? Will President Obama bow to the Colonel, the next time that they meet, should the Colonel’s bloody suppression ultimately succeed? Or will he emulate President Reagan in defining such autocrats as ‘Mad Dogs’? Your suspicion is as good as mine.
When will the elected representatives of the Land of the Free stand firm on higher principle and run the gun-runners out of town whenever they service despots with military materiel?
“Accumulate, accumulate. That is Moses and all the prophets!” Karl Marx, Das Kapital
Tags: accumulate accumulat that is Moses and all the prophets, US arms dictators who kill their people, US runs guns into the Middle East
February 23, 2011 at 3:57 pm |
[...] United States government arms Middle Eastern Tinpots to the teeth … [...]
February 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm |
[...] United States government arms Middle Eastern Tinpots to the teeth … [...]
February 24, 2011 at 8:54 pm |
A consequence of declaring war on at least one side of every single conflict on earth (‘war on terror’) means you gotta choose sides, and then you gotta help the side you chose. Not sure how a civilized nation picks sides in, say, Somalia, but there we are thanks to Messrs Bush and Rumsfeld.
Military budgets cause wars – more budget, more war. The budget crises are a great time to lop off whole limbs of the military-industrial complex. Not that I’m holding my breath…