Israel's objection stalls US arms sale to Saudis: NYT

[Neo]

Friday, April 06, 2007

Israel’s objection stalls US arms sale to Saudis: NYT

WASHINGTON: Objections by Israel are delaying Bush administration plans for a major arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies aimed at deterring Iran, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Quoting unnamed senior US officials, the Times said on its Web site that Israel was concerned the advanced weapons would erode its military advantage over regional rivals. Israeli officials came to Washington in recent months to argue against parts of the planned sales, according to the newspaper.

It said Israel was particularly concerned about the possible transfer of precision-guided weapons that would improve the ability of Saudi warplanes to hit targets.

Officials were quoted as saying the United States had made few if any sales of satellite-guided weapons to Gulf countries, while Israel had received such arms since the 1990s and used then in its war with Hezbollah militants last summer. The Times quoted a US defence industry executive as saying the deal could be worth $5 billion to $10 billion if all of the weapons under discussion -including tanks, warships and advanced air defence systems -were sold. Israel’s complaints cast uncertainty over the Bush administration’s plan to enhance the militaries of Gulf allies as a bulwark against Iran and a demonstration that Washington remained committed to Sunni Arab countries in the region regardless of what happens in Iraq, the Times said.

Several officials at the State Department and Pentagon told the paper there had been a delay until later this month in plans to notify Congress formally about the possible weapons sales. The paper said administration officials were discussing a possible separate arms package for Israel to allay its ally’s concerns. “It’s not like the Israelis are going to end up with nothing,” a senior administration official was quoted as saying. “The Israelis understand that it’s in our interest and their interest” that Washington help bolster the defence systems of Sunni Arab allies, the official said. Israel was also concerned the Bush administration’s aim for a US-Sunni-Israeli coalition allied against Iran might not materialize and that a revolution in Saudi Arabia would leave its mostly US-made arsenal in militant Islamist hands, the paper said. Israeli embassy spokesman David Siegel declined to comment, citing the “sensitivities of issues such as this,” the Times said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\06\story_6-4-2007_pg4_2

 

[Janbaz]

My, Israel is like a wife for the U.S whose happiness come first!

 

[Cheetah786]

Iran is the enemy.Israel is the friend.
UN questioned loyalty to the Americans
yet nothing but humiliation in return.
will have to pay 10 billion to buy weapons from there Master.that will give more advance weapons to Israel for free plus some dollars.
I don't no what sucks more then this.

 

[niaz]

Cheetah you are one hundred percent right. This is however 'Realpolitik'. US media is today 100% controlled by the US jewry. No US president, whether Democrat or Republican can afford to alienate the mass media. These days information is power and US Jewry can make US Executive take decisons which are against US interests but it is done any way. Think Gulf oil countries will do better if they spend more on lobbying than simply following US Dictats.

 

[Neo]

Iran is the enemy.Israel is the friend.
UN questioned loyalty to the Americans
yet nothing but humiliation in return.
will have to pay 10 billion to buy weapons from there Master.that will give more advance weapons to Israel for free plus some dollars.
I don't no what sucks more then this.

Well said Cheetah!
Welcome to Real Politik.

 

[PakSniper]

The Arab regimes will learn the hard way, once sanctions hit them. It will be much worse for them then it was for Pakistan, at least we had some diversity in our equipment, where as they are running on purely American equipment, whats even worse is that they are located next to Israel which is one of the high-tech militarys in the world (even though they were stopped in their tracks by hezbullah, by their Anti-Tank, and communications hacking which even the Israeli's admitted).

 

[EagleEyes]

My go is to turn to the Chinese. It is a direct threat to the American/Isreali arms. Dollars could be used much better there, while pissing the Americans off. However, this remains to be undone as far as the American military bases remain in Saudi Arabia.

 

[zraver]

The Arab regimes will learn the hard way, once sanctions hit them. It will be much worse for them then it was for Pakistan, at least we had some diversity in our equipment, where as they are running on purely American equipment, whats even worse is that they are located next to Israel which is one of the high-tech militarys in the world (even though they were stopped in their tracks by hezbullah, by their Anti-Tank, and communications hacking which even the Israeli's admitted).

3 Arab states with decent militaries border Isreal (Lebanon is so dis-jointed it doesn't count). Egypt (American Equipment), Syria (Russian Equipment), and Jordan (British Equipment) in the Gulf States American Equipment competes with forgien competitors vis a vis the free market. If the Sunni states want exclusively American arms via vclient state status (like Israel) we will give them arms, but they have refused this for decades preffering to buy. This is why British, Russian, French, and even Pakistani firms make sales there.

As for Israel being able to stop the arms sale- Suadia, Kuwait and Egypt (including production) got Abrams which overnight removed Israels tank superiroty. Suadi has AWACs and F-15's and I think Patriots.... What the House of Suad wants the House of Suad gets PERIOD.

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

The saudis will go back to the british and french---the scenario of 80's sale will be repeated. The british will be the winners and maybe the french will get a piece of the pie a well. The saudis will always give the americans the first chance of refusal and after that they will go to the british. The saudis understand this drill very well .They could have gone to the british right from the gitgo-----but no. There is gamesmanship involved here. The saudis already know that the americans donot maynot stand upto the israelis. So do the obligaory abolutions and do what you got to do.

There will be no sanctions on the gulf states from the americans. When it comes down to that----america would have finally decided that then would be the time to end its relationship with the gulf arabs. That would the time to draw the line in the sand. America is not ready to do that, till they have created an alternate fuel source. After that, the gloves will come off.

The saudis are not at the loosing end of things. What they could get from the british, french and maybe the russians, may create more headaches for the israelis per say than otherwise. Bottomline is that ------- the saudis come out winners in the end.

There is no reason to be mad at the israelis or americans.

One must learn that what you have done to israel now, you may have to wait for another 30 years to repeat it, because that is how long it took the israelis to bring their guards down. They acted arrogant in accepting the american offer of bunker buster, plus not installing defnsive shields on the armour and battle tanks. It wasn't hezbollah's victory, but rather the loss of israeli arrogance.

Israeli army had committed the biggest sin-----never hate your enemy---never underestimate your opponent. Now why they underestimated the hezbollah----instead of combat proven general, their defence minister was an ex army/tank seargent---Peretz------commander was an F 16 jock---as arrogant as they come. The man never had his feet on the ground. Read his past interviews and comments about past actions and you will find out how unlike the previous israeli generals he was.

Now, don't expect the same mistakes to be repeated by the israelis one more time.

 

[Cheetah786]

Hi,

The saudis will go back to the british and french---the scenario of 80's sale will be repeated. The british will be the winners and maybe the french will get a piece of the pie a well. The saudis will always give the americans the first chance of refusal and after that they will go to the british. The saudis understand this drill very well .They could have gone to the british right from the gitgo-----but no. There is gamesmanship involved here. The saudis already know that the americans donot maynot stand upto the israelis. So do the obligaory abolutions and do what you got to do.

There will be no sanctions on the gulf states from the americans. When it comes down to that----america would have finally decided that then would be the time to end its relationship with the gulf arabs. That would the time to draw the line in the sand. America is not ready to do that, till they have created an alternate fuel source. After that, the gloves will come off.

The saudis are not at the loosing end of things. What they could get from the british, french and maybe the russians, may create more headaches for the israelis per say than otherwise. Bottomline is that ------- the saudis come out winners in the end.

There is no reason to be mad at the israelis or americans.

One must learn that what you have done to israel now, you may have to wait for another 30 years to repeat it, because that is how long it took the israelis to bring their guards down. They acted arrogant in accepting the american offer of bunker buster, plus not installing defnsive shields on the armour and battle tanks. It wasn't hezbollah's victory, but rather the loss of israeli arrogance.

Israeli army had committed the biggest sin-----never hate your enemy---never underestimate your opponent. Now why they underestimated the hezbollah----instead of combat proven general, their defence minister was an ex army/tank seargent---Peretz------commander was an F 16 jock---as arrogant as they come. The man never had his feet on the ground. Read his past interviews and comments about past actions and you will find out how unlike the previous israeli generals he was.

Now, don't expect the same mistakes to be repeated by the israelis one more time.

This post here is exactly the reason why a tiny state of Israel controls all of middle east.This shows how some people are totally out to lunch.

p.s khan sahib it isn't the Hizbulah thats telling the americans not to sell to the Arabs.its the israelies.:wall:

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

Here is what I am trying to say. The americans are telling the saudis, just go through this showmanship and go buy your stuff from the british or whosoever. The saudis are very good at it. This is done so that the american news media and the people and poloticians maynot turn around on the saudis and start saying----you didnot spend your petro dollars in the U S. This situation is like 'damned if you do it and be damned if you don't".

It would benefit the saudis more. They will have their own unique weapons systems that the israelis may not be familiar with. The french, british and the russians won't be sharing their technology with israel. It will also give them a nudge to start building their own foundations of weapons manufacturing.

Cheetah, the second part of the article was different. You misunderstood it.

 

[sigatoka]

1. 3 Arab states with decent militaries border Isreal (Lebanon is so dis-jointed it doesn't count). Egypt (American Equipment), Syria (Russian Equipment), and Jordan (British Equipment) in the Gulf States American Equipment competes with forgien competitors vis a vis the free market.

2. If the Sunni states want exclusively American arms via vclient state status (like Israel) we will give them arms, but they have refused this for decades preffering to buy. This is why British, Russian, French, and even Pakistani firms make sales there.

3. As for Israel being able to stop the arms sale- Suadia, Kuwait and Egypt (including production) got Abrams which overnight removed Israels tank superiroty. Suadi has AWACs and F-15's and I think Patriots.... What the House of Suad wants the House of Suad gets PERIOD.

1. Egypt's large airforce composed of F-16's have deliberately degraded by the U.S. such that it will not be able to effectively challenge Israel's airforce. Syria without economic growth has quite a poor military force vis-a-vis Israel compared to a decade ago. Jordan is an insignificant bit player with a pathetic military force compared to Israel.

2. U.S. doesnt make much profits in its military sales to Israel once the aid is factored in, a far cry from all other U.S. dealings in the middle east (and what Egypt gets is a rip off compared to Israel).

3. Israel's tank force is still the best in the region, better than Egypt and Saudi and Syria. Saudi's F-15's AWACS and Patriots have been degraded in performance if they were to meet Israeli planes. The reason Saudi Arabia continued with this outrageous arrangement was because part of the payment for degraded overpriced U.S. equipment was an implicit gaurantee on the part of U.S. to provide assistance if Saddam were to send his Republican guards down south, Saddam is dead, U.S. was willing to abandon Saudi Arabia immediately after Saddam's toppling and Saudi Arabia has recognised this. The major arms purchase of Eurofighters has ensured that non-degraded jets have been bought with no revenue for U.S. for at least ten years from sales of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. This is a big loss for U.S. arms industry. The house of Saud freed from the shackles that Saddam imposed is now getting what it wants.