NOTE: It appears I wasn't the only one alarmed by this news, as both "jimstaro" and "Zwoof" also just put diaries up discussing this as well. If you feel this diary doesn't add anything new, I'll delete it.
This will be a short Saturday morning diary, but I wanted to bring to your urgent attention some things Bush/Dick are planning. It appears they are about to ship billions of dollars more in weapons and "aid" to the highly volatile Mid-East region.
The headline on the McClatchy article (link to follow) I sourced, is:
U.S. to sell advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia and others
"Others"?
Details after the fold. (Warning: speculation bumps ahead)
Reading through the McClatchy article, I came away feeling that Bush/Dick are doing this in preparation for an attack on Iran. True, this is speculation on my part, but....
This is the way they did it in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, when they also shipped billions in weapons and "aid"(read: pay-offs), in an attempt to "buy off" our so-called "friends" in the region.
Here's a few select quotes from the article:
The Bush administration has decided to supply billions of dollars in advanced new weapons to Saudi Arabia, other Arab allies of the United States and to Israel, senior State Department officials and congressional aides said Friday.
The arms and aid package, which the officials said is to be announced on Monday, is part of a U.S. initiative to reassure worried allies in the Middle East that despite its troubles in Iraq, the United States remains committed to the region. It also is meant to send a signal of resolve to Iran's increasingly confident leaders.
Well, I guess that says it all. The mere fact the madmen (and women) currently occupying our White House have the continued power to order something like this, is terrifying. Is there nothing our Congress can do to stop them? Of course, with aid to Israel tied into the this, you can be sure AIPAC and their allied legions (Google: "Mearsheimer and Walt") would do all they can to thwart any move by Congress to stop this deal.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates leave for the Middle East on Monday on a rare joint mission to deliver those messages in person to the region's leaders.
Why are these two delivering messages over there now in companion with this deal? I don't think this would be done for a simple arms/aid deal. There's more to this, which is why I feel it may be a run-up to Iran action. Chertoff's not the only one who gets "gut feelings", and my "gut" is positively churning over this information.
The package also will include new weapons for the United Arab Emirates, another U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, and both military and economic support to Egypt. Other details of the proposed arms sales weren't immediately available Friday.
Although it's likely to be controversial, the administration has decided to proceed with the sale and will compensate Israel — which seeks to maintain a "qualitative military edge" over its Arab neighbors — with military upgrades of its own, the officials said.
"All that has been sorted out," said a senior State Department official.
"All sorted out"? Kind of like they had things "all sorted out" about Iraq, and Katrina, and, and, and....? And how are they going to "compensate" Israel? Sounds like a recipe to spend hundreds of billions more of our tax dollars financing the neocon's wet war dreams. The Israeli war lobby, both here and in Israel, must be absolutely ecstatic.
Then there's the matter of continued support and financing of despotic, anti-democratic Arab regimes in the region (ie: Saudi Arabia and Egypt). It appears we have to "buy" our allies" now. America, hypocrisy is thy name.
Link to the rest of the McClatchy article: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/...
The Bush regime has made the problems in the Mid-East much worse, and this deal will simply add more fat to the fire. By arming everyone to the teeth, they're creating an even larger, and more unstable powder-keg. But then, that's exactly what they want.
This deal stinks. There's no speculation in this statement: Bush wants perpetual war.
It look like he might get it....