Old Excuse For Arming Saudis: It's The Oil; New Excuse: It Saves Jobs!

Remember the old days, the simpler times when the US armed Arab countries like Saudi Arabia because they supplied the oil? Seems like only yesterday--actually, it probably was.

But now, forget about all that. Now the US will supply Saudi Arabia with $60billion in arms because it will save US jobs:

The US government is charging ahead with a plan to sell $60bn worth of advanced aircraft and other sophisticated weapons systems to Saudi Arabia, in what is thought to be the largest US arms deal ever.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, was also in talks with the Saudis about naval and missile-defence upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more.


Under the deal, the US is also to expand Saudi Arabia's ballistic-missile defences "to reduce the threat from Iranian rockets", US officials were reported to have said. They also said that it was unclear how much that package would be worth, but it could be similar to one in the United Arab Emirates.

The Obama administration sees the sale as part of a broader policy aimed at supporting "Arab allies against Iran", and is expected to notify the US congress about these plans in the upcoming weeks, the report said.

The administration plans to frame the Saudi deal as a major job creator, supporting at least 75,000 jobs, according to company estimates.

This will come as a welcome boost to an employment market that was shedding thousands of jobs every month as the Obama administration struggled with economic woes.

That should give those self-proclaimed 'realists' something new to crow about when arguing that US interests should dictate closer ties to the Arab world over Israel. After all, the Saudis are paying $60billion for as many as 84 new F-15 fighters, upgrade 70 more, and purchase three types of helicopters - 70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds.

And Israel? 20 F-35 warplanes, for which it will pay almost $3bn.

In the old days, the US was in an arms war with Russia, creating instability--now they are merely competing in the Middle East to create jobs.

It's all good.

Technorati Tag: Saudi Arabia.