The $20 Billion US/Middle East arms deal that was first reported by the New York Times has been confirmed by a senior Bush Administration official according to CNN. The official states that the deal is still being negotiated, but it has to do with Iran’s continued military build-up. Even though Israel will also benefit they have already expressed their displeasure with the deal.

Some of the arms to be sold are satellite-guided bombs known as JDAMs. The sale may include a 500-pound and a 2,000-pound version of the aerial bomb. There will also be new warships and other advanced weapons being sold. The countries which will be receiving weapons are the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

While there is nothing new about us sending weapons to allies and friends in the Middle East, but this deal is different. We are sending over some of our more advanced weapons that have helped us in the fight against terrorism. Our allies and friends need to be safe from Iran’s current flexing of its military muscle, but considering some of the six nations including Saudi Arabia do not support the current government in Iraq and because any of these countries could be overthrown by radicals I think this is a big mistake.

We must not forget that the Saudi government allows and encourage clerics in their country to preach anti-U.S. and anti-Western hate as do the other countries. The Saudis haven’t done enough to help us fight terror, they haven’t helped us with Iraq, they haven’t crackdown on militants, and about 10 years ago they also kicked us out of their country.

This arms deal needs to be watched carefully, and I hope that Congress has the courage to vote this current arms deal down. The Bush administration doesn’t need to keep giving our enemies more fuel to fight us.

[tags]Arms deal, Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Gulf States, War[/tags]