TeleSur | – –
The official said the deal will be good for the U.S. economy.
The United States is close to completing a series of arms deals forSaudi Arabia totaling more than $100 billion, a senior White House official said on Friday, a week ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Riyadh.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the arms package could end up surpassing more than $300 billion over a decade to help Saudi Arabia boost its defensive capabilities while still maintaining U.S. ally Israel’s qualitative military edge over its neighbors.
“We are in the final stages of a series of deals,” the official said. The package is being developed to coincide with Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia. Trump leaves for the kingdom on May 19, the first stop on his maiden international trip.
Reuters reported last week that Washington was pushing through contracts for tens of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, some new, others already in the pipeline, ahead of Trump’s visit.
The United States has been the main supplier for most Saudi military needs, from F-15 fighter jets to command and control systems worth tens of billions of dollars in recent years. Trump has vowed to stimulate the U.S. economy by boosting manufacturing jobs.
The package includes American arms and maintenance, ships, air missile defense and maritime security, the official said. “We’ll see a very substantial commitment … In many ways it is intended to build capabilities for the threats they face.”
The official added: “It’s good for the American economy but it will also be good in terms of building a capability that is appropriate for the challenges of the region. Israel would still maintain an edge.”
Via TeleSur
Now we know the real reason for Mr Trump’s visit to KSA. President Eisenhower’s farewell speech comes to mind, PARTICULARLY the word he was convinced to remove by GOP advisors. His original speech warned against the Military-Congressional-Industrial Complex.
If you look at US Terrorism, roughly 80% is done by the US right wing. The USA isn’t unique in this statistic, historically 80% of terrorism world wide is done by local right wingers, it’s a cultural thing outside the scope of this discussion but basically the right wing in all countries always has a percentage of people who feel they aren’t being listened to. In terms of EXTERNAL originated US Terrorism, KSA is #1, the UAE is #2, Egypt is 3rd, and there are a few others. NONE of the countries on Mr Trump’s muslim ban are in the top 10, and none of the countries that terrorists actually come from are on Mr Trump’s muslim ban. The main sources of foreign Terrorism in the USA are all large investors in the USA and own MANY Senators. They also have large investments by Mr Trump and other billionaires who also own quite a few Senators. All this stuff is simply related to money, as any good detective knows, “follow the money” to identify who dunnit. It’s not a regressive v. progressive issue, it’s just capitalism.