Which of the 123 Billion expressions of despair would be most appropriate here?
This week, as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, staged his annual visit to the United Nations -- he denied the Holocaust, called Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, a "killer" and taunted the United States, saying Americans have "never entered a real war" -- Arab states were putting the final touches to the largest peace-time rearmament program in history, with orders for US$123-billion-worth of weapons.
In the largest order, Saudi Arabia plans to spend US$67.8-billion
Riyadh is expected to follow up with a second arms package: US$24-billion to US$27-billion
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has already received clearance to purchase a US$7-billion
This week, the Financial Times reported that the UAE is poised to buy an additional US$35-billion-US$40-billion in military equipment,
Kuwait is also expected to spend US$7-billion
Oman is said to be looking at acquiring US$12.3-billion-worth of military gear,
Yemen is already scheduled to receive almost US$1-billion in military aid
The flood of arms into an already volatile region has been underway ever since the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003.
In 2004 to 2007, the region signed arms contracts totaling $63.05-billion, or 30% of all weapons sales worldwide.
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