United States sinks further from its mission

America plans $20bn arms deals for allies in the Gulf

Paul Harris in New York
Sunday July 29, 2007
The Observer

Read the whole article here.

This is terrible news. The US has already greatly de-stabilized the region by failing to establish Afghanistan following the legitimate disassembling of Taliban rule following 9-11, and so leaving the Taliban in place. The US has already brought half a trillion in military spending into Iraq. And now Pakistan teeters on a fragile brink. If you care to read about just one of the time-bombs ticking in Afghanistan due to the US failure to pay attention to re-construction needs there, read this article in the New Yorker entitled "Taliban's Opium War."

Now, instead of being a source of upliftment, embodied compassion, and life giving investment, this administration instead itches to pump 20 billion dollars worth of high tech arms into this needy, unstable tinderbox. In our name US chooses to become gun runners in the most volatile place in human history. The Observer article notes:

The flow of arms to Saudi Arabia is of particular concern. Not only are some Saudi factions suspected of being supporters of Sunni insurgents in neighbouring Iraq, there is also a fear that the Saudi royal family could one day fall prey to an Islamist revolution.

If that happens, the new weapons could end up being used by radicals against Western interests. Israeli officials and their supporters in Washington are reportedly lobbying against the Gulf deal but they have been overruled by an administration that has made countering Iranian interests its highest priority.