|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
U.S. to Offer $20 Billion Arms Deal to Saudis
The Bush administration is set to ask Congress for approval of a $20 billion arms package for Saudi Arabia and its neighbors that includes advanced satellite-guided bombs and new naval vessels.
The U.S. has previously refrained from selling satellite-guided munitions to Arab countries, although Israel has received them since the mid-1990s.
The new arms package for Arabian Peninsula nations has worried Israel and some of its supporters in Congress, although administration officials counter those concerns by pointing to the $30.4 billion in military aid the U.S. has promised Israel over the next decade. That is a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past decade, the New York Times reports.
The Saudi arms proposal comes as some in Congress are complaining that the Saudis are not helping American efforts in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are planning a visit to Saudi Arabia next week to urge the Sunni Saudis to do more to help Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government.
Story Continues Below
Administration officials say the arms deal is largely a response to improvements in Iran’s military capabilities.
Other countries that will likely receive weaponry in the deal include Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2012 NewsMax.Com |