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July 28th,
2007 - U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia |
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U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms
Deal to Saudi Arabia By David S. Cloud New York Times July 28, 2007 Washington, July 27 - The
Bush administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve an arms sale
package for Saudi Arabia and its neighbors that is expected to eventually
total $20 billion at a time when some United States officials contend that
the Saudis are playing a counterproductive role in Iraq. The proposed package of
advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia, which includes advanced satellite-guided
bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and
some of its supporters in Congress nervous. Senior officials who described
the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved
those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid
over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in
the past 10 years. But administration officials
remained concerned that the size of the package and the advanced weaponry it
contains, as well as broader concerns about Saudi Arabia’s role in Iraq,
could prompt Saudi critics in Congress to oppose the package when Congress is
formally notified about the deal this fall. In talks about the package,
the administration has not sought specific assurances from Saudi Arabia that
it would be more supportive of the American effort in Iraq as a condition of
receiving the arms package, the officials said. The officials said the plan
to bolster the militaries of Persian Gulf countries is part of an American
strategy to contain the growing power of Iran in the region and to
demonstrate that, no matter what happens in Iraq, Washington remains
committed to its longtime Arab allies. Officials from the State Department
and the Pentagon agreed to outline the terms of the deal after some details
emerged from closed briefings this week on Capitol Hill. The officials said Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who are to
make a joint visit to Saudi Arabia next week, still intended to use the trip
to press the Saudis to do more to help Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government. “The role of the Sunni Arab
neighbors is to send a positive, affirmative message to moderates in Iraq in
government that the neighbors are with you,” a senior State Department
official told reporters in a conference call on Friday. More specifically,
the official said, the United States wants the gulf states to make clear to
Sunnis engaged in violence in Iraq that such actions are “killing your
future.” In addition to promising an
increase in American military aid to Israel, the Pentagon is seeking to ease
Israel’s concerns over the proposed weapons sales to Saudi Arabia by asking
the Saudis to accept restrictions on the range, size and location of the
satellite-guided bombs, including a commitment not to store the weapons at
air bases close to Israeli territory, the officials said. The package and the possible
steps to allay Israel’s concerns were described to Congress this week, in an
effort by the administration to test the reaction on Capitol Hill before
entering into final negotiations on the package with Saudi officials. The
Saudis had requested that Congress be told about the planned sale, the
officials said, in an effort to avoid the kind of bruising fight on Capitol
Hill that occurred in the 1980s over proposed arms sales to the kingdom. In his visit with King
Abdullah and other Saudi officials next week, Mr. Gates plans to describe “what
the administration is willing to go forward with” in the arms package and
“what we would recommend to the Hill and others,” according to a senior
Pentagon official, who conducted a background briefing on the upcoming trip
with reporters on Friday. The official added that Mr.
Gates would also reassure the Saudis that “regardless of what happens in the
near term in Iraq that our commitment in the region remains firm, remains
steadfast and that, in fact, we are looking to enhance and develop it.” The $20 billion price tag on
the package is more than double what officials originally estimated when
details became public this spring. Even the higher figure is a rough estimate
that could fluctuate depending on the final package, which would be carried
out over a number of years, officials said. Worried about the impression
that the United States was starting an arms race in the region, State and
Defense Department officials stressed that the arms deal was being proposed
largely in response to improvements in Iran’s military capabilities and to
counter the threat posed by its nuclear program, which the Bush
administration contends is aimed at building nuclear weapons. Along with Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are likely to
receive equipment and weaponry from the arms sales under consideration,
officials said. In general, the United States is interested in upgrading the
countries’ air and missile defense systems, improving their navies and making
modest improvements in their air forces, administration officials said,
though not all the packages would be the same. Ms. Rice is expected to
announce Monday that the administration will open formal discussions with
each country about the proposed packages, in hopes of reaching agreements by
the fall. Along with the announcement
of formal talks with Persian Gulf allies on the arms package, Ms. Rice is
planning to outline the new agreement to provide military aid to Israel, as
well as a similar accord with Egypt. The $30.4 billion being
promised to Israel is $9.1 billion more than Israel has received over the
past decade, an increase of nearly 43 percent. A senior administration
official said the sizable increase was a result of Israel’s need to replace
equipment expended in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon last summer, as
well as to maintain its advantage in advanced weaponry as other countries in
the region modernize their forces. In defending the proposed
sale to Saudi Arabia and other gulf states, the officials noted that the
Saudis and several of the other countries were in talks with suppliers other
than the United States. If the packages offered to them by the United States
are blocked or come with too many conditions, the officials said, the Persian
Gulf countries could turn elsewhere for similar equipment, reducing American
influence in the region. The United States has made
few, if any, sales of satellite-guided munitions to Arab countries in the
past, though Israel has received them since the mid-1990s as part of a United
States policy of ensuring that Israel has a military edge over its regional
rivals. Israeli officials have made
specific requests aimed at eliminating concerns that satellite-guided bombs
sold to the Saudis could be used against its territory, administration
officials said. Their major concern is not a
full-scale Saudi attack, but the possibility that a rogue pilot armed with
one of the bombs could attack on his own or that the Saudi government could
one day be overthrown and the weapons could fall into the hands of a more
radical regime, officials said. Copyright 2007 The New York
Times Company External link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/washington/28weapons.html |