Saudis look to Russia for arms

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GC08Ak03.html

NEW YORK - Saudi Arabia, a traditionally authoritarian regime that recently held the first Western-style local elections in its 73-year history, is trying to break new ground by turning to Russia for arms purchases.

As one of the world's biggest single weapons buyers, the family-run kingdom has militarily depended on the United States, which has supplied over US$80 billion in arms since 1950.

According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Moscow is now getting ready to clinch its "first major defense contract" with Saudi Arabia, a fervently Islamic and avowedly anti-communist and pro-Western country.

The Saudi decision to diversify its sources of weaponry comes at a time when Washington has downgraded its military relationship by relocating over 6,000 US troops from Saudi Arabia to neighboring Qatar.

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[Deja Q]

1. Very interesting. Just who do they intend to protect themselves from,

and why not get some nicer weapons from their good business friends, the United States?

Something about this development... especially dealing with a supposedly communist country despite being anti-communist itself. Are they more afraid of commies? or cowboys?

In other words, this development is bad. Very bad indeed. Perhaps the Saudis believe that US aggression is about peak oil. No surprise, considering Cheney even spoke of 'peak oil' around the year 2000.

[Jacobin]

6. Israel comes to mind.....

[Deja Q]

7. Yes of course. The US and Israel are most certainly allies.

Balance of power. As people seem to want to prefer violence, why should people whine when "the other side" wants in?

[Emboldened Chimp]

2. Slowly, but surely, the world is turning away from the U.S.

Diversifying reserve currencies, forging new arms contracts, shifting military and economic alliances, performing military exercises...the world is turning away and some day (possibly soon) we will be isolated.

[Deja Q]

3. But * wants the US to be isolated. Except for giving out jobs. Then it's

okay to rely on the rest of the world.

Sounds ridiculous. On the other hand, there is no better way to describe what IS happening.

[tom_paine]

4. Always dangerous, playing Hitler against Stalin

But of course, Hitler and Stalin are much Kinder and gentler today...

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Somebody at the House of Saud READ the PNAC plan

and took it to heart I see

[mmonk]

8. My thoughts as well

[bonito]

10. Yep pnac cant hide everything or

control what they want to, its not going to workout they way they want it to, what the world is seeing is murder, murder , murder, and is about fed up with it all. taking advantage of the people of the US. a collective of the worlds population, living together as proof that the world can live together, because we have been trusting in our leaders to uphold the values each and every person in this world acknowledges. I think the UN has its task cut out for it in ways I would have never imagined before, showing the leader of the free world that it is a free world, the harts of all the people will come to reason I hope and pray. peace.

[lovuian]

9. The Saudis are looking over their shoulder and saying

UH OH!!!

[LynnTheDem]

11. ROTFLMAO!!!

Ya can't make this shit up. Well ya could...but no one would believe it.

:D

[cliss]

12. I'm assuming here that Saudi Arabia is

wanting to protect itself against a US aggression. Why not? Saudi Arabia "supposedly" has the world's #1 unproven oil reserves, and the US is getting the door slammed in its face all over the world.

We're seeing some Ugly Rejection going on world-wide. As the US sweats bullets, it pulls out the Flip Chart to see where the Oil Reserves are.

In 2001, the US had several thousand troops in Saudi Arabia, supposedly protecting them from outside threats, but it was really to guard the oil, in particular the 2 major refineries.

When the war in Iraq started, the US pulled out all of its troops, because according to Paul Wolfowitz, "it was a huge Al-Qaida recruiting tool, and we had to get them out". Saudis didn't particularly like seeing Western pale faces in their holy kingdom.

So we got out. Our forces are now in various places in the ME. They are also nearby, in Iraq, where they are getting killed about 10 per day and hundreds wounded on average every day.

Where does that leave Saudi Arabia? Are they alone? Unprotected? We know that Al-Qaida wants to topple the Royal Family.

I'm assuming here that SA is vulnerable to many opportunists, while the World Attention is focused on Iran, Venezuela, and of Course the Darling of them all, the US.

[DivinBreuvage]

13. Aren't there also rumors that the Russians have developed better weapons?

I'm admittedly no expert, so I have no idea how true this is. I am just referring to posters here who have suggested, or who have quoted people who suggested, that new Russian weapons have been tested against US troops in Iraq. I clearly recall reading a post that said that in the early stages of the invasion at least one US tank was destroyed by something that had drilled a pencil-sized hole through the armor and nobody could figure out what it was.

I've also read, or heard, that the Russians have an edge on theoretical weapons research or whatever you call it, but that they lack the money to convert their theories to reality.

Then again, I've read other posters who say that these claims are groundless propaganda and there's no way the Russians can have managed to produce better weapons than the US.

Who can say?

In the latter stages of WWII the Nazis boasted of secret wonder weapons that either did not exist or never lived up to their potential. Groundless propaganda.

At the same time, they did produce the jet fighter, which beat anything the Allies could fly at the time; but then lacked the resources to develop it in any meaningful way.

There was also an article in the Mirror (UK) by an American journalist complaining that American reporters were not allowed to tell folks at home that German tanks like the Panther and Tiger were superior to the Sherman, which burned so easily that the Germans gave it nicknames like "Tommy Cooker" or "Ronson" (a popular brand of cigarette lighter). According to this fellow the US government felt that it was necessary for Americans to believe that their soldiers had the best equipment of any army in the world or there might be problems.

So from just one episode in history we see how all three of these things can be true while at the same time not being more than a fraction of the truth.