COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“US closes in on
$100bn deal to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia”
What a wonderful thing to do.
One of the world's most backward places in everything from
democracy and human rights to waging aggressive war - what a fine customer for
a massive pile of arms equivalent to the entire GDP of some small lands.
But for the United States, Saudi Arabia represents a couple
of things important to the global empire.
First, the Saudis are good buddies with Israel, virtually
secret allies in many projects such as Syria and Yemen. And the Saudis share
with Israel a repulsion for such things as truly democratic government,
opposition to many of the demands of human rights, and a concern for protecting
the position of privileged wealth in the region.
Second, they aren't Iran. Indeed, they are viewed as a
bulwark against Iran's natural development as the region's leading country,
given its 70 million population and resources.
Israel, which wants for itself the unquestioned position of
the region's leading country, shares the Saudi view of Iran.
And note that Israel does not oppose such a vast weapons
deal with an Arab state, something it most certainly would have done some years
ago.
The Saudi position vis-a-vis Israel changed dramatically,
although quietly (don't want to upset their own population, now, do they?),
after 9/11.
