On Tuesday, the State Department approved two potential arms deals to Saudi Arabia and the UAE worth over $5 billion combined.
The sale to the Saudis is for Patriot surface-to-air missiles and is worth an estimated $3.05 billion. The principal contractor for the Patriot deal is Raytheon, the former employer of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
According to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the Patriots are meant to “defend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s borders against persistent Houthi cross-border unmanned aerial system and ballistic missile attacks.”
The approval for the Patriot sale comes as a fragile four-month truce in Yemen has been extended for another two months. While there is still fighting on the ground and the Saudis are still enforcing the blockade, there has been no Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and no Houthi attacks inside Saudi Arabia since March.
The deal for the UAE is also for a missile defense system. According to the DSCA, Abu Dhabi has asked to purchase THAAD missiles and related equipment, worth about $2.2 billion. The principal contractor for the THAADs is Lockheed Martin.
The Biden administration’s approval of the deals comes as Israel is looking to build a US-backed military alliance with Gulf countries in the Middle East against Iran. The idea of the alliance is to focus on integrated missile defense systems, although there has not been much public Arab support for the proposal.
The State Department’s approval begins a period where Congress could potentially block the sales.
This is what it is all about, the weapons industry and dealers are making a killing.
Well said Renate!
i think that Raytheon corp. is located in Tuscon Az.
I suppose we have to overlook that “democracy vs. autocracy” tidbit Joe and Nanc were talking about. Or, I guess we have moved those two bastions of freedom to the “democracy” side of the ledger.
Fifteen of the men responsible for 9/11 were Saudi. It has been confirmed that money to finance the operation flowed from Saudi Arabia. W. unleashed h*ll on Iraq and Afghanistan, based on lies (yet there is a picture of him holding hand with the Saudi king in 2015. (Brookings: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2015/05/12/its-time-to-stop-holding-saudi-arabias-hand/)
The 15 were Saudi dissidents – a threat to the monarchy. Without u.s. support the monarchy would most likely collapse. And that’s why planes flew into american buildings.
That and the 500,000 dead Iraqi kids that Madeline Albright said was “worth it”.
nausea- thats all this should do to those are not psychopaths
All that $$$ for the Death Merchants.
The USA is a drug dealer and a weapons dealer, a wheeler-dealer…
Capitalism is running amuck!
Raytheon is moving global headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, a short ride to the White House, U.S. Capitol, K Street (or whatever street you need) lobbyists and, shocker, the Pentagon.
Close also to the Saudi Arabian, United Arab Emirates, Lebanese and Egyptian embassies (see Mohammed Bone Saw and the 9/11/2001 hijackers).
The Military, Industrial, Congressional and Lobbyist Complex is alive, well and rules Washington, D.C.
Need some new weapons? We’ll respond immediately to your needs. Need some help with those California wildfires? Kentucky flooding? We’re on recess for the month of August. Then there are those pesky mid-term elections. Get back with us in 2023 and we’ll see if we can do anything.
$$$$@usa.bs