More Weapons For Saudi Arabia Is Bad Idea

The Obama administration has admitted that it wants to sell the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about $60 billion worth of modern weapons.   These weapons include at least 80 F-15 fighters, dozens of helicopters (Apache, Black Hawk and Little Bird), anti-radar missles, precision-guided bombs, and Hellfire missiles.   The request has been sent to Congress, where it is expected to face little opposition from either political party.

Frankly, this sounds like a rather strange thing to do considering the political climate and recent actions of the United States.   This country has started and is still engaged in two wars to "protect the country" from islamic fundamentalist jihadists.   Our government seems to have forgotten (or conveniently ignores) the fact that Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of and is still dominated by the most fundamentalist sect of islam (called wahhabism).  

The fundamentalist beliefs of wahhabi islam gave birth to the jihadist groups such as al-Queda (remember that Osama bin-Laden was a Saudi) and the Taliban.   It seems more than odd that we could embrace the home of fundamentalist islam while fighting and demonizing the groups that sprang from it.   Saudi Arabia actually holds the Quran to be it's constitution and is ruled by Shari'ah law.

In addition, Saudi Arabia is about as far from a democratic nation as a country can get.   It is a kingdom ruled by an absolute monarch who holds all power.   As a country that fought to free itself from a monarchy and counts itself as the spreader of democracy around the globe, it seems more than a bit antithetical that the U.S. could embrace such a tyrannical government as a friend.

And while the United States purports to believe in and celebrate diversity, religious freedom and equality, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has none of that.   Homosexuality is considered a capital crime, and women have virtually no rights.   It is the only country in the world that refuses to let a woman drive a car on public roads.   Women also cannot travel without the permission of their nearest male relative.   The government there actively censors internet reception, and has been known to imprison bloggers for months without charges.

In short, Saudi Arabia is the very opposite of everything the United States stands for and professes to believe in.   And yet, the United States considers Saudi Arabia to be a friend (remember, after 9/11 the only plane allowed to fly was one carrying members of the Saudi royal family).

Why do we ignore such tyranny and lack of human rights?   Oil.   Saudi Arabia sits on the world's largest supply of oil, and the United States is addicted to the stuff.   We seem to be willing to toss our principles out the window for the right to access to their huge supply of oil.   It would make sense to wean ourselves off of oil and develop new and renewable sources of energy, but our corporate-owned government would rather cosy up to the most tyrannical, misogynistic and human rights-deprived country in the world for some oil.

It's bad enough that we are willing to ignore the backward beliefs of Saudi Arabia, but it is crazy to go a step further and arm them with the most modern and powerful weapons in the world.   And now we want to sell them another $60 billion of those weapons.

Our government says this deal could support 75,000 jobs.   A drop in the bucket beside the 12 to 15 million jobs the government tossed away in the last couple of years due to a recession caused by irresponsible government policies.   Not to mention the fact that more jobs than that are outsourced by corporate interests each year with the blessing of our government.

It is just a bad idea to sell these weapons to Saudi Arabia.   It violates American principles, and the saving of a handful of jobs is a very weak justification.   This is just wrong and should not happen.   But it will.   After all, oil trumps everything.