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Huge US Arms Deal for the Saudi Dictatorship
Stephen Lendman
According to Reuters, the White House “is close to completing a series of arms deals for Saudi Arabia totaling more than $100 billion, a senior White House official said on Friday, a week ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to Riyadh.”
The Saudi dictatorship is one of the world’s most ruthless, repressing its own people, terror-bombing Yemen, blockading its coastline to prevent vital humanitarian aid from reaching starving, ill and injured civilians.
According to an unnamed White House source, the arms deal could exceed an astonishing $300 billion over the next decade.
It has nothing to do with “boosting (the kingdom’s) defensive capabilities,” as Reuters reported - everything to do with enriching US war-profiteers, regardless of the cost in human lives and misery.
“We are in the final stages of a series of (arms) deals,” the US source said. America is the world’s leading merchant of death and destruction, arming Israel and other rogue states, waging war in multiple theaters, responsible for millions of casualties post-9/11 alone, escalating conflicts instead of ending them
On May 19, Trump heads for Riyadh, the first stop on his foreign trip, the Saudi deal expected to be finalized ahead of his arrival.
America and Britain are Riyadh’s main arms and munitions suppliers. Trump deplorably calls selling destructive weapons a way to boost economic growth and create jobs.
According to Reuters, the Saudi deal includes arms, ships, missile defense and maritime security - “a very substantial commitment,” the US source said, adding:
It’s “intended to build capabilities for the threats they face” - despite Riyadh facing none. “It’s good for the American economy, but it will also be good in terms of building a capability that is appropriate for the challenges of the region. Israel would still maintain an edge.”
The region’s challenges alone include America’s presence, Israeli belligerence, brutal dictatorships like the Saudis, and terrorist groups they support.
Trump’s visit to Riyadh, Israel, Brussels to meet with NATO leaders, and Sicily for a G7 summit will do nothing to advance world peace and stability, everything to continue imperial wars.
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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at http://www.sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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