US plans $60b arms sale to Saudis

[Forkboy]

WASHINGTON — A proposed US weapons sale to Saudi Arabia of F-15 fighter jets also includes as many as 132 Apache attack helicopters and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that bring the total value of the package to around $60 billion, according to a government official familiar with the plan.

The Pentagon and State Department about two weeks ago informally notified congressional committees that handle arms sales of the planned transaction, the official said.

“I think it would be the largest ever,’’ said William Hartung, director of the New York City-based New America Foundation’s Arms and Security Initiative.

“Other deals that used to be considered large,’’ like the $9 billion sale of 72 F-15s to the Saudis in 1992-93 or the kingdom’s $9 billion acquisition of AWACS surveillance aircraft in 1981, “aren’t even in the ballpark, even allowing for inflation,’’ Hartung said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/08/14/us_plans_60b_arms_sale_to_saudis/

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Thank Dog they are doing this!

and abandoning our nation's needs at the national and local level to fight poverty, increase public education, and provide for medical care for all of us. :sarcasm:

[mmonk]

2. Well we have to export something besides jobs.

Why not send these things to the homeland of most of the 9/11 hijackers?

[Octafish]

3. Your Petrodollars at Work.

(Insert photo of any Bush boy since Prescott here holding hands with Saudi roilty)

[RKP5637]

4. We're a nation of twisted warped priorities... n/t

[Bluebear]

5. Why not ask the families of the 9/11 tragedy what they think of this?

No, we only survey the soldier's fmailies about DADT.

[demosincebirth]

6. That might help the trade deficit a little.

[AdHocSolver]

11. I really hope you forgot to add a sarcasm "thingy" to this comment. nt

[Bluebear]

17. wow

[AdHocSolver]

7. This amounts to a few week's profits on the money we spend on their oil.

It also amounts to another way to transfer middle class assets (inflated oil expenses) to our own military/industrial complex (weapons sales paid for by oil profits).

What a setup.

Another question to ponder is what is the threat to Saudi Arabia that they need such a huge arsenal of weapons?

[Vinca]

8. I thought we hated the Saudis because they didn't allow Christian churches.

:sarcasm:

[kentuck]

9. Well, that won't come back to bite us on the ass, will it ??

Dumbasses!

IS that the only product we have to sell to the world? Weapons?

[Angry Dragon]

10. It would seem so

I wonder if the government just sets up the sale or if they have to buy the weapons first and then sell them to the buyers??

Do we the people make any money on the sale or is it a break even/loss sale??

[ThomCat]

12. If military hardware is going to be the ONLY industry we have left

here in the US, then of course Obama has to start approving big sales of military hardware all over world. How else is he going to start improving economic numbers?

It's not like we make anything else in this country any more?

:shrug:

On a serious note, this sucks. We should be gutting the military industrial complex, instead of encouraging it. This is not what we should be doing. And the Saudis are not our friends. :(

[MadHound]

13. Merchants of Death,

We sell them our last generation war material, and in a few years start a war with our next generation war material. After all, the MIC has to be continuously be fed and cared for.

[AmericaIsGreat]

14. Fine with me. Sell as much of that shit as possible

We might have some fucking money.

Plus that's probably not stuff we need to worry about insurgents taking and using against us. Although you never know...

[G_j]

15. I'm gonna be sick..

:puke:

[spanone]

16. as long as we keep arming the world, we are partners in war