Bush Wants To Sell Saudis $20 Billion Worth of Weapons

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Having not completely pinned the Irony and Incompetency meter, the Bush administration this week is pushing for Congress to approve the sale of $20B worth of arms to Saudi Arabia. You know, the Saudi Arabia that supplied 15 of the 19 men who crashed planes on 9/11. Yea, that Saudi Arabia.

The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia includes state-of-the-art satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels.

The Bush administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve an arms sale package for Saudi Arabia and its neighbors that is expected to eventually total $20 billion at a time when some United States officials contend that the Saudis are playing a counterproductive role in Iraq.

The proposed package of advanced weaponry includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and some of its supporters in Congress nervous. Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

But administration officials remained concerned that the size of the package and the advanced weaponry it contains, as well as broader concerns about Saudi Arabia’s role in Iraq, could prompt Saudi critics in Congress to oppose the package when Congress is formally notified about the deal this fall.

In talks about the package, the administration has not sought specific assurances from Saudi Arabia that it would be more supportive of the American effort in Iraq as a condition of receiving the arms package, the officials said.

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