Brinkmanship and gangsterism
Q. How can the U.S. make the Middle East cauldron of regional divide even hotter?
A. Why, by dropping $20 billion of fresh military hardware into it, of course.
Which, reports the New York Times, is precisely what the Bush administration will do for Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, by selling them a "package of advanced weaponry ... which includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to ... fighters and new naval vessels."
But no doubt the arms-sale mother lode to Saudi Arabia is a reward for the supportive role its been playing in Iraq, right? Not quite, since "United States officials contend [it's playing] a counterproductive role in Iraq."
OK, so it's not a reward. But at the very least, the U.S. will -- will it not? -- seek specific assurances from Saudi Arabia that it will be more supportive of the American effort in Iraq as a condition of receiving the arms package? Again, not quite, since it is reported that "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."
So if it's not a reward, and not a carrot to encourage the Saudis to reverse their counterproductivity in Iraq, what exactly is the deal here?
Well, our Metternichian geniuses say "the plan to bolster the militaries of Persian Gulf countries is part of an American strategy to contain the growing power of Iran in the region and to demonstrate that, no matter what happens in Iraq, Washington remains committed to its longtime Arab allies."
That would be the same Metternichian imbeciles who endowed the "growing power of Iran" and have made regional problems for their "longtime Arab allies" even more problematic, but what the hell. With their track record, they must figure that dumb luck, if nothing else, will eventually stumble on an intelligent geopolitical call.
So far, their diplomatic efforts at assuring that additional firepower is kept to a reasonable minimum are working out well, too. The arms deal started at less than $10 billion, is now more than double that, and the "higher figure is a rough estimate that could fluctuate depending on the final package." If you've ever read of infatuation with an arms deal fluctuating downward, let me know.
Adding to the destabilization, however, is that all this talk of shipping satellite-guided weaponry to the Saudis is -- surprise! -- making Israel "nervous." But, yet again, not to worry. For the way to de-destabilize and de-nerve the nervous is to double down -- let's say, "by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade..., an increase of nearly 43 percent."
As a flashy display of "Who's on first" balance-of-power diplomacy, "A senior administration official said the sizable increase was a result of Israel’s need to ... maintain its advantage in advanced weaponry as other countries in the region modernize their forces."
That is, as we modernize their forces, we can upgrade Israel's, so we can then counterbalance with more modernization, so we can then re-upgrade Israel's ...
And, finally, the administration is deploying the mobster's fundamentalist reasoning of, If we don't get in on this, somebody else will: "In defending the proposed sale to Saudi Arabia and other gulf states, the officials noted that the Saudis and several of the other countries were in talks with suppliers other than the United States. If the packages offered to them by the United States are blocked or come with too many conditions, the officials said, the Persian Gulf countries could turn elsewhere for similar equipment."
Thus our modern-day Metternichs and military-industrial machine happily comingle the idiosyncratic logic of drug-dealing gangsterism and advanced-weaponry brinkmanship.
Yes, things should turn out just fine.
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The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.
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