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Democrats Scrutinize Proposal for $20 Billion Arms Sale to Saudis    [
House Members Say They Will Try to Block Arms Sales to Saudis    [

    Merkel Party Warns US Arms for Gulf Could Set off "Powder Keg"
    Agence France-Presse

    Tuesday 31 July 2007

    Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats are worried that reported US plans to send a major arms package to Gulf states could inflame a volatile region, a party leader was quoted as saying Monday.

    The chairman of the German parliament's foreign affairs committee, Ruprecht Polenz, told the daily Frankfurter Rundschau that the Middle East was already a "powder keg" and that an influx of weapons could set it off.

    "If you add more explosives to a powder keg, you increase the risk and do not make the region more secure," he said.

    Polenz said the warning that the United States hoped to send to Iran with the weapons deal could backfire, leading Tehran to step up its own arms drive.

    Foreign ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger declined to directly comment on the press reports but said that basic principles of foreign policy applied in judging potential arms deals.

    "We support what will bring more stability to the Gulf region and that is why we will have to very carefully evaluate these things on a case-by-case basis," he told a regular government news conference.

    "Political means should be the preferred way of resolving existing conflicts and decreasing tensions. The Gulf states themselves must have an interest in resolving possible tensions between them in political talks with each other."

    Jaeger said Iran was key to the process of generating more stability in the Gulf region.

    "That is why we call on Iran once again to participate in such discussions constructively and with clear intentions."

    The Washington Post reported Saturday that the United States plans a series of arms deals worth at least 20 billion dollars with Saudi Arabia and five other oil-rich Gulf states.

    The plan also includes new 10-year military aid packages to Israel and Egypt, said the Post, citing unnamed US officials.

    The paper said the deals were aimed at shoring up US allies in the Middle East and countering "a more aggressive Iran."

    US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is expected to discuss the package - reportedly worth 20 billion dollars - on a visit with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Saudi Arabia and other Arab states this week.

 

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    Democrats Scrutinize Proposal for $20 Billion Arms Sale to Saudis
    By Elana Schor
    The Hill

    Tuesday 31 July 2007

    Democrats on Monday continued to raise questions about the Bush administration's plans to sell up to $20 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and its neighbors, foreshadowing a difficult battle for congressional approval of the deal.

    The arms package is not expected to come before Congress until the fall, but seven House Democrats already have backed New York Reps. Anthony Weiner (D) and Jerrold Nadler (D) in calling for a resolution to block the sale. Two Senate Democrats echoed their colleagues' concerns over supplying advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia, long accused of financially supporting terrorist groups.

    Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) called for a declaration of cooperation between the administration and the Saudi government, which the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, has criticized for undercutting progress in Iraq.

    "Certainly, giving Saudi Arabia more weapons now, knowing full well that it's believed there are transfers of weapons and money to groups that are fighting in Iraq, groups that are training for terrorist actions," is troubling, Lautenberg said.

    Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) voiced qualms about the safety of the arms being traded to several countries, including Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

    "I'm very concerned about more weapons being made available to countries in the Middle East that have a spotty record of stability," Cardin said. With the region moving from "conflict to conflict to conflict," he added, "I worry about where these arms could be used."

    House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) has asked for a complete briefing on the sale in September while not ruling out a hearing or possible support for the resolution of disapproval.

    "We particularly want to ensure that these arrangements include only defensive systems, and not items that can be used for other purposes," Lantos said in a Saturday statement.

    Lantos's Senate counterpart, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (D-Del.), also sounded a note of caution. The 2008 presidential hopeful pointed out that the details of the Saudi portion of the sale have yet to be cemented.

    "This isn't ready for primetime yet, and the administration hasn't claimed that it is," Biden said Monday through a spokeswoman. "When we get answers [to questions already posed], and the specific proposed sales, we will look very carefully to ensure they make sense individually and as a whole."

    Other lawmakers expressing skepticism since the arms sale first was reported over the weekend include House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.).

    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left for the Middle East on Sunday; the arms package is expected to be high on the trip's agenda. The administration has portrayed the deal as a stabilizer of relations with regional opponents of Iran, establishing a united front against the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    "Further modernizing the Egyptian and Saudi armed forces and increasing interoperability will bolster our partners' resolve in confronting the threat of radicalism and cement their respective roles as regional leaders in the quest for Middle East peace," Rice said in a Monday statement. She noted that Congress and U.S. allies would be closely consulted on the details of the deal.

    Congressional misgivings about the arms deal may be assuaged by support for Israel, for which the package bestows $30 billion in new aid over 10 years. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has thrown Jerusalem's support behind the sale, acknowledging that weapons would go to several countries that do not recognize Israel but hailing the Bush administration's commitment to his country's military advantage in the region.

    "We'll make our independent judgments as a Congress, but if the Israelis are satisfied or say they're satisfied, that factors into it," Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said, adding he would not rush to judgment at this early stage. "I'm not saying it's the final word, but that factors into it."

    The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Washington's chief advocate for U.S.-Israel relations, did not issue a public statement on the deal. A source who follows ties between Washington and Jerusalem predicted that lawmakers would go over the deal with a fine-toothed comb this fall.

    "The idea that Iran is the central threat to the region is the important thing to take away from what we're hearing," the source said.

    While congressional attempts to block arms sales never have fully succeeded, according to the Congressional Research Service, past efforts have forced significant concessions in the terms of such deals.

 

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    House Members Say They Will Try to Block Arms Sales to Saudis
    By Robin Wright
    The Washington Post

    Sunday 29 July 2007

    The Bush administration's plan to sell $20 billion in advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia and five other Persian Gulf countries is running into congressional opposition and criticism from human rights and arms control groups.

    Members of Congress vowed yesterday to oppose any deal to Saudi Arabia on grounds that the kingdom has been unhelpful in Iraq and unreliable at fighting terrorism. King Abdullah has called the U.S. military presence in Iraq an "illegitimate occupation," and the Saudis have been either unable or unwilling to stop suicide bombers who have ended up in Iraq, congressional sources say.

    Human rights groups warned that new U.S. arms meant to contain Iran's rising influence could backfire, allowing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to rally greater support for his hard-line faction in the run-up to parliamentary elections next spring.

    And arms control groups said Bush's strategy would accelerate an already-dangerous trend that could increase tensions rather than generate a greater sense of security.

    The administration plans to sell advanced satellite-guided bombs, fighter aircraft upgrades and new naval vessels to six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, U.S. officials say.

    U.S. officials acknowledged that congressional reaction has been mixed but cautioned that details of a broader arms package - including $30 billion in military aid to Israel and $13 billion to Egypt over the next 10 years - have yet to be released. "As we move forward, we will work very closely with Congress, as well as our friends and allies in the region," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

    But Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was briefed on the deal Tuesday, said he had several reservations. "This is not a sale at Macy's that you go in and buy a bunch of stuff. There are a complex set of relationships behind it, and while it's very desirable to have the Saudis and others recognize that Iran is an existential threat, there is also a degree of responsibility that they have to show on broader U.S. foreign policy interests," he said in an interview.

    In the context of the arms deals, Lantos said the oil-rich countries should use windfall profits from high oil prices to cover the expenses of Iraqi refugees who have flooded Jordan. Saudi Arabia should not try to re-broker reconciliation between Palestinian moderates and militants, he added, and Qatar should look at the television network al-Jazeera's role in the region.

    Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) said yesterday that they will introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to block the deals when Congress is formally notified. They have seven Democratic co-sponsors.

    In an interview, Weiner said any arms proposal would find broad bipartisan opposition on the Hill. "The reputation of the Saudis has taken quite a beating since 9/11, and despite the fact that the administration has done everything to portray them as part of the moderate Arab world, members of Congress of both parties are increasingly skeptical."

    Under the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, Congress must approve major arms sales. In 1986, the threat of a joint resolution of disapproval played a role in persuading the Reagan administration to cut back an arms package to Saudi Arabia.

    Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), a senior member of the House Foreign Relations committee who was also briefed last week, said a pivotal issue will be whether Israel maintains the "qualitative military edge" in the region.

    Arms experts called for a serious debate on the quality and quantity of weapons going to the Gulf states. "This administration does not have an arms sales policy, except to sell, sell, sell," said Daryl G. Kimball of the Arms Control Association. "That approach in the Middle East can be like throwing gasoline on a brush fire."

    Human Rights Watch said the arms deals would undermine long-term U.S. goals in the Middle East. "This will reduce pressure on Egypt and the Arab states to reform their politics. It's another case of trying to purchase stability at the expense of liberty," said Washington director Tom Malinowski.