A few weeks ago, the United States and Saudi governments announced a record-breaking $60 billion agreement involving future arms sales. The deal, once approved by Congress, will be the biggest arms deal in the history of the United States.
One year after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama views the move as helping America’s main ally in the Middle East protect itself against the perceived growing threat from Iran. This reasoning is over-exaggerated as the arms en route to Saudi Arabia are highly unlikely ever to be used in any significant capacity.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal could generate more than 75,000 jobs. This comes with great relief to an Obama administration facing the prospects of massive layoffs in the defense sector.
The timing of the deal could also help boost the Democrats’ chances in the upcoming midterm elections this November. Coincidence? Or does this deal emphasize how critical our relationship with Saudi Arabia actually is?
According to former CIA officer Robert Baer, best known for being the “inspiration” behind the motion picture “Syriana,” the U.S. built up Saudi Arabia’s oil industry in the 1930s and remains its biggest customer.
In exchange for Saudi Arabia keeping the supply of oil steady, the U.S. government agrees to provide the Kingdom’s rulers with complete protection from both internal and external threats.
The one caveat on this relationship has always been that whenever the U.S. defense industry is suffering and a key election is approaching, the Kingdom of Al-Saud pitches in to buy just enough weapons to ensure that workers in key electoral areas like Washington and California are not laid off.
The Clinton administration did the same thing in 1992 when Saudi Arabia agreed to buy 72 F-15’s for 9 Billion dollars just in time for the mid-term elections.
This time around, the Saudi’s want to buy as many as 84 new Boeing F-15 fighter jets, upgrade 70 more and acquire three different types of attack helicopters.
Obviously, these deals favor the U.S. — especially during an economic downturn. The Chicago-based Boeing has won the contract to provide the arms and aircrafts. But what do the citizens of Saudi Arabia think?
Saudi Arabia’s state media has largely remained silent about the arms deal or stressed how the kingdom’s military strength will benefit. But many people around the country have openly voiced their opposition to the secrecy surrounding the agreement and its staggering price tag.
Saudi’s have questioned the logic of buying “outdated” F-15 jets, a generation behind the more advanced F-35 that Israel will receive. They also lament the huge creation of jobs in the U.S. at a time when Saudi Arabia struggles with unemployment.
According to Saudi media professor Saud Kateb, opponents of the deal say the government should spend the money on schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.
“We could have built a whole new country, a Singapore instead” said Mr. Kateb. “We are not anti-America, but many people feel that it is a gesture to please the new friendly U.S. administration at the expense of our own interests,” concluded Mr. Kateb.
The weapons will not alter Saudi Arabia’s political calculus in any way. They will continue to be the same human rights abuser they always have been. The government believes in extreme capital punishment and repressing religious and women’s rights. The country adheres to and is governed by an extreme, Wahhabist interpretation of Sunni Islam.
Although the deal highlights the complex and sensitive relationship the U.S. shares with the worlds biggest oil exporter, in the end, the deal is a political and economical boon for President Obama.
If the Kingdom is going to spend their oil money on materialistic objects, whatever they may be, it might as well be U.S. companies providing the material treasures that the Saudi’s long for.
Hanif Zarrabi is a History graduate student and a columnist for the Daily 49er.
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