Saudi to spend $60 Billion on oppressing their own people

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration plans to include attack helicopters in an expanded arms package for Saudi Arabia, swelling the size of the proposed deal to as much as $60 billion over 10 years, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The deal would be the largest overseas U.S. arms sale, the officials said, though the size could change as the package is finalized, one official said.

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Reuters

A proposed U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia would include about 70 UH-60 Black Hawk attack helicopters, shown in Iraq in November 2009. The deal would also include up to 60 Longbow Apache attack helicopters.

Negotiated largely in secret because of the sensitivities in the region, the sale is part of a strategy spearheaded by the George W. Bush administration and expanded by President Barack Obama to beef up the militaries of Arab allies as a counterweight to Iran. Saudi Arabia, home to the birthplace of Islam, claims leadership of the Sunni world, making it a rival of Iran, which is predominantly Shia.

The size and scope of the Saudi deal has stoked concerns in Israel that Washington risks undercutting Jerusalem's military edge. Officials said some weapons systems strongly opposed by the Jewish states won't be included in the package, assuaging some of the Jewish state's concerns.

Israel considers Iran its archenemy but also views Saudi Arabia as a potential future threat to the Jewish state. Israeli and Saudi embassy officials in Washington had no immediate comment on the proposed helicopter sales.

New details about the deal include plans to sell the Saudis about 70 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and up to 60 Longbow Apache attack helicopters together worth about $30 billion. That comes on top of a previously disclosed $30 billion tranche that includes 84 Boeing Co. F-15s and upgrades to older fighters in the Saudis fleet.

Officials said the Saudi F-15s wouldn't be equipped with so-called standoff systems, advanced long-range weapons that can be attached to the fighter for use in offensive operations against land- and sea-based targets. Giving standoff systems to the Saudis would have crossed Israel's red line, an official in the region said. [it is getting harder and harder to believe that the US controls Israel and not the other way around.]