When all other sources of economic growth appear tapped out, there is always the military-industrial complex coming to the rescue of US GDP with the sale of arms and equipment to the world’s biggest purchaser of weapons: Saudi Arabia. Because when one looks beyond the pageantry, pomp and circumstance of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the main purpose behind the president’s visit is precisely that: selling weapons, some $350 billion over the next decade, according to estimates.
To be sure, Trump arrival in Saudi Arabia on Saturday was quite a spectacle, with the Saudi king throwing the president’s family arrival at the Royal Diwan a “welcome fit for a king.”
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WATCH: President Trump, the First Lady and Ivanka arrive at Royal Diwan alongside prancing horses and flag-bearers https://t.co/93yD8pG7AT
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 20, 2017
However, it is what was announced on Saturday that is the highlight of the various meetings between the Trump delegation and his Saudi hosts, who have promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. as well and make other decisions aimed at pleasing Trump.
According to a statement just issued by the White House, Trump “has just completed largest single arms deal in US history, negotiating a package totaling more than $109.7 billion” which will boost Saudi Arabia’s defense capabilities, bolstering equipment and services in the face of extreme terrorist groups and Iran. The White House added that the deal will create defense jobs while also reaffirming America’s commitment to Saudi Arabia.
In Saudi Arabia @POTUS has just completed largest single arms deal in US history, negotiating a package totaling more than $109.7 billion
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) May 20, 2017
“This package of defense equipment and services support the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of Iranian threats, while also bolstering the Kingdom’s ability to contribute to counter terrorism operations across the region,” the White House said in a statement on Saturday, as quoted by CNBC News.
US President Donald Trump, along with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who is accompanying him on the trip, will attend the signing of a memorandum of intent on the package, Reuters reports, citing a White House official.
“This package demonstrates, in the clearest terms possible, the United States’ commitment to our partnership with Saudi Arabia and our Gulf partners, while also expanding opportunities for American companies in the region,” the statement reads, according to Reuters.
The deal will provide Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest importer of weapons (for the breakdown of the world’s weapons trade, see “Visualizing The Global Weapons Trade“), with top-tier equipment and services including missiles, bombs, armored personnel carriers, Littoral Combat Ships, THAAD missile defense systems, and munitions.
According to estimates cited by The Indepdent, including restocking and future commitments over the next ten years, the deal could balloons to $350 billion worth of arms, over a third of a trillion dollars.
Gary Cohn, Trump’s chief economic advisor, said Saudi Arabia is “going to hire US companies” as a result of the defense deal. The goal of the deal is “to invest a lot of money in the U.S. and have a lot of U.S. companies invest and build things over here,” Cohn said, according to a White House press pool report.
The vast funds which will boost the US defense sector will be spent to “address Saudi Arabia’s defense needs while scaling back U.S. military involvement in specific operations” the Hill reported.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began negotiations on this deal shortly after the 2016 US election when he sent a delegation to Trump Tower to meet with the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is serving as a senior advisor of sorts to Mr Trump.
The deal will be what the Washington Post said is a “cornerstone” of the proposal encouraging the Gulf states to form its own alliance like the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) military alliance, dubbed “Arab Nato.”
It’s not just weapons, however.
According to Bloomberg, Saudi Aramco will sign initial accords and joint-venture agreements valued at about $50 billion with companies including General Electric Co., Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Co., Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser told reporters in Riyadh. These companies are “trying to expand their footprint in the kingdom by expanding trade between the two sides,” he said.
“Many of us sitting on the table are overseeing substantial investments in the United States,” Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. “Sabic has a big platform with the acquisition of GE Plastics which they continue to build on.” Other deals will be announced today, he said.
Saudi Aramco also plans to sign accords with Baker Hughes Inc., KBR Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Nabors Industries Ltd., Weatherford International Plc, McDermott International Inc. and Rowan Companies Plc, two people familiar with the matter said earlier this week.
And so, with industrial and manufacturing spending in the US having declined over the past two years following the collapse in commodity prices, mothballing much of US capital spending, US GDP is about to get a fresh boost courtesy of what has become the world’s most prolific arms dealer.
With that, both the neo-cons in D.C., as well as the all-powerful American Military-Industrial complex can declare a truly unprecedented victory.
The world is a vampire…
Forgive me for pointing this out, but isn’t that the nation that produced 15/19ths of the alleged 9/11 hijackers? There isn’t a word to describe that level of ignorance.
1/3 of a trillion dollars in armaments sold to a nation that is the source of that kind of hostility is the definition of nation wrecking. Period.
There can be no justification, no excuse, no plausible explanation beyond the glaringly obvious.
I think we all realize that “ignorance” isn’t the real problem here. “Traitor” and “murderer” are the terms most closely associated with this event.
Which is what every president before Trump in the last 150 years have done.
Maybe one explanation if you’re grasping. It makes more sense to just sell the weapons to the Saudis for hundreds of billions than to continue to do all of their bombing and culling of Saudi enemies at the taxpayers expense ( think Yemen, Libya, Syria and maybe even Iran eventually).
Still not sure which is worse–arming the evil enemies of freedom or doing their killing and warring for them……..
And they’re Grrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeed!
I hope the Saudis behead a few hundred people to celebrate.
Meanwhile in Iran, Rouhani wins re-election in a landslide. In response, the US Senate is scheduled to move new Iran sanctions next week….so much for promoting democracy.
Another day in the life of Israel’s personal bitch.
Yeah, Iran is the shining beacon of Democracy in today’s world.
And you’re on their side.
Iran’s elections are at least as competitive as ours and are certainly less corrupt. At least their deep state is out in the open for everyone to see. Face it, pal when it comes to democratic institutions, the US is no example to anybody except maybe N. Korea..at least on the national level.
BS–their “elections” are a farce–the president is not even the ruler of the country. The elections have even less value than the US elections do.
Well of course. Any idiot can plainly see that Trump runs the country and that Rouhani is just a figurehead…
A question. Answer honestly. Is there less of a difference between Rouhani and Ahmedinejad than there was between Obama and Bush? Explain your answer.
No difference between either or their predecessor–but that was my point. The election is a farce, Iran’s president is not the ruler OR leader ( more of a figurehead for western society’s sake it seems.)
Okay, you’re a dumbfuck. You’re not alone. Murica.
An
As compared to who? Surely you don’t mean us.
Troll Alert
Just to remind you, Iran hasn’t started a war in the last 500 years. They’ve defended themselves in war, such as the Iraq-Iran war, but they haven’t started one.
Unbelievable. We provide the country primarily responsible for the largest terrorist attack on our soil with the largest arms deal in the history of our country. Meanwhile, just for funsies, we tear up the countries that had nothing to do with the attack. But, no worries, money is flowing to the right people and the sheep are still asleep.
I can’t stand it! SA was a peripheral $$$ player in the
9/11 debacle…not a prime mover.
We share that reserve currency for protection contract
with SA. So what? Those bastards! NO…unless we want
chaos tomorrow, it is required we play the game a while
longer. The underpinnings of FUSA are rotted and near
collapse…we can “buy” the time to shore those up a bit…
so we are stronger for the coming shocks.
Or I could be all wrong and all any and every gov wants is
to make money killing others. See what them entanglements
get you? Talkin’ a little “up north” a bit there.
The Saudis damn sure seemed to know about 9-11 before it happened. If you’d had a kid killed in the World Trade Center you might think otherwise. If the Iranians are the greater threat to World Peace than the Arabs, it’s only because the latter are so backward. This still looks like the Great Game: replace Assad with a Sunni government so that oil and gas pipelines can run across Syria and Turkey to Europe, weakening Russia’s economy for a possible invasion or first strike against Russia by the US.
That’s what I don’t understand. Why do support Sunni Islamic countries, who are the worst of the worst, yet we want to kill all the Shia, who aren’t doing anything to anyone, regardless of what the U.S gov. says. A religious war within a religion.
What is even more “unbelievable” is that for the past 8 years we have been killing or dis-empowering the Saudi’s enemies for free! ( Think Gadaffi, Assad’s Syria,, Mumbarak’s Egypt, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi etc)
saudis will bomb the shit out of yemen. yemenis will torch some more dozens of brand new M1A2 Abrams with rusty russian ATGMs from the seventies, will shot down more mercenaries from morocco and colombia. then the saudis will resume targeting schools, wedding parties, and kindergartens with their cruise missiles. yemenis will flaten a base or two in KSA with their scuds, and sink a frigate with an inflatable boat driven by a kamikaze in flip-flops.
that’s life
Disgusting. I wonder what ever became of Bannon? Mr. Anti-establishment is at a point where he walks, acknowledging that he hitched his wagon to a rat or admits, tacitly at least, that he’s a lying POS like that OBummer named bullshitter (and who would know better) he works for.
But, fear not Trumpsters, Scott Adams is going to explain how Joe Lieberman at the FBI will further prove the Orange Sell-out is playing upside down Parcheesi while the rest of us dolts believe our lyin eyes.
Lieberman/FBI?
That has to be a game move…that can’t happen.
Really? Can’t happen?
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/18/politics/joe-lieberman-fbi-front-runner/
And Lieberman the third amigo of McCain/Graham, the biggest anti-Trump warmongers in the U.S, maybe the world. It’s got to be a no-way like Romney was. Trump can’t be serious, or he’s an idiot, and I don’t think he’s an idiot.
“What’s good for M&M enterprises is good for America”.
…….Milo Minderbinder, Catch 22
So no one seems to be saying who they would prefer to have the Saudi’s ally themselves with and purchase their arms from.
Using dollars we sent to them in the first place for their oil and that need to be exchanged for American goods to make good on them and bring them home where they will circulate in our economy instead of someone else’s.
By that logic, we should arm Iran.
You think they’re not already a nuclear power? The Ukraine and Iran are both routes for oil and gas pipelines into Europe, in geopolitical terms. Russia wants to sell gas, the Saudis want to sell oil, and Israel is intent on controlling it all, Europe and the pipelines, ala Soros and the Ashkenazim Rothschilds.
Trump won’t play from the script, neither did Kennedy or Carter, neither of whom has the ego of Trump. This should get interesting as the game board may actually advance against the one world order globalists.
I (formerly Nonanon) agree with Anon, who would you rather see the Sauds ally? Surely, they hate Israel, the real terrorist in the ME, who are using the war in Syria as a pretext for mass muslim migration into Europe, which is the means by which Europe is under attack. Jews and Muslims alike deny Jesus is the Christ. Who cares if they blow themselves up? Nations must defend their sovereignty and borders. After Europe falls, the US will be the last bastion of freedom, liberty, and western civilization. Trump is the antidote to the globalists ambitions.
All hail the Emperor!
Iran is already with Russia.
Unfortunately, if Saudi Arabia wasn’t allied with the US, they would most likely be allied with China. If that happened, the petrodollar would end, and the petroyuan would be king. That would effectively, end the American Empire and start the China empire.
So what would you do?
I’m thinking they could very easily ally with Russia too.
The result for America would be the same either way.
We should have moved away from the petrodollar and BIS system (reserve currency status) being the basis for the value of our dollar decades ago, but since we didn’t we’re in quite a pickle now and I’m not seeing any quick or easy way out of it.
While in theory Russia could ally with Saudi Arabia, Russia is more of a competitor. China, on the other hand, would buy enormous amounts of oil from the Saudis.
General-
“While in theory Russia could ally with Saudi Arabia, Russia is more of a competitor. China, on the other hand, would buy enormous amounts of oil from the Saudis.”
And what would happen to Europe?
To oil prices worldwide?
Anonymous, hear, hear!
The Chinese Empire started thousands of years ago.
Although this is the latest, and presumably the largest arms deal with them, this shit has been going on for a looooooong time.
A few years after 9/11, I was at the large, beautiful Riyadh airport, returning from a stint working at an Aramco refinery. (BTW, the royals have their own segregated, super-luxury terminal, thereby never having to mingle with the plebes. This would be where Trump arrived.)
Going through their strict security, I noticed some young, super-fit looking Americans nearby, and noticed they were on diplomatic passports. As a former Army vet, I was thinking special forces, or possibly 3-letter intelligence personnel.
Later, when we were at the same gate, U.S. bound, I was sitting near them, overhearing some of their conversations, and struck up a conversation with them. There were 6 or 8 of them, and they were very friendly with a fellow yank.
They were military trainers, mostly Air Force pilots, there training the Saudis to fly the very latest equipment that we sell them. They seemed pretty open about discussing this, perhaps partly because I was a private pilot and showed admiration for their skill level.
I remember they definitely felt superior to the Arab pilots, and didn’t consider them a potential threat.
Anyway, like I said, been going on a long time.
Hey, somehow I missed Iran on that list. So, ‘splain to me again why Saudi needs all those weapons against the “Iranian Threat”.
They need it to defend against Israel, the single largest threat to peace in the world today. Why not arm both sides?
Why Is The Trump Administration Rewarding Saudi War Crimes With More Weapons?
Authored by Kristine Beckerle op-ed via The Hill,
Last October the Saudi Arabia-led coalition bombed a funeral hall in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing and wounding hundreds of people.
“The scene was catastrophic,” one survivor told me. “Beyond what I can explain to you or describe … There were burned bodies and dead bodies all over the hall.”
Soon after that unlawful bombing, the Obama administration suspended the sale of nearly $400 million in weapons to Saudi Arabia.
It was a recognition, a long time in coming, that the coalition’s military campaign in Yemen had devastated the country, killed thousands of civilians, and brought it to the brink of famine.
After the funeral bombing, unlawful airstrikes continued, but the decision to suspend arms sales sent an important message to the Saudis. President Donald Trump, in his first trip abroad as president, is going to send an alternative, deeply troublesome message.
While in Riyadh this weekend, Trump reportedly plans to announce more than $100 billion in arms deals to Saudi Arabia – nearly as much as Barack Obama authorized during his eight years in office.
The deals include Raytheon bombs, Lockheed Martin missile defense systems and BAE combat vehicles, and some of the weapons whose sales had been suspended.
The scars of unlawful airstrikes can be found across Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition has carried out scores of attacks that hit homes, schools, markets, and hospitals since March 2015, when it began its military campaign against the Houthi armed group and forces loyal to the former longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Human Rights Watch has documented 81 apparently unlawful coalition attacks over the last two years, many possible war crimes. In almost two dozen of these cases, including the attack on the funeral hall, we were able to identify the US weapons that were used.
According to the United Nations, at least 4,773 civilians have been killed and 8,272 wounded since this conflict began, the majority by coalition airstrikes. The war has driven Yemen, already the poorest nation in the Middle East, toward humanitarian catastrophe.
Both the coalition and Houthi-Saleh forces have blocked or restricted critical relief supplies from reaching civilians. Seven million people face starvation, and cholera ravages parts of the country.
Trump should be urging the Saudis to shift course by abiding by the laws of war and holding those responsible for past abuses to account. Instead he will effectively be telling them to continue as before and not to worry – the flow of US weapons will not stop.
Trump will also be putting Americans at risk. Continued U.S. arms sales to a country that has repeatedly violated the laws of war exposes US officials to legal liability for aiding and abetting coalition war crimes.
Some lawmakers in the U.S. are pushing back, introducing a bill intended to limit US arms transfers to Saudi Arabia. It would require the White House to certify that Saudi Arabia is taking all feasible precautions to minimize civilian casualties in Yemen, and stipulate that the White House must brief Congress on whether Saudi Arabia has used US weapons in previous unlawful attacks in Yemen. Other lawmakers have pledged to try to prevent future US arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: “If we condition too heavily that others must adopt [our] value[s]… it really creates obstacles to our ability to advance, our national security interests, our economic interests.” The Trump administration needs to recognize instead that protecting civilians in armed conflict is part and parcel of enhancing US national security.
The U.S. cannot quietly hope that the coalition will take the blame for past and future atrocities like the funeral hall bombing. Yemeni civilians suffering from unlawful airstrikes know the US supports the coalition and that U.S. weapons have been used against them. This is the national security problem the administration should be paying more attention to.
If the Trump administration won’t try to curtail war crimes by Saudi Arabia and the rest of the coalition, Congress should step in and make clear – by using its own power to stop weapons sales – that the lives of Yemeni civilian can no longer be disregarded.
I wish we would stay out of all of this. No arms sales, not troops, not equipment. Let each country dead with their own stuff, including the U.S.
I know, a pipe dream.
Jumpin’ Yemini! Yemini rebels are to blame for the atrocities. Besides, who really cares if a million chinese or a million arabs die? Did anyone care in Rowanda? Zimbabwe? Rhodesia? Or, South Africa?
Now we’re supposed to be the world’s police power? You can’t have it both ways!
Oh, I feel better now that I care. What hypocritical and utter BS!
A couple if days ago Der Spiegel declared Trump a danger to the world, Trumpeteers still think he is “winning”. I have never seen anything like this, what does it take for you to say that it is enough?
Anyone that opposes Islam is a danger to the world to the German leadership and leftist rulers.
America first…….?!?!?!?!
What do you expect from a man who gets his military information from the news channels. And now he’s in the intelligence bubble that is reflected in those news channels. No way out now, Trump. And no way out now for the U.S.
“His actions reflect those of a neo-con warmonger still believing the US can police the world and has no problem selling arms to the people who were behind the 9/11 attacks” – admin
((ISRAEL)) was responsible for 9/11.
((USA)) gives them arms free of charge aka “foreign aid funding” so they can “purchase” ((USA)) weapons.
((Who)) wrote the ((9/11 Commission Report))?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks to you and Suzanna for a little bit of common sense. It boggles my mind that people can reject the 9/11 report and blame the Saudis, but not see that there was a built-in fallback position designed to shield those truly responsible, Mossad and Zio-cons inside the US government and Deep State, starting with the vice president of the day. Why do you think the 28 pages were redacted, when they turned out to say so little? They were designed to point the finger at the Saudis.
Wake up guys. The Saudis have a long history of involvement with Mossad, and of playing bagman to both Mossad and the CIA. They have neither the initiative, the balls nor the competence to pull off something like 9/11. Any involvement of the Saudi state or intelligence was under the direction of others, see above.
Reminiscent of the Lavon Affair also known as Operation Susannah.
S Dog-
“They have neither the initiative, the balls nor the competence to pull off something like 9/11. Any involvement of the Saudi state or intelligence was under the direction of others, see above.”
Other than getting the attackers admitted to flight school and keeping the relatively small amounts of money flowing,how much skill and drive was needed to pull off 9/11?
S dog
Are you serious? Funding the murder of 3000 Americans does not excuse the Saudis. And just to remind you, Israel is funneling trillions out of the US each year and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who had the biggest hand in 9/11.
Are you really OK with Trump and this 350 billion arms deal?