J'accuse? Iran in East Africa, Arabs Counting Arms Commissions, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti…….
“While the Western navies depend on support and supply from the French base at Djibouti, some Arab countries and Ethiopia accuse Eritrea of providing Iran with a foothold......”
“The bulk of spending is to come from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. In 2008, for example, Saudi Arabia spent close to $36b. on defense platforms and it will likely spend the same amount over the coming five years…..Earlier this month, the Pentagon notified Congress of a possible military sale to the government of Saudi Arabia of Communication Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management upgrades at an estimated cost of $1.5b. The Saudis have also asked the US to buy Tactical Airborne Surveillance Systems at an estimated cost of $530 million. The UAE also recently asked the Pentagon for approval to purchase over 360 Hellfire missiles and accompanying hardware......”
So with US bases in every Gulf country, bar none, and French bases in UAE and Djibouti, and British bases.......what is the complaint about? Many countries are “accused of having” footholds in East Africa nowadays.And why not get in there and compete with the mullahs, just like in Lebanon?
And with all the Saudi, and other Arab, weapons purchases, where is the Saudi navy in the fight against piracy in its backyard? Their own ships were hijacked last year and they had to ransom them.
Surely these tens of billion, nay hundreds of billion of dollars, in weapons are not purchased solely so that potentates and their retainers can receive fat commissions (often called bribes in impolite coarse company, but never in polite genteel company like ours here on this website).
Okay, admittedly I am somewhat naïve; maybe they are.
Cheers and Ramadan Kareem
mhg
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