To wage war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is using F-15 fighter jets bought fromBoeing. Pilots from the United Arab Emirates are flying Lockheed Martin’s F-16 to bomb both Yemen and Syria. Soon, the Emirates are expected to complete a deal with General Atomics for a fleet of Predator drones to run spying missions in their neighborhood.
.. Saudi Arabia spent more than $80 billion on weaponry last year — the most ever, and more than either France or Britain — and has become the world’s fourth-largest defense market, according to figures released last week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks global military spending. The Emirates spent nearly $23 billion last year, more than three times what they spent in 2006.
.. American intelligence agencies believe that the proxy wars in the Middle East could last for years, which will make countries in the region even more eager for the F-35 fighter jet, considered to be the jewel of America’s future arsenal of weapons.
.. “A good number of the American arms that have been used in Yemen by the Saudis have been used against civilian populations,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, an assertion that Saudi Arabia denies.
Conservatives Hate the Iran Deal Because They Hate All Deals
Ronald Reagan ran for president as a staunch opponent of the SALT treaty, but abided by its provisions anyway. He went on to sign the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty, to massive right-wing dismay. Conservatives believed he had been “beguiled by Gorbachev, to the detriment of American interests,” reported the New York Times. The right mobilized against the treaty, comparing Reagan’s diplomacy to [Neville Chamberlain]
.. Conservative opposition to Obama’s expected deal with Iran is based on a critique of Obama’s peculiar failings. He is naive in the face of evil, desperate for agreement, more willing to help his enemies than his friends. The problem is that conservatives have made this same diagnosis of every American president for 70 years. They do not merely oppose this deal, they oppose all of them, because they believe evil regimes cannot be negotiated with. Their analysis of the Iran negotiations is not an analysis at all, but an impulse.
On Iran, the Least-Worst Option
If Iran adheres to the terms of the deal, as best as we understand those sketchy terms today, it will not have a nuclear weapon during the terms of the next one or two U.S. presidents. However, this deal, should it actually be ratified in June, formalizes Iran’s status as an eventual nuclear-threshold state by allowing it to maintain a vast nuclear infrastructure. This was not part of the international community’s original plan, and it is a cause for worry.
.. He and his team approached these negotiations assuming that Iran would lie, cheat, and steal, but he also holds out hope that a deal—and the economic benefits that flow from such a deal—will strengthen the hands of Iranian moderates. I tend to doubt this last part. I don’t believe that a bullying, terror-supporting, Assad-backing would-be regional hegemon whose ideology is built on anti-Americanism becomes more reasonable once it becomes richer and more empowered.
Iran’s Leaders Begin Tricky Task of Selling Nuclear Deal at Home
“What we really want to see from the Americans is an end to their support of countries like Saudi Arabia and Turkey who support extremist groups,” he said. “Make no mistake, the Middle East may soon explode, and we need a clear signal from the Americans to see where they stand.”
.. He added that many of Iran’s economic problems were caused by mismanagement and corruption, not by sanctions.