Dear Editor,
Middle East Newsline.
I appreciate your analysis. A number of militry delegations,
mostly from the ME, visiting Pakistan during the few weeks
may also be hinting in same direction as your news item suggests.
It is for the sale of weapons that the big powers are stoking fire
of wars, both international and within national frontiers. It is
already the time that smaller nations should see reason nad
solve their local problems locally, when there will be lesser
demand for weapons, the big powers will cease to be thata
big and the corporations producing weaponry shall not be
urging the political power towards more hegemony.
Tariq
> Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 14:10:06 -1000
> From: Jay Hanson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [CanadaEnergy] First Warnings from the Middle East...
>
> ABU DHABI [MENL] -- In the first such warning, Arab Gulf states are
> suggesting that U.S. support for Israel could hurt plans to purchase
> American weapons.
>
> Gulf defense sources said Saudi Arabia and several Gulf Cooperation
Council
> states are warning of significant repercussions should the United States
> continue its support of Israel in the war against the Palestinian
Authority.
> They said messages relayed to Washington by several of the six GCC states
> warned of decreasing cooperation in a range of fields, including defense
and
> military cooperation.
>
> "America has started to lose its allies in the Gulf region because of the
> Republican administration's bias towards Israel," Qatar's Al Sharq daily
> said on Tuesday prior to the attacks in New York and Washington. "The
> attitude of Gulf countries towards the political decision-makers in the
> White House shows that U.S. interests could suffer at several levels,
> notably on the political front, as well as financially and in the weapons
> and oil sector.
>
> Al Sharq did not elaborate. But it was the first specific threat against
> Washington that the current tension in the Middle East would affect U.S.
> arms sales to its Arab allies.
>
> GCC states have ordered a range of weapons from the United States. The
> United Arab Emirates has ordered 80 F-16s in a $6.4 billion deal. Saudi
> Arabia has ordered nearly $2 billion in air and missile systems.
>
> "Through its hostile positions towards the Arabs, Washington is pushing
the
> patience of its friends in the region to the limit," the UAE Akhbar Al
Arab
> said.
> Bahrain and Kuwait are also negotiating the purchase of air and ground
> systems from the United States.
>
> Qatar is not known to have ordered any major weapons systems from
> Washington.
> The GCC threats have already influenced the U.S.-Saudi defense
relationship.
> Last month, Saudi Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Saleh Ibn Ali Muhaya canceled
> defense cooperation talks with Pentagon officials in Washington. Muhaya,
who
> was already in the United States, was ordered to leave for Riyad.
>
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> Jay -- www.dieoff.org
> Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
