Oil states plan weapons buying binge

Oil states plan weapons buying binge

By Jim Krane, Associated Press Writer | February 16, 2007

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates --Deep fears about the war in Iraq and growing tension between the United States and Iran are driving the wealthy oil states of the Persian Gulf to go on shopping sprees for helicopters, ships and tanks, officials say.

Some 900 weapons makers and security firms from around the world, including the U.S. and Russia, will compete for those military buys at the IDEX military show that opens Sunday in Abu Dhabi. At stake are contracts predicted to soar past the $2 billion signed at the last such show two years ago.

"The shopping lists are directly correlated to the threat perception," said military analyst Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center. "For the past 15 years, these countries didn't invest a lot in rearming."

More... http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/02/16/gulf_states_plan_weapons_buying_binge/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

Thanks Bush! You're doing a heckofajob!!!:mad: :mad: :mad: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

Er, frankly, it's not that these countries didn't spend a good deal of MONEY re-arming, it's that the money tended to go towards polished naval ships and aircraft and so on, not the hard boots on the ground stuff. Sound familiar?

that if we invaded Iraq, we may end up taking the whole region down. And then we get NO MORE OIL from anyone over there!
We batter start learning to live a lot less large quickly.

There's everything you need to know about how bu$hler is going to protect us.

:freak:
dbt
Natalie was right. Get over it.

Seriously! If we used Marines, the invasion would last about 2 hours.

and is this before or after we get bogged down in iran.

"This is fantastic news. Can't wait to count up the PROFITS that me and my republicon cronies will be REAPING." - Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney

Helicopters, small craft and surface to surface missiles are a good buy at this time, but TANKS?

Bush/Cheney goal was NEVER to win a war in the Middle East, just start it. I am still amazed that people, even on DU, still assume that Bush/Cheney actually hoped to win a war in Afghanistan or win a war in Iraq or win a war in Iran. If one just looks at the facts, without any presumptions about motivation, events are playing out EXACTLY as intended by Bush/Cheney.

Bush/Cheney interest in Afghanistan lasted only so long as it took to secure a pipeline deal in that country. Immediately, attention turned to Iraq. Now that they are close to securing exclusive contracts to operate and control Iraqi oil fields, the next project is to secure control of Iranian oil fields. There is no interest in taking over Iran, just securing the oil fields. If a horrendous war breaks out and lasts for years, it won't matter to Big Oil. They got what they want.

A side benefit for the multinational corporations are that the oil-rich countries in the region are scared, and willing to spend the money we spend on gas to buy weapons from our military-industrial complex increasing their profits. Anyone who has a problem with this policy is un-American and unpatriotic.