why would Saudi Arabia need 200+ new tanks?

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MG08Ak01.html


Berlin-Saudi tank deal 'cynical'


A decision by the German government to permit the export of up to 200 state-of-the-art armored tanks to Saudi Arabia, despite the Wahhabi monarchy's human-rights record and its recent violent intervention in Bahrain to repress the popular rebellion against the local ruling family there, illustrates the rhetorical nature of Western support to the so-called Arab democratic spring.

The German ruling coalition, formed by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), unofficially confirmed on July 6 that it has approved the export of 200 Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia, for an estimated value of 1.8 billion euros (US$2.6 billion).

Anonymous official sources, quoted by numerous German news outlets, said that the delivery of the Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia was supported by the governments of the United States and Israel.
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on and on it goes

war, war, war

the protest in Bahrain, the tanks will probably be needed for their own people.

Internal repression is a big job for them too.

the handwriting on the wall.

Saudi Arabia's #1 enemy is potential street protesters.

They've seen what has happened in Egypt, Libya, and Syria, and tyrants do not give up power easily.

THese are very good tanks, from what I heard near the equal of M1A2. BUt Saudis, on average, are lazy. And do not take direction well. (TOtally broad brush but talk to people who have worked and lived in the region.) These might be for mercenaries.

...about all the Arab armies. The only one with any sort of respectable showing in recent history is the Jordanians - and they too were ripped to pieces by the IDF. Still incompetents with good hardware are somewhat better than incompetents without hardware (Iraq being the exception where a tank division managed to get itself surrounded by foot infantry and lost all it's equipment intact to the Iranians).

Or are you suggesting Israel is planning an attack against the Saudis?

Jihadist Iran + instability in Shia Iraq + strategicly inmportant Saudi-Arabia (who, despite being unpleasant fundies themselves, are rich and currently not openly hostile) = A good deal for us.

Big graphic, otherwise I would have tried to post it.
You have to scroll just a teeny bit when the page comes up.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/bild-768368-225236.html

"The sale could also be seen as an effort to placate the Saudis, who were infuriated earlier this year when President Obama sided with the protesters in Egypt and helped to usher Hosni Mubarak from power and again when NATO began its air campaign against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/europe/07germany.html?scp=1&sq=germany%20tanks%20saudi%20arabia&st=cse

I figured that the Saudi royal family had to be upset when Mubarak didn't (or couldn't) use his military to put down protests, but had not see confirmation of that. Likewise the willingness of the Libyan government to use its military against protesters in order to retain power must have heartened the Saudis, since their royal family fully intends to do the same. They must have been furious when the UN intervened to short circuit that strategy.

While they may be worried about Iranian influence in Syria, they are undoubtedly taking notes about the tactics that the Syrian government is using as it employs its military power against civilians. The Saudis know (or, at the very least, fear) that their day will come and these German tanks will come in handy.

nt