[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) are hardly
a defensive weapon. They put the Saudis in the position that a mediocre
pilot who might not have either skill or the will to approach a target and
hit it can carry out a precision bombing against any fixed target.

Even if you think the current regime is fantastic, who will rule Saudi
Arabia in 5 years?

Hamas today has all kinds of weapons that Washington supplied to "moderate"
Abbas in the Gaza Strip.

It should also be kept in mind that previous promises not to deploy weapons
near Israel were not honored by the Saudis - for example F-15's in Tabuk.]
=========

U.S. Plans New Arms Sales to Gulf Allies
$20 Billion Deal Includes Weapons For Saudi Arabia

By Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 28, 2007; A01
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/27/AR2007072702454_pf.html

The Bush administration will announce next week a series of arms deals worth
at least $20 billion to Saudi Arabia and five other oil-rich Persian Gulf
states as well as new 10-year military aid packages to Israel and Egypt, a
move to shore up allies in the Middle East and counter Iran's rising
influence, U.S. officials said yesterday.

The arms deals, which include the sales of a variety of sophisticated
weaponry, would be the largest negotiated by this administration. The
military assistance agreements would provide $30 billion in new U.S. aid to
Israel and $13 billion to Egypt over 10 years, the officials said. Both
figures represent significant increases in military support.

U.S. officials said the arms sales to Saudi Arabia are expected to include
air-to-air missiles as well as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which turn
standard bombs into "smart" precision-guided bombs. Most, but not all, of
the arms sales to the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries -- Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman -- will be
defensive, the officials said.

U.S. officials said the common goal of the military aid packages and arms
sales is to strengthen pro-Western countries against Iran at a time when the
hard-line regime seeks to extend its power in the region.

"This is a big development, because it's part of a larger regional strategy
and the maintenance of a strong U.S. presence in the region. We're paying
attention to the needs of our allies and what everyone in the region
believes is a flexing of muscles by a more aggressive Iran. One way to deal
with that is to make our allies and friends strong," said a senior
administration official involved in the negotiations.

The arms deals have quietly been under discussion for months despite U.S.
disappointment over Saudi Arabia's failure to support the Iraqi government
and to bring that country's Sunni Muslims into the reconciliation process.

The administration's plans will be announced Monday in advance of trips next
week to the Middle East by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense
Secretary Robert M. Gates, and are expected to be on their agenda in Egypt
and Saudi Arabia. The administration has a notional list of arms to sell to
the Gulf states, but there are no final agreements on quantities and
specific models, U.S. officials said.

State Department and Pentagon officials started briefing key members of
Congress about their intentions over the past week, U.S. officials said. The
initial reception has been positive, said officials involved in those
briefings. They acknowledged, however, that some parts of the deal are
supported more than others. Arms sales to Gulf countries have often been
controversial.

The administration hopes to provide a full rundown this fall for
congressional approval.

"We want to convince Congress to continue our tradition of military sales to
all six" states, the senior administration official said. "We've been
helping Gulf Arabs for years, and that needs to continue."

Sunni regimes in the Gulf region have felt particularly vulnerable since the
election of a pro-Iranian Shiite government in neighboring Iraq last year.
"There's a sense here and in the region of the need to build up defenses
against Iranian encroachment," said a U.S. official familiar with the deals.

The aid packages to Israel and Egypt are further along. A U.S.-Israel
agreement, to replace a 10-year arrangement that expires this year, has been
under discussion since February, U.S. officials said. The new U.S. package
will include strictly military aid and would expand the U.S. contribution 25
percent over the current $2.4 billion per year; economic assistance has been
discontinued now that Israel is considered a developed economy, U.S.
officials said.

President Bush said last month, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, that he was strongly committed to a new 10-year agreement that
would increase U.S. assistance "to meet the new threats and challenges
[Israel] faces." Washington has long promised to help Israel sustain a
so-called "qualitative military edge" over other major powers in the region.

Rice is expected to announce Monday that, after her Middle East trip,
Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns will finalize the agreements with
Israel and Egypt.

Research editor Alice Crites contributed to this report.