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Page added on May 20, 2017
Trumps signs $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia
President Trump signed a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the initial day of his first foreign trip since taking office.
“That was a tremendous day. Tremendous investments in the United States,” Trump said. “Hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the United States and jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said.
The agreement commits Saudi Arabia to buying military equipment from the U.S. and to hiring American companies to build such equipment in Saudi Arabia, according to Gary Cohn, the president’s chief economic adviser. The deal includes tanks and helicopters for border security, ships for coastal security, intelligence-gathering aircraft, a missile-defense radar system and cybersecurity tools, according to the State Department.
In a joint press appearance on Saturday with the Saudi foreign minister, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised the pact as a “historic moment in U.S.-Saudi relations.” He also expressed an openness to talks with Iran.
“I’ve never shut off the phone to anyone that wants to talk or have a productive conversation,” he said. “At this point, I have no plans to call my counterpart in Iran, although in all likelihood we will talk at the right time.”
Tillerson said the pact sends a “very strong message to our common enemies” on trying to disrupt “violent extremist messaging” and “financing of terrorism.” He also said the deal “lowers the cost to the American people of providing security in this region.”
The Trump administration has been working to finalize the deal over the past several months. White House press secretary Sean Spicer called the deal “huge news for U.S. companies and American workers who will benefit” in a tweet on Saturday morning.
This is huge news for US companies and American workers who will benefit #jobs https://t.co/9RarqOwVAy
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) May 20, 2017
Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner personally called the president of Lockheed Martin, a major supplier of U.S. military equipment, in order to negotiate a lower price for the radar system, according to the New York Times.
“This package of defense equipment and services supports the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of malign Iranian influence and Iranian related threats. Additionally, it bolsters the Kingdom’s ability to provide for its own security and continue contributing to counterterrorism operations across the region, reducing the burden on U.S. military forces,” the State Department said in a statement.
A White House official added that in addition to demonstrating the U.S. commitment to Saudi Arabia “and our Gulf partners,” it also expands “opportunities for American companies in the region, and supporting tens of thousands of new jobs in the U.S. defense industrial base.”
Lockheed Martin President Marillyn Hewson praised the deal as one that will bolster the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and “strengthen the cause of peace in the region.”
“At Lockheed Martin, we are proud to be part of this historic announcement that will strengthen the relationship between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Hewson said in a statement. “We are especially proud of how our broad portfolio of advanced global security products and technologies will enhance national security in Saudi Arabia, strengthen the cause of peace in the region, and provide the foundation for job creation and economic prosperity in the U.S. and in the Kingdom.”
The arms deal includes military sales to Saudi Arabia of $110 billion immediately and $350 billion total over the next decade, according to a White House official. The two countries also agreed to a joint vision statement, private-sector agreements and defense cooperation agreements.
Trump’s first overseas trip since the election also includes planned stops at the Vatican and Israel.
The trip comes as controversy swirls in the U.S. around the investigation into potential collusion between Trump campaign associates and the Russian government, which could distract from the president’s diplomatic mission.
In response to a question about reports that a current White House official is caught up in the investigation, Tillerson said “I do not have any information or knowledge regarding the person of interest.”
18 Comments on "Trumps signs $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia"
onlooker on Sat, 20th May 2017 1:40 pm
tick-toc tick-toc–time is not on the side of the royalty of Riyadh
Anonymouse on Sat, 20th May 2017 2:42 pm
Well, at least trumpy is good to his word, making the MIC, I mean amerika great again. And look, Jewed Kushner even put in a good word to get the sauds a discount. Its all one, big happy swamp out there isnt it?
Of course, trump being the simple-minded buffoon that he is, calls this an ‘investment’. I thought savvy business-types like him were supposed to know difference between actual investments, and mal-investments?
Or maybe not.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/donald-trumps-13-biggest-business-failures-20160314
penury on Sat, 20th May 2017 2:52 pm
The business of the U.S. is war. as president Trump is merely supporting the business and making America grate again.
Apneaman on Sat, 20th May 2017 3:52 pm
Much ado
“Since 2010, the Obama administration authorized a record $60bn in US military sales to Saudi Arabia. Since then, the administration concluded deals for nearly $48bn in weapons sales – triple the $16bn in sales under the George W Bush administration.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/22/us-saudi-arabia-weapons-arms-deals-foreign-policy
Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton’s State Department
http://www.ibtimes.com/clinton-foundation-donors-got-weapons-deals-hillary-clintons-state-department-1934187
U.S. Arms Clients Profiles–SAUDI ARABIA
“Arms Sales Tables
Total Licenses/Agreements 1990-2000
Total Deliveries 1990-2000
Congressional Notifications Table
Country Profile
Saudi Arabia is America�s top customer. Since 1990, the U.S. government, through the Pentagon�s arms export program, has arranged for the delivery of more than $39.6 billion in foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia, and an additional $394 million worth of arms were delivered to the Saudi regime through the State Department�s direct commercial sales program during that same period. (Foreign Military and Construction Sales and Direct Commercial Sales are recorded and published by the Dept. of Defense in Foreign Military Sales, Foreign Military Construction Sales and Military Assistance Facts; the most current online edition includes information through FY 1999.)
Oil rich Saudi Arabia is a cash-paying customer. It receives no U.S. military assistance to finance these purchases, although it does demand that about 35 percent of all major contracts be “offset”-that is, economic benefits equaling 35 percent of the arms contract value must be steered back to the Saudi economy. (Check out the Offsets Monitoring Project for more information on this phenomenon.)
The United States has very close and long-running military ties to the Saudi regime dating back to 1945.”
https://fas.org/asmp/profiles/saudi_arabia.htm
It’s what empires do. All these politicians are members of The Big Club or trying to get in. You are not. You are a tool and slave to be used as long as you are useful then scraped off their shoe like dog shit when you no longer are. None of these people care about you and yours. You don’t count. Any legislation that benefits you is merely coincidental – it happens to line up with the overlords interests. Continuing to vote and cave in to patriotism (manipulation of ancient tribal emotions) is to participate in ones own slavery. The Americans especially should take a look at their own history of (some) their ancestors painfully coming to the conclusion that the big club members of that era did not give a fuck about them either. The current crop of elites will continue to wear y’all down, suck you dry like a disposable battery until there is nothing left. THEY DO NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU. Note the MSM and most alt media. Most of the coverage is about the elite power struggles currently under way. Other than some fleeting emotional victory when you tribal leader gets elected, what’s in it for you? Pry tell what great and beneficial changes every came your way after an election of a new Big Club Manager? Don’t matter who wins, the system it self runs the show and the system attracts the scummiest people to be the managers. No decent person could survive in DC or Ottawa or London. Manipulating the sheep’s emotions and playing them off against each other has been happening since time immemorial and the record shows that it increases and becomes violent in societies end stage. The Big Club members will sit back while their spin doctors stoke the sheep’s emotional fires, rake in the profits [many tax dollars] while the sheep get loud and violent out in the streets, yet nothing changes except to get worse. The root cause, the corrupt and antiquated system itself, is never addressed. It’s all “Trump said this” and “liberals did that” while none of the root causes are addressed except to deride them as hoaxes and conspiracies. The very best you could hope for is to collapse with as little violence and suffering as possible and that would take a war time effort of cooperation and sacrifice from most everyone. Instead, the exact opposite is happening and that guarantees chaos disaster. The very worst sorts of people have control and the sheeple spend their days online arguing with each other over who is the worst among the worst. Reminds me of kindergarten – “my dad’s better than your dad.” na na na…………
newfie on Sat, 20th May 2017 6:14 pm
Buy their oil and get the money back by selling them weapons.
bug on Sat, 20th May 2017 7:14 pm
“It’s what empires do….”
Great post Apnea,
Sad part is so few see it, even when it is so obvious and spelled out.
Apneaman on Sat, 20th May 2017 8:29 pm
Thanks bug. It’s a little late for a wake call anyway – at least in the big picture. The Overshoot loop is picking up speed and nothing can be done to stop it. Like I was saying earlier the best any nation could do is manage the pain, but the empire and many of it’s citizens seem hell bent on on clinging to their ideology regardless of the consequences and the fact that it is only working for 20% at most. Beliefs die hard and so do those who fight and defend them. No better example than the Muslims of a group clinging to beliefs that do not work. Many historians date the end of the Islamic empire to 1258 and I more or less agree – with exceptions. So a 500 year, so called golden age, followed by 850 years of ongoing retard religious rule. Parts of the US look primed for some christian fascist regime. These splinter groups always pop up when things get bad. Just new monkey tribes vying for power and a bigger slice. They are blow back of elites behaving badly.
The first science based doomer I came across on the inter-tubes many year back, was Jay Hanson. I had a shit load of pieces of the puzzle floating around in my head and upon reading him many of them connected.
Take a look at Hanson’s Overshoot loop and compare it to what is going on right now in many countries.
OVERSHOOT LOOP:
Evolution Under The Maximum Power Principle
“Individual organisms cooperate to form social groups and generate more power. Differential power generation and accumulation result in a hierarchical group structure.
“Politics” is power used by social organisms to control others. Not only are human groups never alone, they cannot control their neighbors’ behavior.”
“Eventually, members of the weakest group (high or low rank) are forced to “disperse.”[6] Those members of the weak group who do not disperse are killed,[7] enslaved, or in modern times imprisoned.”
Here is a synopsis of the behavioral loop described above:
Step 1. Individuals and groups evolved a bias to maximize fitness by maximizing power, which requires over-reproduction and/or over-consumption of natural resources (overshoot), whenever systemic constraints allow it. Differential power generation and accumulation result in a hierarchical group structure.
Step 2. Energy is always limited, and overshoot eventually leads to decreasing power available to some members of the group, with lower-ranking members suffering first.
Step 3. Diminishing power availability creates divisive subgroups within the original group. Low-rank members will form subgroups and coalitions to demand a greater share of power from higher-ranking individuals, who will resist by forming their own coalitions to maintain power.
Step 4. Violent social strife eventually occurs among subgroups who demand a greater share of the remaining power.
Step 5. The weakest subgroups (high or low rank) are either forced to disperse to a new territory, are killed, enslaved, or imprisoned.
Step 6. Go back to step 1.
The above loop was repeated countless thousands of times during the millions of years that we were evolving[9]. This behavior is inherent in the architecture of our minds — is entrained in our biological material — and will be repeated until we go extinct. Carrying capacity will decline[10] with each future iteration of the overshoot loop, and this will cause human numbers to decline until they reach levels not seen since the Pleistocene.
http://www.dieoff.org/
Here we go Loop De Loop kids.
Cloggie on Sun, 21st May 2017 6:03 am
Finally a field where the US has a mighty trade surplus. Trump just increased the military strength of the Turkey-KSA axis bigly. Erdogan loves it. The women and children of Yemen probably not so much.
http://www.atimes.com/article/saudi-arabia-and-turkey-casting-new-strategic-partnership/
Turkey that’s the army, KSA the financier of the coming neo-Ottoman empire, ranging from Istanbul until the Indian Ocean.
This is what motivates Erdogan:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a5/e2/8c/a5e28cf7c1eb539d5ba297bbdbcc9015.jpg
https://twitter.com/marklowen/status/777776233564237825
Poor Israel.
Cloggie on Sun, 21st May 2017 8:37 am
Trump in the Land of 1001 Nights:
Uneasy Trump (and Tillerson) dancing the Sable Dance.
http://www.spiegel.de/video/donald-trump-beim-saebeltanz-im-saudischen-koenigshaus-video-1768231.html
Israel demands explanation from Trump about the gigantic arms deal with the Saudis. I expect an answer from Trump along the line of “I do not need your money”.
Trump will give a speech about Islam later. Will evolve around the favorite US topic, namely the “Battle between Good and Evil”, with the vagelue described “terrarists” the bad guys and predictably the US being a member of the Axis of Goodness, which is a comforting thought for all non-Americans on this planet.
Iran has given Trump a friendly advise, namely to bring up the subject of 9/11 with his Saudi hosts and how to prevent that Saudi’s will carry out such an attack in the future ever again. It is unlikely that Trump will follow this advice, as the ink of his gigantic arms contract is still not dry.
Trump will propose that the flow of money towards the terrarists should dry up, which should be a piece of cake, since most support for the jihadists comes from US and Gulf States source. That’s settled then.
The Germans leftist Der Spiegel is surprised that although Trump is already 26 hours in Riyad “nothing insane” has happened yet. Der Spiegel can’t hide its glee though that Trump apparently did bow for the King after he had received the highest Saudi reward. When Obama had done the same in the past, Trump had criticized Obama for this behavior. Trump isn’t very consistent, although he prefers to describe his behavior as “spontaneous and unpredictable”, which sounds much better.
While in Riyadh, Trump has accepted an invitation to visit Egypt. The Muslim ban seems to have been forgotten on all sides. Trump will also meet the good Emir of Qatar. Although no deals to the tune of 330 billion will be in the pipeline, it could still be a 2 digit figure.
Tillerson held a speech about “human rights” and told the audience that violations of these rights should stop immediately. He was talking about Iran btw, not KSA. Tillerson called Iranians influence “evil” and the Saudi audience applauded.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/newsblog-donald-trump-auf-reisen-a-1148420.html
Sissyfuss on Sun, 21st May 2017 10:43 am
It seems that the world according to Trump runs on weapons and oil. At least the human cancer portion. We will continue to ignore the health of the environment for as long as possible or 5 years, whichever comes first.
CIA-MOLE on Mon, 22nd May 2017 7:51 am
It seems to me the business of men is providing security. This is true on the personal level and has to be likewise on larger state scale. Men create the need for their existence by fostering conflict.
Evolved men go after money so they can procure sex.
Simpler men create conflicts for women to solve. This means women offer sex to suppress conflicts.
I’ve personally observed this behavior and the men ended up having sex with all the women.
These men also project their aggression on me and became extremely fearful of my handgun.
matthew on Mon, 22nd May 2017 10:23 am
I don’t understand where Saudis will find the money to pay for this. Even without this 100BN dollar deal, KSA is in the projection to go bankrupt in 5 years so where is the money coming from?
bobinget on Mon, 22nd May 2017 10:59 am
Just in:
General Flynn “standing strong” with Trump.
(as requested)
Flynn takes 5th.
NOT cooperating with Senate investigation ‘request’ for papers connected with Russian ties,
denied.
Trump thinks he can ‘beat’ treason charges by
stonewalling, delaying certainly.
Follow the money.
bobinget on Mon, 22nd May 2017 11:37 am
Mathew,
Saudi Arabia has almost a trillion dollars in US equities, bonds, banks, real estate. KSA owns one of the world’s largest refineries here in USA, for instance. If you doubt this, look it up.
The US ‘lends’ KSA funds with government loans to banks who issue letter’s of credit to weapons makers.
More to the point, KSA and the US are tied inextricably to war crimes charges in Yemen.
Two million children are starving to death in Yemen. Hundreds, soon thousands are infected;
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39996900
By any other name, its genocide. (International aid slowed to trickle)
To be clear, this this time we can’t blame Trump.
US/KSA war on the barefoot began two years ago.
Most of the weapons ordered will replace aircraft and ordnance that has simply been used-up.
Israeli aircraft, pilots have been pressed into service too with similar results. (look up hourly cost of flying F-16’s (for example)
“We” can’t afford to have it widely known, two of the richest nations in the world perpetrating genocide on the poorest.
Think of the optics! All the while, we are claiming
Iran is supporting Yemeni ‘terrorists’. So, the war widens from proxy to hardball.
If Yemeni were whiter, optics would be far worse using these people as ‘proxy throw-aways’.
Davy on Mon, 22nd May 2017 11:38 am
Bob, I have been quiet about politics lately because frankly it is getting stale and absurd. I guess that is why you are an obsessive Cheetos swinger and keep throwing out regular comments to further your agenda. The more absurd the better. You know it adds to the Hollywood flair to the storyline. This is making the US look really ridiculous in the eyes of the rest of the world as if that we did not look ridiculous enough. This stereotypical political agenda combined with mainstream media collusion is sickening. This obviously warped pandering turns me off to the liberal wing. I would like to see them get back to core issues and get off the witch hunt. You know traditional social justice and environmental protection. Liberals today are fake green and not in my back yard social warriors IOW all show.
What I am curious about is all those many cases of immunity granted to Hillary and her entourage and now they refuse to do the same with Flynn. Are you unable to see this example of twisted justice? I know in your eyes this is different because this is Trump and the ends justify the means with someone so horrible. Trump has been weekend and reduced as a force. Now is the time to get effective not wallow in the ridiculous and the absurd? You all have too many skeletons in the closet to act morally high and mighty.
“Seth Rich Plot Thickens: “DC Insider” Speaks Of “Complete Panic” At Highest Levels Of DNC”
http://tinyurl.com/kd8xwca
“Talking Of ‘Obstruction Of Justice’…”
http://tinyurl.com/kv9xbrt
Davy on Mon, 22nd May 2017 11:52 am
“All the while, we are claiming Iran is supporting Yemeni ‘terrorists’. So, the war widens from proxy to hardball.”
What is it Bob, since Iran is supporting some of the Yemenis and clearly fomenting this conflict that is OK? I am in no way supporting KSA in this fight but where does your warped logic go with this next. How is anyone considered above the murder if they have skin in the game and Iran clearly does have skin in this game.
“If Yemeni were whiter, optics would be far worse using these people as ‘proxy throw-aways’.”
Bob, you do realize Saudis and Yemenis are related right? Oh, maybe you think KSA is white and Yemenis are black. Who knows these days with you because a few weeks ago you called Yemenis black Muslims? You realize some Yemenis are Sunni and some Shia right or do you know the difference?
DerHundistlos on Mon, 22nd May 2017 1:21 pm
Davy-
Why should Trump be immune from criticism? When the roles are reversed, the same rules you are requesting don’t apply.
Did you not read Bob’s statement, “To be clear, this time we can’t blame Trump.”? Appears to me Bob is trying hard to be fair.
Davy on Mon, 22nd May 2017 1:38 pm
He shouldn’t be. Where did you read that into my comment?