DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./ISRAEL/SAUDI ARABIA: WE SHOULD ONLY ARM OUR REAL FRIENDS, NOT 'FRIENDS' IN NAME ONLY - LIKE THE SAUDIS

US to up aid to friendly ME countries
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER

Working out arms agreements with Gulf states to counter the threat from Iran will be a key agenda item for the trip two top US cabinet members will make to the Middle East this week, according to administration officials.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia together as part of a regional tour that will include a separate stop by Rice in Israel and the West Bank. In Sharm e-Sheikh, they will meet with their counterparts, including foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The US wants to strengthen these countries' sense of security and underscore American commitment to the region during the trip, which will also focus largely on Iraq, a senior defense department official told reporters Friday.

"These are big goals, big challenges, and we're taking a comprehensive look that isn't about next year, or next week for that matter, but it's about the next decade," the official said.

Specifically, the official referred to ongoing discussions with the Saudis over a large-scale weapons deal: "We've been working very hard on the Saudi arms package, which we believe is critical to the overarching architecture that we believe we are going to need... to deal with the changing strategic threat from Iran and other forces."

Without divulging details of the contemplated deal, the official noted that conversations were underway with Congress about the proposal.

It has also been reported that the US is looking at a multibillion package for the Saudis to include air and missile defense systems and aircraft with special early detection radar. Israel has expressed displeasure over the move, though there have been US-Israel talks to smooth over the situation and find ways for Israel to keeps its qualitative military edge.

US President George W. Bush will also ask Congress to increase foreign aid to Israel and Egypt, locking in US commitments in the Middle East for the next 10 years. If his request is approved, the total for Israel would rise from $2.4 billion to about $3b. a year, and Egypt would continue to receive $1.3b. a year.

A senior state department official, also briefing reporters, stressed the context of bolstering the Gulf state's capabilities in light of the regional threats that exist, particularly from Teheran.

"We all have shared concerns about Iran's ambitions and conduct," he said.

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US ups Israeli defence aid to $30bn

PRIME Minister Ehud Olmert has announced a new $30 billion ($35.2 billion) US defence package to preserve Israel's regional military superiority, as Washington readied an Arab arms deal to counter Iran.

The sizeable hike to annual US defence and military aid to its closest Middle East ally was unveiled by the beleaguered Mr Olmert amid reports of a hefty US arms deal with Saudi Arabia, although Israeli politicians dismissed concerns of a new regional arms race.

"In my last meeting with the president of the United States, we agreed that the aid would stand at $30 billion ($35.2 billion) over the next 10 years, meaning over three billion dollars ($3.5 billion) a year, starting next year,'' Mr Olmert said.

"This is an increase of over 25 per cent in the military and defence aid of the United States to Israel,'' he said, describing the package as a considerable improvement and very important element for national security.

"Other than the increase in aid, we received an explicit and detailed commitment to guarantee Israel's qualitative advantage over other Arab states,'' said Mr Olmert, whose approval ratings have sunk to single digits amid continuing anger at his government's handling of last summer's Lebanon war.

Current US defence aid to Israel stands at $2.4 billion ($2.8 billion) a year.

The two countries are increasingly alarmed by Iran's nuclear ambitions - which have already incurred international economic sanctions.

Mr Olmert last met Mr Bush at the White House on June 19, when a senior Israeli government source said the new aid scheme was decided upon.

"We understand the United States' desire to help moderate states which stand at a united front with the United States and Israel in the struggle against Iran,'' Mr Olmert told the start of his weekly cabinet meeting.

A senior US defence official has said that Washington is readying a major arms package for Saudi Arabia with an eye to countering the changing threat from Tehran, Israel's arch foe and determined to press a nuclear agenda.

The Pentagon provided no details on the package, reportedly $20 billion ($23.4 billion) over the next decade, but officials said it will include new weapons for the United Arab Emirates, and military and economic support to Egypt.

Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, a member of Mr Olmert's centrist Kadima party, dismissed any suggestion that the region was entering a new arms race, in light of the prospective US arms deal in the Gulf and the US hike to Israel.

"This is not an arms race. The weaponry is constantly improving but Israel remains vigilant to possesses advanced weapons and that it keeps its edge over other states,'' he said.

Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog, from the centre-left Labour party, said that it was essential to maintain Israel's armed advantage against the "axis of evil'' - coined by Mr Bush in 2002 in reference to Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

"We are at the forefront of moderate states facing the axis of evil. Sustaining Israel's military superiority is an essential element of the ties between Israel and the United States,'' he said.

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Possible Saudi Arms Sale Stirs Controversy
By JOHN HENDRENJuly 28, 2007

The United States and its Middle East allies are expected to raise the ante this week in an intensifying confrontation with Iran.

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates make a round of Middle East visits this week, U.S. officials are scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Iranian leaders in Baghdad and with Arab allies in Egypt.

At about the same time, the Bush administration is expected to announce a controversial $20 billion arms sale over the next 10 years to Saudi Arabia and five other American allies in the Persian Gulf -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

A senior defense official told ABC News that the Saudi government unsuccessfully seeks an arms deal nearly every year. This year, the Bush administration is supporting the sale to counter what it sees as a rising military threat from Iran.

"The Iranians have been acting for the last six months like nobody can stop them," Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said in an interview. "Now, the United States and its friends in the Middle East are showing Iran that, in fact they've got lots of resources, which, if need be, they can use to check the Iranian ambitions."

Critics argue that the deal would accelerate a regional arms race in the Middle East -- threatening a precarious three-way balance between Israel, Sunni Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, and Shiite nations such as Iraq and Iraq.

But administration officials say it is Iran that has sped up the arms race with its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The deal has been in the works for months. It initially faced objections by Israel, particularly over the first-ever proposed sale of precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, to Saudi Arabia.

"There is a worry that a precision strike weapon in Saudi Hands could, in theory, be used against Israel, either by the Saudi Air Force itself or by another Arab state the Saudis might supply that weapon with," said Michael O'Hanlon, an ABC News consultant and a military analyst at the Brookings Institution.

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Pertinent Links:

1) US to up aid to friendly ME countries

2) US ups Israeli defence aid to $30bn

3) Possible Saudi Arms Sale Stirs Controversy