US to supply $20 billion in arms to Gulf countries

Many Middle Eastern officials and some American politicians have voiced concern that a new US weapons deal with Saudi Arabia and five other Gulf nations may augment regional instability. On Sunday the Bush administration announced that it would sell $20 billion worth of high-tech military equipment to the six Gulf states. Coming just as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates embark on a Middle East tour, the deal would supply the six countries with satellite-guided missiles, F-22 Raptor fighter jets, and other advanced military platforms over the next 10 years.

The package would also increase military aid to Israel by 25 percent – a value of $30 billion over the next decade – and give an additional $13 billion to the Egyptian military. In exchange, the White House would ask the Arab nations to stand up against Iran and support Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Arab nations may be reluctant to accept the terms of the deal, reports The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Many see the terms of the agreement — countering Iran and supporting the Iraqi government — as inherently contradictory.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and many Gulf nations have expressed concern in recent months about Iran's regional activities and pursuit of nuclear technologies. But they also view Mr. Maliki and his predominantly Shiite government as acting as proxies for Tehran and actively suppressing Iraq's Sunni minority.

Middle East analysts say the Arab states may accept Washington's offer of additional American weaponry but withhold meaningful support for Iraq's Shiite-dominated government. Such a result risks fueling instability in the region, they say, and fanning the historical animosities held between Iran and its Sunni Arab neighbors. Already, some U.S. lawmakers and officials voice concerns about the weapons, finances and personnel flowing into Iraq from many Arab states in support of the Sunni insurgents.

Indeed, in a Monday interview on CNN, Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador at the United Nations, accused Saudi Arabia of "undermining" the American mission in Iraq. He confirmed that Saudi Arabia was among the US allies he criticized in a New York Times commentary piece last week for pursuing policies that intentionally destabilize Iraq, reports the British Broadcasting Corp.

"We would expect and want them to help us on this strategic issue more than they are doing. And at times, some of them are not only not helping, [they] are doing things that undermine the effort to make progress," said [Mr. Khalilzad].

Two prominent US Congressmen, both Democrats, have said they will do everything within their power to block the deal, citing Saudi Arabia's lack of action on terrorism as their major objection, reports the liberal, influential Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

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