U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a telling comment on this subject. He told the Israelis that the Saudis and other moderate Arab countries would be able to get the weapons elsewhere, including from Russia, if America did not supply them.
The logic is understandable: it is better to try and control which weapons are sold and where, or put the sales under international supervision, say, the IAEA, rather than cede the market to other countries.
But Moscow is following the same logic in cooperating with Syria and Iran. Many arguments may be cited to explain the difference between Saudi Arabia and Iran, or Syria and Iraq, but they are largely politically motivated. The entire Middle East, or rather the Muslim world, is in the same boat. Weapons supplied to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan or the Palestinian National Authority may end up in terrorist hands just like weapons sold to Syria and Iran. There is no guarantee that if Russia leaves this niche tomorrow, it won’t be occupied by American or European defense companies. ==
I told these to you many times here. It is the business. Russian weapon factories need orders.
It reminds me of something I’ve known for a long time.. If you’ve got enough money you can buy whatever you want. You could be in the middle of a hardcore theocracy and with enough money you could have drugs, booze and prostitutes delivered to you. Maybe you’ll have to agree to a ‘temporary marriage’, and cut the cleric in on the money is all.
Same thing for nations.