Posted on 02/27/2008 6:53:00 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
US: Venezuela purchases four times more weapons than it needs
The two senior US intelligence chiefs Wednesday said Venezuela has purchased up to four times the number of weapons it needs for domestic defense, with a goal to destabilize countries in the region that are close to the United States, such as Colombia.
J. Michael McDonnell, US National Security Director, and lieutenant general Michael D. Maples, the Director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), make their comments about Venezuela's buildup of arms during a hearing at the US Senate Armed Services Committee, AP reported.
McDonnell said Venezuela was now making efforts to purchase submarines and antiaircraft defense missiles. He added that Venezuela's purchases of Russian weapons -estimated at USD 3 billion- exceeded by far the sales and maintenance agreements Venezuela has initialed with Iran. According to McDonnell, Caracas is also seeking cooperation with Iran in the nuclear field.
When asked by lawmaker Mel Martínez (R-Fl) what number of weapons had President Hugo Chávez purchased from Russia and Iran, McDonnell, whose subordinate agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), replied "probably three or four times more than it needs."
Martínez asked whether Chávez's goal was "to destabilize governments in countries that are US allies in the region, including Colombia, and to help the (rebel) Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, and McDonnell answered: "It could be quite the goal."
However, regarding this question, Maples stressed, "We have not noticed such distribution, but we have held talks about the use Venezuela can make of this kind of asymmetry in tactic capabilities," among South American nations. He added that "somehow" Venezuela is upgrading the civilians' defense power.
When Martínez asked whether it meant that Chávez was training militias to defend his government, McDonnell replied, "Yes, within his country."
When Martínez asked McDonnell for his opinion about Chávez's move to urge the international community to remove the FARC from the list of "terrorist organizations," the US National Security Director replied, "It was a big mistake. He did it to gain a political advantage, but no one has accepted that."
Hugo is digging himself a very deep hole.
Hmmm...I wonder what he will do with it all?
bttt
OOPS! Cat > Bag > OUT!
It’s not like there are any neighboring countries worth conquering.
He’s probably going to hand it out to anyone willing to do his dirty work.
Sorta like the Arab countries with theri huge armies......
These are just pre-positioned assets. After he’s out of office, Dick Cheney and a couple Texas Rangers are going to take the place over.
Venezuela IS a SUBSTITUTE Arab Country looking for World Domintion through Islam and it’s Whabbist wealth.
Gee! Congress should investigate the quality of Capitol toilet paper right away.
Look for 'Little Carcass' in Miami soon. The people with any brains and or money well soon be fleeing by the droves.
I'll welcome them but it's a damn crime that our own leftist controlled intellectuals won't. Personally, I'd swap our so-called 'best and brightest' for their's any day, and we would have the better of the deal.
Now tell us WHO IS SELLING THEM THESE WEAPONS!
Chavez supports FARC publicly and asserts that he has the ability to deal with them. Its rumored that he also supports them financially; no doubt that also extends to armaments.
Chavez clearly wants to destabilize Colombia and probably wants to re-establish Gran Colombia with “gee guess who” in charge? The man is a megalomaniac.
V. Putin is the arms dealer here.
Hey didn’t he sell the air defense system to syria?
Ya know the one the isrealis destroyed on the way to bomb the new nuclear facility being built for them by n korea?
Just dang!
So does Hugo blitzkrieg east into Guyana or west into Colombia? Any bets? He can’t be spending all that dough for nothing. Communists are genetically incapable of coexistence.
Gee...could this the connected to all the stories on high oil prices today?
Fortunately, being a Socialist, I’m sure they are sharing the wealth with the “people”, right?
Buying weapons! destablizing democracies! Say it ain’t so! /s
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