For Saudis, U.S. arms deal is a challenge

UPI ^ | 10/26/2010 | UPI

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

U.S. plans to sell Saudi Arabia advanced weapons systems worth $60 billion to counter Iran could turn out to be more of a problem than a panacea.

The Saudis, unlike the Israelis, have always had problems absorbing high-tech Western systems since they began buying state-of-the-art war machines in the 1970s.

Right now, they already have more top-line equipment than they can effectively use, such as an air force with more aircraft than it has front-line pilots or commanders able to deploy them in combat.

Saudi Arabia traditionally bankrolls part of Pakistan's military purchases and in return gets experienced Pakistan pilots to fly its U.S. and British combat jets, as well as seasoned naval personnel to run its two-sea navy.

"Militarily … Riyadh's challenge is not a matter of hardware: Saudi Arabia already fields a broad spectrum of some of the highest-end and most modern military equipment in the region," the U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor commented.

[ntmxx]

How about lowering the damn price of oil to $10 and maybe we could train them to use what they do have and improve their abilities for $786B in political slush bucks! Such as pilots, technicians who know how to do something other than be a bunch of parasites, pedophiles, wife beaters, misogynists and sadomasochists…

[DemforBush]

“But Abdallah may have other considerations in mind. He commands the National Guard, or SANG, a 100,000-strong force drawn from tribes loyal to the monarchy. It’s the king’s private army, totally separate from the 140,000-strong regular forces controlled by the Defense Ministry.”

“In many cases, they have been kept deliberately weak doctrinally and institutionally to prevent them from becoming capable of mounting a coup.”

Very interesting...

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I found that interesting also.