Blog Stage Three

President Bush is trying to sell $123 million in weapons to Saudi Arabia. The deal is a part of a 10 year $20 billion package. The proposed sale is to aid Saudi Arabia, with the intent that they will become an ally in stabilizing the Middle East. Proceeding with this deal would be a mistake. Included in this package is technology which creates extremely accurate missiles. The weapons could easily end up in the hands of terrorists, or even worse, we could be selling the weapons to those who will turn against us. A majority of the most-wanted international terrorists are from Saudi Arabia.
In the 70s Iran was given weapons. The U.S. also provided weapons to the Afghan rebels who became the Taliban and also to the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Representative Anthony Weiner criticizes selling weapons at this time to Saudi Arabia. He fears a change of leadership there: “a change of leadership in Saudi Arabia that’s even more dangerous than the type of leadership that exists and they have these weapons to use as they wish.” Nothing will stop those in possession of the weapons from taking a different standpoint on the issue of stabilizing the Middle East than the one Bush wishes for. According to a joint news release, “Saudi King Abdullah referred to U.S. troops in Iraq as an ‘illegitimate foreign occupation’ during an Arab summit in Riyadh last March.” It would not be wise to risk giving weapons to a people headed by a man who believes that the United States is criminal. The bill supported by President Bush needs to be blocked because the weapons may cause trouble in the long term. In accord with the Arms Control Export Act of 1976, Congress is to be notified by the White House and is allowed 30 days to make a decision on the bill. Bush notified Congress about his intent on January 21, 2008, so Congress still has the option of rejecting this arms sale. Take a look at these links: blog link web link