Rice unveils plan to send $billions in military aid to Middle East

[caspofungin]

Most 9/11 terrorists were Saudis

and as far as i'm aware, none of them were from the royal family. the saudi government has been vigourously clamping down on the wahhabi threat to their rule -- that includes actively fighting against al qaeda in saudi. you think the region is stable now? pull the rug out from the saudi government and in a couple of years you'll have a country run by the taleban mk 2.

Last fall, the king warned he would attack in Iraq if a civil war were to ensue after a withdrawal of US troops.

yeah, because he doesn't want a shiite state on his doorstep.

money talks. the saudi's have it, they want weapons and training to protect their (the royal family's) interests -- a regional cold war against the iranian/shiite influence, and an internal threat from the wahhabi's/al qaeda. if the us doesn't sell them stuff, they'll buy it somewhere else.

us foreign policy is not about democracy or freedom, it never has been -- it's about protecting us interests. or, more accurately, the interests of the ruling elite. and it's certainly never been far-sighted -- this is an attempt to shore up the sorry situation that is the middle east. it's nothing new -- witness rumsfeld and cheney selling weapons to saddam hussein to counter iran. before that, they were selling equipment to the iranian shah. before that, they deposed rashid ali to protect their oil supply in ww2.

skybird, it's business as usual -- why's everyone so surprised or shocked?