The Real Problem

William Arkin discusses the real downside of an arms deal with Saudi Arabia:

But these arguments are so, well, Old War. There isn't one weapon in the package that will enhance American interests or security -- or Saudi security, for that matter -- and there certainly isn't one that threatens Israel. The real threat is the army of contractors and U.S. service members that will have to go to Saudi Arabia to support the deal. They will just fuel more Arab anger and more terrorism.

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What comes with the deal, though, is far more subtle trouble: Saudi Arabia has demonstrated over decades that it has no interest in building up its own high-tech arms capabilities. American contractors will train, maintain and even operate the new Saudi equipment. American military personnel will follow. We will buy nothing in terms of security, and we will just put our own people in danger. But most important, we will once again renew the cycle of American penetration into the heart of Islam, one of Osama bin Laden's original and most compelling rallying points. That's why the Saudi deal is so dangerous.

Good points.

Most of the Saudi population is anti-American and the royal family sits on a civil tenderbox that has the lid sealed with petrodollars. More American "globalization" is the last thing that's needed in an Arab country just now. But don't look to American political leaders to understand that, nor the Saudi leaders for that matter.