Military Industrial Complex ~ Selling Arms to Saudi Arabia: Weapons Purchases, Money and U.S. Foreign Relations (1989)

 
The United States and Saudi Arabia have had full diplomatic relations since 1933. The two nations have encountered obstacles in the path of a successful relationship since it first began. Eventually, the relationship reconstructed itself after each conflict and became stronger in some cases. To sum up, throughout the successful time line of the relationship, temporary obstacles had been impeded within the Arab-Israeli conflict, World War II, the Cold War, anti-communism strategy, Gulf War I and II, and the War on Terror.


After the Cold War the U.S.--Saudi relations were improving. The U.S. and U.S. companies were actively engaged and paid handsomely for preparing and administrating the rebuilding of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia transferred $100 billion to the United States for administration, construction, weapons, and in the 1970s and 1980s higher education scholarships to the U.S. (Kaiser & Ottaway 2002). During that era the U.S. built and administrated numerous military academies, navy ports, and Air Force airfields. Many of these military facilities were influenced by the U.S., with the needs of cold war aircraft and deployment strategies in mind. Also the Saudis purchased a great deal of weapons that varied from F-16 war planes to main battle tanks that later proved useful during the Gulf War (Kaiser & Ottaway 2002). The U.S. pursued a policy of building up and training the Saudi military as a counterweight to Shiite extremism and revolution following the revolution in Iran. The U.S. provided top of the line equipment and training, and consulted the Saudi government frequently, acknowledging them as the most important Islamic leader in that part of the world, and key player in the U.S. security strategy.

Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 had sparked the beginning of another bloody war, the Gulf War. During the Gulf War, the security relationship had greatly increased and strengthened. After the invasion, Fahad, the king of Saudi Arabia at that time, had officially declared war against Iraq. Also, President George H. W. Bush had declared war against Saddam Hussein who invaded an ally nation and risked the oil interests in the nation. Also the U.S. was concerned about the safety of Saudi Arabia against Saddam's intention to invade and control the oil reserves in the region. As a result, President Bush sent a great number of troops to protect Saudi Arabia from Iraqi invasion after Fahad's approval; this operation was called Desert Shield. Furthermore, the U.S. had sent additional troops in operation Desert Storm with nearly 100,000 Saudi troops sent by Fahad to form a US-Saudi army alliance and including other troops from allies' countries to attack Iraqi troops in Kuwait to stop further invasion (Rashid, 1992). During the Operation Desert Storm, Iraqi troops were defeated easily within four days of the operation causing the Iraqis to flee back to Iraq.

On October 20, 2010, U.S. State Department notified Congress of its intention to make the biggest arms sale in American history - an estimated $60.5 billion purchase by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The package represents a considerable improvement in the offensive capability of the Saudi armed forces.[11]
The U.S. was keen to point out that the arms transfer would increase "interoperability" with U.S. forces. In the 1990--1991 Gulf War, having U.S.-trained Saudi forces, along with military installations built to U.S. specifications, allowed the American armed forces to deploy in a comfortable and familiar battle environment. This new deal would increase these capabilities, as an advanced American military infrastructure is about to be built.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Ar...