“Blessed are the Peacemakers:” They Shall Be Enticed to Do Our Will Through Weapons?

 

During his eight day tour of the Middle East, President George W. Bush walked in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Literally. The President is a born again Christian and toured sites of historic and religious significance to many believers. At the Sea of Galilee, President George W. Bush was shown the place where Jesus walked on water. He toured the Church of the Beatitudes where Jesus delivered these lines: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice, they will be satisfied” and “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” President Bush also visited the Church of the Nativity, built atop Jesus’ birthplace.

 

Tears welled up in President Bush’s eyes and he called himself a pilgrim as he made his way through these sites, accompanied by nuns and priests. He was a very expensive pilgrim. The New York Times reports that Israeli taxpayers ponied up about $25,000 an hour just for Presidential security expenses during his two days in Israel.

 

The trip—which began on January 9^th—marked this President’s first expedition to the region. At every stop he made the case for peace between Israel and Palestine and preached the secular gospel of democracy to the Gulf Kingdoms. He also brought news of millions in weapons for Saudi Arabia.

 

The announcement came as the President prepared for meetings with the Saudi King Abdullah. Made by Boeing’s St. Louis division, the Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits are worth an estimated $123 million, and are just a sliver of the more than $20 billion in U.S. weapons promised to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in late July 2007.

 

Israel’s concerns about the package were assuaged by Washington’s commitment (announced at the same time) to provide Jerusalem with $30 billion in military aid over the next ten years. Just as Egypt’s concerns were met with a continuation of their $1.3 billion in military aid each year for the next ten years.

 

Representatives Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Robert Wexler (D-FL) penned a letter against these weapons transfers that highlighted Saudi Arabia’s lack of cooperation on counter-terrorism projects. That letter was sent to President Bush with 114 signatures. Representatives Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Christopher Carney (D-PA) circulated a separate letter voicing concerns that the JDAMs could be used against U.S. troops, which garnered 180 signatures. On the Senate side, Joe Biden, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who recently dropped out of the run for President, told Reuters “thus far, the justification for the sale has not been made to me.”

 

Facing this opposition, the administration changed tactics, according to analysts at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and “began to put its smaller nation-by-nation strategy into effect.”  So, before news of the proposed JDAM sale to Saudi Arabia was announced, notices about $328 million in Raytheon TOW missiles and other systems to Kuwait and a $326 million package of AMRAAM missiles, JDAMS and bombs to the UAE came and went with little scrutiny. Congress has 30 days to act against proposed arms sales valued at more than $50 million (for most countries).

 

Now, Weiner and Wexler have submitted a resolution to block the Saudi sale. They have 51 co-sponsors, but Reuters reports that Rep. Tom Lantos, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is not going to schedule a vote on the resolution, which would stall it in committee. According to Wexler, “Saudi Arabia has refused to adopt financial sanctions on Iran, banking sanctions on Iran. So why is it reasonable to assume that Saudi Arabia might use military weapons in concert with American ... interests with respect to Iran?"

 

The arms package was calculated to reward and reassure Gulf allies weary of war in Iraq, provide incentives for peace talks and head off Iran’s growing influence in the region.

 

At the opulent Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi on January 13^th, President Bush intoned “America is using its influence to foster peace and reconciliation… the time has come for a Holy Land where Palestinian and Israeli live together in peace. America will do our part.”

 

A few days later, reports of gun battles between Israeli security forces and Hamas members that killed 18 Palestinians, a kibbutz worker from Ecuador, and wounded five Israelis, marred hopes for the newly started peace talks  and served as a sober reminder of the futility of the project of building peace by providing weapons and military aid.

 

 

RESOURCES:

“As Substitute for Diplomacy, $20 Billion U.S. Arms Deal Falls Short,” Travis Sharp and Katie Mounts, January 2008.

http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/policy/iran/articles/arms_deal_falls_short/

 

“The Gulf Security Dialogue and Related Arms Sale Proposals,” Congressional Research Service, January 14, 2008. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL34322.pdf

 

William Arkin’s Washington Post column “Early Warning,” takes a different tack, arguing that the weapons package can “play a positive role” in democracy promotion.” He continues that “it’s a thin reed. But at this point the U.S. has so few levers to pull when it comes to democratization or reform in the Gulf region. It's a shame that arms sales are one of them, but that's the reality.”

 

“Arms for Sale,” January 16, 2008

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2008/01/arms_for_sale_and_nothing_else.html?nav=rss_blog

 

“Those Ungrateful Saudis,” Robert Scheer, San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 2008

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/01/16/EDTTUFQEO.DTL&type=printable 

 

And finally, just for kicks, watch Jon Stewart’s take on President Bush’s jaunt through the Holy lands.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Stewart_mocks_Bushs_Middle_East_Bucket_0116.html

 

 

 

 

Frida Berrigan

Senior Program Associate

Arms and Security Initiative

New America Foundation

38 Greene Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10013

 

212-431-5808 ext, 200

berrigan@newamerica.net

http://www.newamerica.net/programs/american_strategy/arms_security

 

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