Madam, - The announcement by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice of a $63 billion arms sale to Middle Eastern countries described as "allies" ( The Irish Times, August 1st) will only further inflame an already volatile region.
This deal marks a further callous foreign policy shift by the Bush administration in supplying Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf states with military hardware previously denied to them. Arms sales will now include missile defence systems, early-warning radar and access to so-called "smart" weapon technology. Previously Israel had enjoyed a military superiority with this weaponry but Israel's compliance was bought by a 25 per cent increase in the annual US arms military grant to $3 billion.
Ms Rice was careful not to describe the countries being supplied as "democratic" and she made no attempt to link the deal to improvements in human rights in these largely repressive states. Egypt was refused congressional approval in June for a $200 million military grant because of its brutal suppression of political opposition.
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have an already abysmal record on human rights and fundamental freedoms with widespread corruption and repression. Their governments are already highly unpopular and these arms sales will only strengthen the perception that they are mere puppets of the US.
This arms package forms part of the US strategy to protect its interests in the Gulf after a withdrawal from Iraq and to create a Sunni Arab alliance against Iran.
The only winners in this murky affair are the US arms industries, especially the Carlyle Group, whose board of directors includes George Bush snr, former secretary of state James Baker and a host of former government officials and retired generals. The Stockholm Peace Research Institute has reported that 40 US firms accounted for 63 per cent of the combined top 100 arms sales of $290 billion in 2003. While this immoral industry thrives as one of the engines of the US economy, 8 million Iraqi people, or one third of its population (as reported by Oxfam) are in urgent need of the basic elements of life. - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER, NGO Peace Alliance, Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7.