Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

You can all sleep well over there in the Kingdom - the mighty armed forces of the Kingdom (with a little help from the US) will protect you from the Axis of Evil (and maybe there'll be some more teaching jobs as part of the deal.)
"
U.S. preparing massive arms deal for Saudi Arabia, defense official says
ashington (CNN) -- The Obama administration is preparing to notify Congress of plans to sell $60 billion of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, according to a U.S. defense official.
The official, who would not be identified because the proposal has not yet been sent to Congress, described the deal as "enormous."
"We believe this is the largest of its kind in history," the official said.
Congress would have to approve the deal.
The proposed package includes 84 newly manufactured F-15/SA fighter aircraft; 70 upgraded aircraft, 70 Apache helicopters, 72 Black Hawk helicopters, and 36 AH-6 Little Bird helicopters. A number of bombs and missiles also are in the deal, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, a satellite-guided bomb, as well as a laser-guided Hellfire missile variant and some advanced targeting technology.
The Saudi arms effort is in large part directed at providing a modernized capability against Iran.
"This gives them a whole host of defensive and deterrent capabilities," the official explained.
The official emphasized that nothing in the sale would change the qualitative edge that Israel seeks to maintain. A point reiterated by State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
"Suffice it to say that at the core of our policy is making sure that, you know, there is stability in the region and part of that stability is making sure that Israel has what it needs ... to be able to provide for its own security," Crowley said Monday. "So the United States would do nothing that would upset that -- the current ... balance in the region."
The Obama administration hopes to send the proposed package to Capitol Hill no later than next week. The official emphasized it's not clear yet whether the Saudis would follow through to buy all of the weapons and aircraft in the package because they are continuing to evaluate their own financial concerns.
Boeing Corp. has told the administration that if the entire package is sold, 77,000 company jobs would be "involved," but there was no calculation on how many new jobs might be created over the five- to 10-year period of potential delivery, according to the official.
The official also indicated the United States is discussing with the Saudi government additional sales of a ballistic missile defense system and more modern warships."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/13/us.saudi.arms.deal/index.html

[cmp45]

[johnslat]

Dear cmp45,

Yup

Regards,
John

[007]

Well, John, Uncle Sam wants you!


Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

Pentagonized society!!!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/Uncle-Sams-War-Mart/articleshow/5543927.cms

Uncle Sam cannot survive without wars and conflicts here and there! He transformed America into a 'Pentagonized society' by creating jobs in the military industry through the Mafia of death!

Uncle Sam is the Lord of War.


"For all the talk of making the world a better place that fetched the US president a Nobel Prize, things don't look like changing much in the Obama administration"

Read more: Uncle Sam's War-Mart - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/Uncle-[url]Sams-War-Mart/articleshow/5543927.cms#ixzz0zXPhQggG[/url]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

cmp...don't be too hard on John. In my case, this is WONDERFUL news! What this all adds up to is some great FMS jobs for those of us who have Aviation English creds/experience.

F-15SA's? I remember a time when I was working an FMS case at KFAFB (Taif) back in '95. At that time, oil was at USD 10 a barrel. Oil prices were so low that when the F-15S's arrived in their crates, the saudis left them all crated and greased up because it didn't make economic sense to uncrate and fly 'em.

If yer a 'merican, it's the best gig you could possibly have there as Boeing will create a firewall between the employee and the bureaucracy...heck, they'll even go and get yer driving license for you!

Woo-Hoo!

NCTBA

[lazycomputerkids]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty...

NCTBA

[veiledsentiments]

I wonder how much of this materiel is actually stuff that we don't want to haul back from Iraq. And the new jobs will be building replacement stuff for the US military.

Not that we will ever learn the facts of that...

VS

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Wrong kitty...as in NOT the kitty I wuz expectin' to entice...

And, no, we don't repatriate unarmoured vehicles, typewriters, printers, collaborators, and such...this stuff will all be export-built for the saudis. I remember back in the late 90's when we thought that we were going to sell a lot of F-16S's to the saudis, but the deal fell through at the last minute as the saudis unveiled that they wanted strengthened tricycle landing gear...you know...the kind that'll stand up to a fully bombed-up F-16 taking off?

The deal wuz cancelled as it seems that we have an unwritten deal with a different country in the region that buys the same kind of munitions from us that we would never, ever allow a sale of an offensive weapons system to its Arab "neighbors". (BTW, this is the same reason that air-to-air refuelers have never been sold to Arab nations.)

You see, defensive bullets and air-to-air missiles don't weigh that much...but bombs do...

NCTBA

[shadowfax]

I suppose 007 would have the world revert in weaponry to the honest mediaeval scimitar, a much more moral and pacific weapon, I am sure.

[Cleopatra]

[007]

[johnslat]

Dear 007,

Well, look on the bright side; it could be a lot worse. What if, instead of the US, a country such as, say, Pakistan, were the "global gorilla?"

Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]