Saudi Arabia purchases huge amounts of military equipment from the USA.(click here)
I do believe Secretary Kerry has his hands full with this addition to the Mideast instability. I am confident the Senate will take this up and the House Democrats will seek to understand this issue better, but, the immediate chance things will change between Saudi Arabia and the USA is remote.
Not that this isn't significant and the American people won't simply allow this to disappear as if gossip, there are many dead including our soldiers; but, the way forward with Saudi Arabia at this point is murky. It is a major power in the Mideast and a declared ally of Israel.
The transfers of Saad Muhammad Hufsayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdulla Hamood lower the prisoner population to 160 and follow the repatriation of two prisoners to Algeria this month....
Logistically, if the relationship changes radically between the USA and Saudi Arabia the operational base of the USA will be limited and cause concern to other nations.
The Red Sea, Suez Canal and Persian Gulf to say the least. The USA has an operational base in Qatar and it isn't as though that nation can simply thumb their nose at Saudi Arabia.
Things are heating up in Africa as well. The Central African Republic has the promise of being the next Rwanda.
Dec. 15, 2013
...One vignette (click here) from a recent report by Human Rights Watch: In April, a funeral procession crossed the Ngaragba Bridge toward a local cemetery. A unit of Seleka soldiers fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the crowd and began cutting down those who tried to flee. A priest appealing for calm was killed. “After the Seleka convoy started shooting at the crowd,” reported an eyewitness, “a woman with a baby on her back was on the street past the bridge when she was shot by a Seleka fighter and left dead in the street with the baby crying on her back.”...
WASHINGTON — The United States military (click here) is preparing to establish a drone base in northwest Africa so that it can increase surveillance missions on the local affiliate of Al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups that American and other Western officials say pose a growing menace to the region....
Now, whether or not the USA military knew all this information while proceeding as though it didn't exist is still yet another question. If the USA military does not demand accountability by the Executive Branch when there is very wrongful use of it's purpose; ie: Iraq; then the USA has to decide how autonomous the military is acting without the permission of the people.
There is a huge military industrial complex that feeds off the idea the USA has enormous responsibilities globally that cannot be interrupted. That level of spending leading to enormous power and more than any other nation on Earth has created a military that is basically unstoppable. It is unstoppable at the level of the UN and now it would seem as though it is unstoppable when lies and deceptions are known to exist.
The American people don't lend their young men and women (average age in military under 35 years old) to a military purpose without it being a sovereign national interest. So, besides the lies of the Bush/Cheney Administration and the cover up, there is the culpability of the USA military itself.
If the military is confronted with some sincere reduction in it's current status in the USA and it's global reach, will they move forward with their robotic army? The American people need to rein in this military machine; the question is can it? I believe the Sequester cuts to the military needs to stand while allowing the Joint Chiefs the ability to reduce spending without completely eroding it's mission to protect the nation. In other words, don't use an ax to the military budget so much as remove hideous projects and spending that are completely unnecessary or unwisely spent. We certainly don't need to escalate the spending, but, return to a military that actually works without projects such as the F-35. This entire robotic mission is ridiculous and dangerous and needs to be abandoned.
Will this Congress have the guts to take this on or simply attempt to sweep it under the rug to prevent controversy? This can't occur again. Ignoring it will assure it will.
Logistically, if the relationship changes radically between the USA and Saudi Arabia the operational base of the USA will be limited and cause concern to other nations.The Red Sea, Suez Canal and Persian Gulf to say the least. The USA has an operational base in Qatar and it isn't as though that nation can simply thumb their nose at Saudi Arabia.
Things are heating up in Africa as well. The Central African Republic has the promise of being the next Rwanda.
Dec. 15, 2013
...One vignette (click here) from a recent report by Human Rights Watch: In April, a funeral procession crossed the Ngaragba Bridge toward a local cemetery. A unit of Seleka soldiers fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the crowd and began cutting down those who tried to flee. A priest appealing for calm was killed. “After the Seleka convoy started shooting at the crowd,” reported an eyewitness, “a woman with a baby on her back was on the street past the bridge when she was shot by a Seleka fighter and left dead in the street with the baby crying on her back.”...
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: January 28, 2013
Now, whether or not the USA military knew all this information while proceeding as though it didn't exist is still yet another question. If the USA military does not demand accountability by the Executive Branch when there is very wrongful use of it's purpose; ie: Iraq; then the USA has to decide how autonomous the military is acting without the permission of the people.
There is a huge military industrial complex that feeds off the idea the USA has enormous responsibilities globally that cannot be interrupted. That level of spending leading to enormous power and more than any other nation on Earth has created a military that is basically unstoppable. It is unstoppable at the level of the UN and now it would seem as though it is unstoppable when lies and deceptions are known to exist.
The American people don't lend their young men and women (average age in military under 35 years old) to a military purpose without it being a sovereign national interest. So, besides the lies of the Bush/Cheney Administration and the cover up, there is the culpability of the USA military itself.
If the military is confronted with some sincere reduction in it's current status in the USA and it's global reach, will they move forward with their robotic army? The American people need to rein in this military machine; the question is can it? I believe the Sequester cuts to the military needs to stand while allowing the Joint Chiefs the ability to reduce spending without completely eroding it's mission to protect the nation. In other words, don't use an ax to the military budget so much as remove hideous projects and spending that are completely unnecessary or unwisely spent. We certainly don't need to escalate the spending, but, return to a military that actually works without projects such as the F-35. This entire robotic mission is ridiculous and dangerous and needs to be abandoned.
Will this Congress have the guts to take this on or simply attempt to sweep it under the rug to prevent controversy? This can't occur again. Ignoring it will assure it will.
