White House, Saudi Arabia Sign $30B F-15 Deal
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The Obama administration today finalized a $30 billion sale of new Boeing F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a deal meant to counteract Iran and support an estimated 50,000 U.S. jobs.
The deal, which was approved by Congress in late 2010, will send 84 advanced F-15SA combat planes to the Royal Saudi Air Force. It also provides for the modernization of 70 existing planes and a cache of munitions, spare parts and other logistical resources, the White House said in a statement.
“This agreement will positively impact the U.S. economy and further advances the president’s commitment to create jobs by increasing exports,” deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in the statement. “According to industry experts, this agreement will support more than 50,000 American jobs, engaging 600 suppliers in 44 states, and providing $3.5 billion in annual economic impact to the U.S. economy.”
The plane package is roughly half of a larger $60 billion deal – the biggest U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia ever – that was brokered in September 2010.
In addition to the F-15 aircraft, the United States promised to sell 70 Apache attack helicopters, 72 Black Hawk helicopters, 26 Little Bird helicopters and assorted weapons systems (missiles and bombs) for the aircraft.
At the time, U.S. officials said the main trigger for the deal was Saudi Arabia’s concerns about Iranian threats in the region. Tensions between the United States and Iran have flared in recent days after an Iranian military official threatened to cut off the flow of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz; the U.S. Navy pledged such a move would not stand.
Saudi Arabia, a longstanding U.S. ally in the region, also supports U.S. and international opposition to Iran’s nuclear program.
“This agreement reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a strong Saudi defense capability as a key component to regional security,” Earnest said.
The first new planes are scheduled for delivery in 2015, while the upgrades to the F-15 jets will start in 2014. The United States will also train up to 5,500 Saudi personnel through 2019, officials said.
“This deal sends an important message,” said Anthony Cordesman, a middle east analyst and military expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“This gives Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates really modern combat aircraft that are much more advanced than Iran has,” he said. “Iran cannot feel secure now if it attacks other Gulf Cooperation Council members in the region.”
The Obama administration today also downplayed concerns that the arms sale could undermine Israel’s military superiority in the region.
“All sales to the region must be evaluated for the impact on Israel’s qualitative military edge,” assistant Secretary of State Andrew Schapiro told reporters. “We conducted that assessment, and we are satisfied that this sale to Saudi Arabia will not detriment Israel’s qualitative military edge.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Kirit Radia contributed to this report.
White House Loves Aggressive Journalism ... Abroad 
Virginia Ultrasound Bill Hits Nerve
And the beat goes on.
Posted by: newcountryman | December 29, 2011, 4:51 pm 4:51 pm
Finally Obama does something right!
But really, this decision was a no brainer.
What was he gonna do, not approve the sale?
Still, it’s heartening to see the Prez starting to get the easy ones right.
Maybe he could get up to speed if he had 4 more years to do it.
Posted by: Noz | December 29, 2011, 5:19 pm 5:19 pm
You have to hope Saudi Arabia is going to stay our allies. Maybe they’re even become a real democracy one day.
Posted by: Jerry | December 29, 2011, 5:28 pm 5:28 pm
IS he stupid? this fighter in 104 separate engagements is 104-0! they have never lost a fight, and now sold to a middle eastern country other than Israel! Hope they stay our allies.
Posted by: simon | December 29, 2011, 5:40 pm 5:40 pm
Wouldn’t that be considered an ANTI-Israel move? Even if the government claims to be … tolerant of Israel’s existence, the people of S.A. want them dead.
Posted by: Donnie | December 29, 2011, 7:45 pm 7:45 pm
So let me get this straight now…
…G.W. Bush sells 140 M1 Abrams Tanks to the Iraqis, who are so tied in with Iran now that it’s not even funny, and the right-whiner “(R)-Minions” didn’t complain one bit.
…Now, Obama sells 84 F-15 Fighter Jets to our long time allies (the Saudis) and all the right-whiner “(R)-Minions” are up in arms?
LOL!… bunch of partisan hacks.
Posted by: Lots of "(R)-Minions" Out There | December 29, 2011, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
…Now, Obama sells 84 F-15 Fighter Jets to our long time allies (the Saudis) and all the right-whiner “(R)-Minions” are up in arms?
LOL!… bunch of partisan hacks.
Posted by: Lots of “(R)-Minions” Out There | December 29, 2011, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
======================================================================
Egypt was once an ally also and Obama stood by and let the islamist take over::::::::
Concern Over Raids in Egypt:: State Department says it’s ‘deeply concerned’ after Egyptian police raid offices of American human rights groups in Cairo as part of investigation into alleged illicit funding, saying action wasn’t justified.
20,000 shoulder launched missles missing from Libya….Thanks Obama..I feel safer flying now (sarcasm)
ABC misleads Audience on Obama Gallup poll approval tonight…was it intentional????
Posted by: Must be | December 29, 2011, 9:46 pm 9:46 pm
MUST BE | DECEMBER 29, 2011, 9:46 PM, SAID:
“Egypt was once an ally also and Obama stood by and let the islamist take over….”
==============================================
LOL! …. It’s funny how “(R)-Minions” believe that we (the USA) could have done something about the people’s revolution in Egypt… you know, like maybe another U.S. military intervention… but when it comes to paying for such a huge expense, the right-whiners want to cut taxes and then pay those costs by borrowing. And then the “(R)-Minions” are the first to whine about debts and deficits (LOL!). Isn’t this logic quite hilarious?
The same thing we did with Iraq… “Bush Tax Cuts”, and then the war was paid for by borrowing: Our debt to China was $61 billion when G.W. Bush took office, and when he left office, it was $751 billion… much of that $690 billion additional debt to China went towards paying for the Iraq War.
So you see “Must Be”, if you really think that we should have intervened in the Egyptian revolution, then you should stop the “whining” whenever President Obama says that the Bush Tax Cuts (which primarily benefited the top 5% income brackets) need to expire. Things like intervening in a country’s revolution with our own military cost money, you know… or, maybe you just don’t know that, thus explaining your illogical and “shallow” right-whine.
Posted by: Lots of "(R)- | December 29, 2011, 10:44 pm 10:44 pm
Hopefully Saudi Arabia will upgrade their Navy as well.
Posted by: Randy | December 30, 2011, 1:03 am 1:03 am
First he arms the Mexican Drug Cartel in Fast and Furious, then he is secretly buying Uranium from Canada to send where is the question, and now arming A middle eastern sharia law country with F-18′s…………and he still claims he isn’t out to destroy the us.
Posted by: beensaidover | December 30, 2011, 1:45 am 1:45 am
Posted by: beensaidover | December 30, 2011, 1:45 am 1:45 am
Oh boy, if only people (like you) did some real research, they wouldn’t spread such ignorance . ..
“The United States has long been Saudi Arabia’s leading arms supplier. From 1950 through 2006,
Saudi Arabia bought or was granted from the United States weapons, military equipment and services worth $79.8 billion. Almost a fifth of all American arms sales during that period went to Saudi Arabia—or 19% of all U.S. arms sales during the period. The proportion underscores the importance of Saudi Arabia to the American defense industry.”
Posted by: Jerry | December 30, 2011, 3:54 am 3:54 am
New deal with Saudi Arabia, huh? What about American value? What about human rights?
Posted by: AlanBenLee | December 30, 2011, 6:45 am 6:45 am
Is this what Barry got for squashing the Keystone pipeline?
Posted by: foggy | December 30, 2011, 9:15 am 9:15 am
“Oh boy, if only people (like you) did some real research, they wouldn’t spread such ignorance . ..”
Real research means never mentioning Fast n Furious. Dead Mexicans are bad optics.
Posted by: foggy | December 30, 2011, 9:17 am 9:17 am
Real research means never mentioning Fast n Furious. Dead Mexicans are bad optics.
Posted by: foggy | December 30, 2011, 9:17 am 9:17 am
Fast and Furious and Wide Receiver are both under Congressional investigation. Fast and Furious gets name dropped repeatedly by righties often with the same degree of ignorance as the previous poster posting on Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Jerry | December 30, 2011, 11:24 am 11:24 am
“Fast and Furious and Wide Receiver are both under Congressional investigation.”
I didn’t realize the left was still equating these two programs after Cornyn made Holder his poodle dog on the differences between the two.
Posted by: foggy | December 30, 2011, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
Posted by: foggy | December 30, 2011, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
“Poodle dog” imagery is the level of intelligence of the right wing. No wonder the approval of American people for Congress has fallen to an all-time low since the Republicans won the majority in the House. It’s the continued return to this dumb and pathetic level of discourse.
Posted by: Jerry | December 30, 2011, 12:13 pm 12:13 pm
““Poodle dog” imagery is the level of intelligence of the right wing.” – Jerry
Actually, for the likes of Holder, Poodle Dog is a compliment.
Some Lefties need to use their passports and get out of Liberalistan so that they can gain a more balanced perspective of the world.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
Right wing extremists don’t realize a lot of things. They also misinterpret, distort and spin quite a few things. Just sayin.
A couple of points. First, Cornryn didn’t even understand the reason there was a need for two investigations. He’s either an actor or not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Sealed indictments of Wide Receiver investigation targets were issued in May and October of 2010 to a total of 10 defendants. The indictments were unsealed in November 2011 and the defendants were arrested. Six have pleaded guilty.
AP: Government documents indicate the programs under the Bush administration and the Obama administration were similar in their overall goals, overall concept and basic structures: They attempted to use straw buyers to follow guns and track them back up the chain to gain evidence on criminal higher-ups, with the aim of taking out whole networks. The memo cited in AP’s story makes clears the similarities.
Posted by: Reese | December 30, 2011, 12:27 pm 12:27 pm
“AP: Government documents indicate the programs under the Bush administration and the Obama administration were similar in their overall goals, overall concept and basic structures . . ” – Reeese
As I’ve been saying for quite a while, The NoBo administration liked the failed Wide Receiver program so much they came up with their own new and “improved” version called Fast and Furious.
In other words they doubled down on stupid.
SOP
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 12:36 pm 12:36 pm
Actually, for the likes of Holder, Poodle Dog is a compliment.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
Again, repeatedly lame insult instead of a reasoned approach from the Republican right.
No wonder the approval of American people for Congress has fallen to an all-time low since the Republicans won the majority in the House. It’s the continued return to this dumb and pathetic level of discourse.
Posted by: Jerry | December 30, 2011, 12:40 pm 12:40 pm
The differences between the two programs are well known but Reese inadvertently admits that there is yet another big difference between the two. Indictments.
Posted by: foggy | December 30, 2011, 12:40 pm 12:40 pm
. No wonder the approval of American people for Congress has fallen to an all-time low since the Republicans won the majority in the House. It’s the continued return to this dumb and pathetic level of discourse.
Posted by: Jerry | December 30, 2011, 12:13 pm 12:13 pm
I think it’s also the dishonesty and extreme hypocrisy. Like Mitt calling Obama Marie Antoinette (care to make a $10k wager who is more out of touch, Mitt, and reminds people more of Marie Antoinette? Especially after hearing you speak le francais? lol!) or his sons coming out as birthers while their Dad refuses to release his tax returns. Apparently, Ron Paul isn’t the only crazy uncle.
No wonder the GOP is so unpopular.
Posted by: Kimber | December 30, 2011, 12:40 pm 12:40 pm
“It’s the continued return to this dumb and pathetic level of discourse.” – Jerry
From Obama’s civility memo :
When countering Conservatives on Blogs try to keep from looking uninformed and dumb by trying to spin comments as uninformed and dumb.
Didn’t get the Memo?
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 12:48 pm 12:48 pm
Posted by: foggy | December 30, 2011, 12:40 pm 12:40 pm
Yes, the indictments in the case of Wide Receiver were allowed to languish under Bush, a very serious error– and some claim that is a difference, but ATF agents think the 20 indictments issued for Fast and Furious, while still not allowed to languish as long as those under Wide Receiver, could have been issued more quickly. It’s a difference but a very slight one and not really worth mentioning. The diffference also doesn’t work in your favor if you are who you appear to be– someone extremely partisan and sympathetic to Fox News misinformation, so much so that you share the misinformation with anger and edge, unaware of how misinformed Fox viewers are.
Posted by: Reese | December 30, 2011, 1:02 pm 1:02 pm
Actually, for the likes of Holder, Poodle Dog is a compliment.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
Sorry pal, you’re the one making the cheap insult instead of reasoned posts. You defined yourself.
No wonder the approval of American people for Congress has fallen to an all-time low since the Republicans won the majority in the House. It’s the continued return to this dumb and pathetic level of discourse.
Posted by: Jerry | December 30, 2011, 1:05 pm 1:05 pm
Full sized Poodles are excellent dogs.
Why do you assume that Foggy is referencing a miniature Poodle when talking about Holder?
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 1:23 pm 1:23 pm
Why do you assume that Foggy is referencing a miniature Poodle when talking about Holder?
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 1:23 pm 1:23 pm
“the continued return to this dumb and pathetic level of discourse . . .”
You got that right Jerry.
Posted by: Dan | December 30, 2011, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm
mystical prolific playwright larry myers offersa peotic response to SAUDI ARABIA in
“behind The Veil & F15s”
it jpinsa Hall of Mirrors about turkey china korea afghanistan iraq iran tibet
Posted by: FATHER QUINN LAOTYR | December 31, 2011, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm
Posted by: Dan | December 30, 2011, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm
Hey Jerry and Dan, you forgot to answer the question.
Hopefully you got to see my post from Obama’s Civility Memo, before it got deleted here, where he talked about the need for Demo/Libs to grow a humor gland.
Posted by: Noz | December 31, 2011, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm