{"id":15009,"date":"2012-12-19T09:05:57","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T16:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=15009"},"modified":"2012-12-19T09:05:57","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T16:05:57","slug":"arming-offensively-us-prepares-vertically-integrated-gulf-allies-for-the-dirty-work-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=15009","title":{"rendered":"Arming Offensively – US prepares ‘Vertically Integrated’ Gulf Allies for the Dirty work of War"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. arms to Gulf allies hint of strategy<\/strong>
\nBy Rowan Scarborough – The Washington Times – 16 December, 2012<\/p>\n

The largest infusion of U.S. arms ever for Persian Gulf allies has shifted more toward offensive weapons at the same time that President Obama\u2019s military strategy says it will rely more on allied firepower in any future war.<\/p>\n

The only war on the horizon for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and four other Gulf coalition partners would be with nearby Iran.<\/p>\n

Noting U.S. sales of air defense-penetrating F-16s and F-15s, satellite-guided bombs and a pending order for ordnance that can burrow deep and then explode, analysts say Gulf nations could participate in a U.S. air campaign to strike Iran\u2019s nuclear sites.<\/p>\n

These American-armed nations could either be part of an overall war plan or be forced to enter the battle once Iran counterattacks, as expected, with missile launches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thinking certainly is that Iran would retaliate against the Gulf states, or at least against the facilities in the Gulf that we use,\u201d said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East analyst at the Congressional Research Service. \u201cThat would certainly draw the Gulf states into any conflict that went on. The Gulf might become embroiled in this conflict, and I think they\u2019ve calculated it\u2019s best to be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been public focus on the U.S. military buildup in the Gulf \u2014 more aircraft carriers, warplanes and strike groups studded with Tomahawk cruise missiles; more minesweeping ships; a visit by Air Force F-22 stealth jets; and thousands of Army soldiers positioned in Kuwait.<\/p>\n

But just as methodically, the George W. Bush and Obama administrations have approved a series of large arms sales that are giving some oil-rich Gulf states offensive capabilities that would make Iran think twice about an attack.<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta underscored the alliance Dec. 11 when he landed in Kuwait, a staunch Gulf ally, for consultations. He also spoke to some of the 13,500 U.S. troops stationed there.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur presence in Kuwait and throughout the Gulf helps advance the capabilities of partnering nations, deters aggression and helps ensure we\u2019re better able to respond to crisis in the region,\u201d Mr. Panetta told reporters beforehand.<\/p>\n

At a Kuwait air base, he said America has 50,000 troops and an armada of warships in the region.<\/p>\n

Desert Falcons<\/p>\n

Mr. Obama\u2019s strategic guidance in January enabled cuts in U.S. troop strength in part by saying that allies would be tasked with providing more firepower in future wars. To observers, that seems to mean the Gulf states would be asked to do more.<\/p>\n

The Congressional Research Service, which tracks global arms sales, took special note in its latest report on U.S. weapons pouring into the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. arms agreements with Saudi Arabia were extraordinary, and represent, by far, the largest share of U.S. agreements with the world or developing world in 2011,\u201d the Congressional Research Service said.<\/p>\n

Of $56 billion in total U.S. arms sales in 2011 to developing nations, more than half \u2014 $33 billion \u2014 were inked with the Saudi kingdom. U.S. defense contractors have seen a sales increase from $14 billion in contracts in 2010 to $56 billion in 2011, mostly thanks to oil-rich Gulf states.<\/p>\n

In addition, some of the offensive hardware that the Gulf states have received from the U.S. is as good or in some cases better than the U.S. military\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Lockheed Martin has been selling the United Arab Emirates an F-16 \u201cDesert Falcon\u201d version known as \u201cBlock 60,\u201d for which the country bankrolled the $3 billion development costs. According to DefenseIndustryDaily.com, it is a notch better than the latest Fighting Falcons flown by U.S. pilots.<\/p>\n

The Desert Falcons boast extended range, new radars and targeting pods that clearly make the jet an offensive threat against Iran directly across Gulf waters.<\/p>\n

The United Arab Emirates has been buying and flying Block 60s since the previous decade. It plans at some point to add other weapons \u2014 2,000-pound bunker-busting bombs used against buried, cemented targets. Obama administration officials said a year ago that they were working to complete the sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s perfectly possible the UAE could be asked to try to bomb aircraft shelters, hardened aircraft hangars\u2019 stockpiles, coastal missile sites that are hardened,\u201d Mr. Katzman said. \u201cThere are a range of targets that coalition partners like UAE could be asked to take out as part of strike package, if it comes to that.\u201d …more<\/a><\/p>\n

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U.S. arms to Gulf allies hint of strategy By Rowan Scarborough – The Washington Times – 16 December, 2012 The largest infusion of U.S. arms ever for Persian Gulf allies has shifted more toward offensive weapons at the same time that President Obama\u2019s military strategy says it will rely more on allied firepower in any more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[3841],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15011,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15009\/revisions\/15011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}