Timing is everything. President Bush's visit to Saudi Arabia today came with a sweetener: a formal announcement of plans to sell Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS) bombs to the oil-rich Kingdom. The sale is part of a larger arms package intended for the Gulf and estimated at a hefty $20 billion. As the Jerusalem Post reports:
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Coinciding with Bush's trip, the Bush administration in Washington notified Congress on Monday that it would offer Saudi Arabia the chance to buy sophisticated Joint Direct Attack Munitions - or "smart bomb" - technology and related equipment, the State Department said. The administration envisions the transfer of 900 of the precision-guided bomb kits, worth US$123 million, that would give the kingdom's armed forces highly accurate targeting abilities. *
*The proposed deal follows notification of five other packages to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, bringing to US$11.5 billion the amount of advanced US weaponry, including Patriot missiles, that the administration has announced it will provide to friendly Arab nations, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Administration officials say the total amount of eventual sales as part of the Gulf Security Dialogue is estimated at $20 billion, a figure subject to actual purchases. *
While some talking heads are saying Congress may balk, the sale has already gone through informal notification periods so I expect it'll sail through the 30-day congressional notification period.
