The Hugely Embarrassing Scandal For Tony Blair & George Bush

The UK `Guardian’ newspaper and BBC recently revealed that Bandar personally received over US $2 billion in `marketing fees’ from the British defense firm BAE as part of the huge, 1985 al-Yamamah arms deal. Al-Yamamah means dove in Arabic. Charges of massive corruption over the Al-Yamamah deal have swirled for years. But even for the rich Saudis, $2 billion is a lot of money. That’s twice what Washington’s most important Arab ally, Egypt, was given. For the Saudi royals, Britain’s outgoing PM Tony Blair, and Washington, the `dove’ and Bandar’s $2 billion worth of payola have become one big albatross. During the 1980’s, Saudi Arabia sought to buy modern US warplanes. But the US pro-Israel lobby blocked the sale, costing the loss of billions in sales by US industry and 100,000 American jobs. The Reagan Administration advised the Saudis to go buy their warplanes from Britain. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was only too happy have the British defense firm, known today as BAE, sell the Saudis 120 Tornado strike aircraft, Hawk trainers, military equipment, and lucrative training and maintenance programs worth some $90-100 billion and the 100,000 jobs America lost. Over their operational lives of 20 or so years, warplanes consumer six times their original cost in spare parts. These supply contract also went to BAE and other British industrial firms. The Saudis could barely operate the modern military equipment they bought from the US, Britain and France. Their military forces were a big zero. Most of it stayed in storage, or was operated by foreign mercenaries. The Saudi arms deals were really about buying military protection from the western powers. http://www.ericmargolis.com/archives/2007/06/the_mother_of_a.php

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