How the Iranophobia creates billions for Western military industrial complex

America’s joint with Middle Eastern totalitarian regimes generate business for tens of billions of dollars per year. The phantom of Iran threat involves a massive transfer of money and resources from the Arabian Peninsula to Europe and the United States, going down in an unprecedented recession, but boosting an industry to "Chinese rates": the military industrial complex.
By Gabriel Martin
Released March, 3-2011

 
On September 14, 2010, the Wall Street Journal told the world that the U.S. agreed with  Saudi Arabia, a client monarchy, the largest arms sales in history, for a volume of 60.000 billion [i].

The core of the transaction are 84 F-15 fighters, upgrade another 70 and purchase three types of helicopters, 70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds, to modernize the Saudi armed forces, and the contract could be upgraded on 27,000 million dollars on missile defense and naval ships.

This massive transfer of wealth, involving an initial contract of 60,000 million dollars was signed for a country of 26 million population, five million of them immigrants for cheap labor, with 23% illiteracy rate has a specific target: Iran.

Never clearer than the last months the America’s democracy exports concept erupted in the ME riots against despotic regimes, than the last three decades, especially after 1991 Washington Consensus for a globalizing free trade economy.

The first part of the contract is basically weapons to ensure the Saudi monarchy get supremacy on air forces against the Iranian Republic. The object of this article is not to explain the Iranian system, but Iran holds regular elections, with legislative representatives, and a president elected by direct popular vote among the political parties (a little bit different that the America’s two-parties and undirected state elector vote, and never darker than Bush’s fraud on his first election), while in Saudi Arabia parties and political organizations are full banned.

When U.K. started exports of Eurofighter Typhoon, the first sale contract signed was precisely with the Saudi monarchy, which paid 40,000 million dollars for 72 units [ii]. The Eurofighter is built by a consortium of British, Germany, Italy, France and Spain. Signed in 2007, was approved by the U.S. on October 30, 2008.

In July 2006, Saudi Arabia signed another huge contract with France Sofresa for 142 helicopters (NH-64 models 90, 20 Eurocopter Cougar, 42 Eurocopter Fennec, four Panther and an initial lot of 12 Tiger attack helicopters. The sale was for 7000 million euros, the bigger war weaponry sale made by France for so far. A day earlier, the Pentagon had notified the U.S. Congress that of General Dynamics Land sales 724 armored vehicles and 24 Black Hawk helicopters for 5.800 million dollars to the Kingdom of Saudi [iii].

While Spain sinks into a 20% unemployment rate ocean, cutting social wealthfare, its military industry finally signs its largest export contract in Spanish history, with Saudi’s prince Khaled bin Sultan, sending to Arabia amid 200 a 270 Leopard 2E armored cars manufactured in Seville, Santa Barbara’s plan by General Dynamics for 4.500 million dollars [iv].

In February 2010, while protests and riots throughout the Arab world started, British Prime Minister James Cameron, began a tour with a goal ahead: selling weapons. The British delegation ended up in Egypt, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, attending with CEOs of the weapons divisions of BAE Systems, Thales UK, Qinetiq, Rolls Royce and Ultra Electronics [v].

Britain is the leading provider of anti-riot weapons to Bahrain, Libya, Algeria and Saudi.

In Egypt, during the three decades of Hosni Mubarak dictatorship, the U.S. supported him with 60,000 million dollars in military aid, secret programs not included. Obviously, these funds are redirected to the U.S. industrial military complex, so only a little bit a fractions reaches Egypt as "help". But Americans tanks and bullets are always ready to crack down on protesters.

But the financial aid finally creates a debt that exceeded the economic capacities of Egypt, which ended up negotiating a reduction of it by participating in the war against Iraq in 1991, and its increasingly open economy under IMF tutelage.

In the last decade, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its annual report in November last year, the United Arab Emirates is located behind Saudi Arabia as the biggest buyers of arms. This just 83,000 km2 emirate and 5.6 million people in 2005-2008 purchased 62 Mirage fighter jets to France and 80 to the U.S. F16 fighter, adding a year later others 30 combat helicopters AH -64D.

Contracts are currently running a potpourri of land-air Patriot missiles, sixty UH-60M helicopters, two Italian corvettes warships, and closing a contract to purchase another 48 fighter jets to U.S. or France. The European and America’s military industrial complex are running sales to UAE for 35-40 billion dollars [vi].

Since 2006, UEA and U.S. a FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations are taking place, but not signed yet. The Emirates  military spending would reach 6% of GDP (the latest official data is from 2005 shows a 3.1% according to the CIA), while not even 1% invested in education.

Bahrain is one of the weakest points in the volatile situation in the Gulf region with the popular outbursts. Around 75-80% of the population is Shiite confession, oppressed by a Sunni monarchy that controls huge oil resources. A fundamental pillar of Bahraini monarchy rest in their ports: the headquarters of the United States Fifth Fleet are precisely in Bahrain.

After the indiscriminate killing of demonstrators in Manama, Bahrain’s capital city, the Saudi monarchy warned that could intervene directly if demonstrators still not placated. Egyptian daily Al Masjid reported that in late February 30 armored cars entered in Bahrain from Saudi Arabia [vii]. The arrival of tanks not officially confirmed but images spread on Youtube and alternative media, using a route build by the Saudis during 1980 to 1986 to facilitate any emergency intervention.
 
The weapons sold by U.S. to Saudi Arabia for billions had move east targeting Lybia’s Khadaffi government. According to journalist Robert Fisk, the Nobel Peace Barack Obama, asked the Saudi monarchy to send anti-tank missiles, mortars and missiles air to the Libyan rebels to cover up a new western intervention against a Muslim country [viii].

Should be noted that in March 7, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar were the first countries supporting the French and British idea of ​​create a No-fly-Zone on Libya, pushed by U.S. and NATO, to help the so called rebels in the Libyan civil war [ix]. The Pentagon has seven military bases in Kuwait, five in Saudi Arabia, one in Qatar, Oman and another two in Bahrain, which hosts the V Fleet.

Bahrain was the first Gulf state to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. With unemployment exceeding 15% of the population, Bahrain invests 2.9% of GDP on education while spending twice as much on its military budget.

During the next three years, Oman will spend 12,000 million for purchasing U.S. F16s and British Typhoon. This country already buys twelve F16 to U.S. and three warships to U.K. acquired in 2005.

Oman's military spending represented more than 12% of GDP while education goes three times less: just 4% of GDP. Oman’s monarchy is another example of American-backed regimes in the region: the country has a chamber of 84 representatives with 84 elected by popular vote, but only has consultative duties, while the high chamber (like western Senate) has 71 members appointed by the Sultan , which also chooses the prime minister position: he elected himself as PM in 1972.

Waving the Iranophobia, as the U.S. and Israel does, creates a huge business of billions of dollars in these years of economic crisis, pumping money from oil wells into western veins, and returning to Middle East as weapons to repress their own people and to keep free trade.
In 2007, world powers fund FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) with 6,300 million to handle any food emergency. In the same year those same countries spent more than 990,000 million in military budget.

While a few western powers use the hypothesis of a war that Iran would declare to each countries of the region, all that weapons sold by Europe and U.S., it can be seen in the streets of these countries hold by military and police hands to repress their own people demanding just a better life, food and political freedom to choose their future.

The "Iranophobia" feed promiscuous the military industrial complex of United States and Europe: they already have contracts for 123.000 million dollars until 2014 for weapons just for clients in Persian Gulf. While military industrial complex grew 7% just last year, the rest of the economy will not grow more than 1%, or even worst, will fall into recession.


[i] “Saudi arms deal advances”, The Wall Street Journal, by Adam Entous, 10/12/2010
[ii] “Venta multimillonaria de armas”, BBC, 09/17/2007
[iii] Saudi Arabia launches huge arms buying spree, France to net most orders”, Defense-Aerospace.com, by Giovanni de Briganti, 22/07/2006.
[iv] “España negocia la venta de más de 200 carros de combate a Arabia Saudí”, by Miguel González, El País, 10/25/2010
[v] “David Cameron’s Cairo visit overshadowed by defence tour”, by Nicholas Watt and Robert Booth, The Guardian, 02/21/2011
[vi] “Gulf States in $123bn US arms spree”, by Roula Khalaf and James Drummond, Financial Times, 09/20/2010
[vii] RIA Novosti, Moscú, 03/01/2011
[viii] “America’s secret plan to arm Libya`s rebels”, by Robert Fisk, The Independent, 03/07/2011
[ix] “Gulf states support no fly zone over Libya”, The Wall Street Journal, 03/07/2011



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