Brad Plumer quoting William Arkin and Tariq Ali notes an interesting wrinkle in the Saudi arms sale deal — both sources say the reason the Saudi military is so terrible despite buying so much expensive US military equipment is that the house of Saud doesn’t want a competent military. After all, a competent, independent military might stage a coup. Similarly, it seems clear enough to me that US policy in the Persian Gulf is centered around Dissuading the Gulf Cooperation Council states from developing the capacity to defend themselves against Iran (or, back in the day, Iraq), the better to leave them as dependent clients of the United States.
Photo by Flickr user John Rawlinson used under a Creative Commons license
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