Trump to unveil plans for an Arab NATO in Saudi Arabia

[jpak]

Last edited Wed May 17, 2017, 11:37 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Washington Post

When President Trump arrives in Riyadh this week, he will lay out his vision for a new regional security architecture White House officials call an “Arab NATO,” to guide the fight against terrorism and push back against Iran. As a cornerstone of the plan, Trump will also announce one of the largest arms-sales deals in history.

Behind the scenes, the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia have been conducting extensive negotiations, led by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The discussions began shortly after the presidential election, when Mohammed, known in Washington as “MBS,” sent a delegation to meet with Kushner and other Trump officials at Trump Tower.

After years of disillusionment with the Obama administration, the Saudi leadership was eager to do business. “They were willing to make a bet on Trump and on America,” a senior White House official said.

In that meeting and during a follow-up meeting three weeks later, the Saudis proposed a broad elevation of the U.S.-Saudi relationship and proposed various projects to increase security cooperation, economic cooperation and investment, White House officials said. The Trump team gave the Saudis a list of Trump priorities, calling on the kingdom to step up actions to combat radical Islamic extremism, intensify the fight against the Islamic State and share the burden of regional security.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/05/17/trump-to-unveil-plans-for-an-arab-nato-in-saudi-arabia/?utm_term=.7fcb8d19a562

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on edit...

but...but...but...I thought NATO was "obsolete"

[Turbineguy]

1. Trump should be careful about

putting words in other peoples' mouths.

".... years of disillusionment.... " Really?

[secondwind]

2. Trump hotels in Saudi Arabia next.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[sinkingfeeling]

6. +1000

[EX500rider]

9. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[Sunlei]

4. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[mr_lebowski]

8. We really don't ...

We're still a net crude importer to the tune of over 50% of what we consume as a nation.

We do export more petroleum PRODUCTS than we import, like refined gasoline, but much of the stock for that is oil that originates elsewhere ... Canada, Venezuela, Mexico, mostly.

We're nowhere NEAR the 'KSA' in export capacity.

[riversedge]

5. but Trump can sell more arms: "one of the largest arms-sales deals in history.

Isn't the u.s. the biggest arms suppler in the world??

[EX500rider]

10. "Isn't the u.s. the biggest arms suppler in the world?" Yes.

No. 1 – United States
The United-States remains the largest exporter of conventional weapons in the world. The U.S accounts for 33 percent of global arms transfers, up from 29 percent in 2006-2010, according to SIPRI. TOP CLIENTS 2011-2015 – Saudi Arabia (9.7 percent), United Arab Emirates (9.1 percent), Turkey (6.6 percent) 2006-2010 – South Korea (15 percent), Israel (13 percent), United Arab Emirates (11 percent)

http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Features/Worlds-Top-5-arms-exporters/3105/?spt=su

[atreides1]

7. Shia vs Sunni

With the US officially taking a side...and providing weapons and training to that side!

[EX500rider]

11. Well unfortunately Iran leads the Shia side...

....and they aren't very friendly to the US, so no surprise.

[Maeve]

12. And MBS had better be careful about betting on dead horses

Just sayin'...