Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Will Saudi Arabia Be Allowed to Buy F-35s?

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The F-35 is the most advanced plane in the world, and until now the American government has been careful not to sell it to enemies of its ally, Israel. That may be about to change, and the Israelis are alarmed. More on the potential sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia can be found here: “Danger of US giving Saudis F35s: Golden opportunity for normalization slipping away? – analysis,” by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, November

Two data points could signal a geopolitical and security earthquake in the Middle East.

The Pentagon has given a preliminary nod to selling F-35s to Saudi Arabia, and the Trump administration may carry out this deal without conditioning it on normalization between Riyadh and Jerusalem.

How are these two points issues, and why are they potential game-changers?

Until now, only democracies have been sold the F-35.

Mostly the US, European countries, Japan, and South Korea.

No country with even a hint of military hostility to Israel or any potential ally of Iran has been sold the aircraft.

When Turkey purchased Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, the US kicked them out of the F-35 potential buyers program….

The Saudis, in general, are much closer to the US and Europe than to Eastern countries.

They are also part of an unspoken and unofficial Middle East security alliance with Israel and other Sunni countries against Tehran….

While the Saudis are opposed to the regime in Iran, and no doubt applauded Israel’s (and America’s) destruction of Iran’s nuclear program during the 12-day war last June, that does not make Saudi Arabia an ally of Israel. The Saudis still insist that they will not normalize relations with the Jewish state unless, and until, a state of Palestine is created in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Palestine, leaving Israel squeezed back within the 1949 armistice lines — the lines that Abba Eban described as the “lines of Auschwitz” — that would strip Israel of its indispensable defenses in the Jordan Valley, and leave it with a nine-mile wide waist from Qalqilya to the sea. In other words, the Saudi sine qua non for normalization of ties with Israel is for the Jewish state to agree to be reduced catastrophically in size and in the ability to defend itself.

If Saudi Arabia is allowed to buy the F-35s, what would prevent it from sharing the plane’s technology with Russia and China, enemies of the US that the Saudis have been courting to make sure that they do not rely solely on the U.S. in what is now a multipolar world?

This came up in 2020 when the US almost sold the F-35 to the UAE at the height of the wave of the Abraham Accords.

At the time, it seemed like the Israeli political echelon was reluctantly not publicly objecting, but top defense officials were very concerned about the move and breathed a sigh of relief when it fell through due to a variety of other issues.

But one of the reasons that Israel was somewhat ready to swallow the UAE receiving the F-35 was that the UAE had crossed the Rubicon and normalized ties with Jerusalem.

In other words, Israel got a major strategic win, and so it was willing to keep its mouth shut about a potential strategic problem….

Further, the very fact that the UAE normalized relations with Israel in some ways made it less likely, though not impossible, that it would pass on the sensitive F-35 technology to Israeli adversaries.

The F-35 sale to the UAE ultimately fell through for a variety of reasons, but at least the American offer to sell the plane to the Emirates came after the UAE had normalized ties with Israel. In the case of the Saudis, no such normalization has taken place; nor is likely, given the Saudi demand that a condition precedent to such normalization must be the creation of a Palestinian state on territory Israel won in the Six-Day War and that is essential for its defense against a potential invader from the east.

Israel could augment its qualitative military superiority for air-to-air battle by acquiring the US-made F-22 fighter jet, and it could try to get into the bidding for the F-47, which is due to start replacing the F-22 sometime in 2028….

But we have already been told that the F-35 is the most advanced airplane in the world. Why would the F-22, if sold to the Jewish state, protect it from Saudi-owned F-35s?

Trump appears deeply impressed with the Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman, whom he considers a “friend,” and who has promised Trump that his country will invest $600 billion in the US. When MBS visits the White House in mid-November, he is likely both to again mention that investment, and at the same time, to say the following: “I am pleased to announce that as a result of talks with my good friend, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, we have decided to allow his country to buy a squadron of F-35s for its defense.”

There will be no mention of the former condition precedent to such a sale, which is Saudi agreement to “normalize relations” with Israel. Israel and its supporters in Congress need to vociferously oppose this sale, pointing out that it places in Saudi hands America’s most advanced aircraft with no guarantee that its technology will not be shared with countries that wish us ill, including Russia and China. If the sale cannot be stopped, at least the Americans should demand that before it is finalized the Saudis must normalize relations with Israel. And if they refuse, then let the sale fall through. There are many other countries, Western allies in NATO, who would happily buy America’s F-35s as part of increasing their defense spending in light of the threat that Putin’s Russia poses.

Comments

  2. When it comes to it’s survival, Israel should not trust any country… not even the US.

    When you start entertaining the head of ISIS running Syria – Al Julani
    When you stop Israel from wiping out Hamas
    When Christian are being eliminated in many african and muslim countries and you stay silent

    You cannot trust the US….. it says one thing and then next moment it changes it’s mind and does the opposite

    “Beware of false prophets and those, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits….”
    Matthew 7:15

    • Sadly, I pretty much agree w/ you. Trump 45, whatever its domestic shortcomings, was great in foreign policy, when they had Israel’s back, and not only moved the embassy but also recognized Golan, and enabled agreements w/ 4 Arab countries. Trump 47, by contrast, has been a great disappointment

      Also, beyond Trump, the US historically has been a proof of the cliche that “No good deed goes unpunished”. When the Soviet Union unravelled and Russia became independent, there was no revision of the relationship by the Clinton nor either of the Bush administrations. Gadaffi turned in Libya’s WMD program, but when the Arab Spring hit, NATO did what it could to enable the jihadist rebels in toppling his regime, getting him lynched and plunging that country into civil war. On the flip side of things, Pakistan and Qatar have played both sides of the conflict – the jihadist sides as well as the US side, and neither of them has been disciplined

      India has already recognized it, and Trump, who was immensely popular w/ Indians in his last term, is disdained this term, and many Indians believe that India should end things w/ the US and just throw their lot w/ Russia. Israel needs to recognize this as well, and start looking for other partners, maybe even Russia. Essentially, the US does not have a sane foreign policy that rewards real allies (not talking about the sponges in Europe who tariff US products while having Americans defend them) and punishes double-faced enemies. Therefore, countries should be leery of the US and follow policies that do 2 things:
      ⮞ Do not attract the negative attention of Uncle Sam
      ⮞ Do not follow policies that would give the US any geopolitical advantage, since no good deed goes unpunished. Gadaffi found that out, and so has Gen Haftar, who despite being a CIA agent at one time and still a US citizen, is still not favored by the US in bringing stability to that country, even though he’s in the best position to do so

  3. When it comes to it’s survival, Israel should not trust any country… not even the US.

    When you start entertaining the head of ISIS running Syria – Al Julani
    When you stop Israel from wiping out Hamas
    When Christian are being eliminated in many african and muslim countries and you stay silent

    You cannot trust the US….. it says one thing and then next moment it changes it’s mind and does the opposite

    “Beware of false prophets and those, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits….”
    Matthew 7:15

  4. From what I have read about the Saudis, they use American weaponry as art exhibits/toys. They don’t care about the pilots who fly them, but are tremendously concerned that nothing ever happens to that equipment, since what they pay is almost in the trillion ballpark. Heck, they haven’t been using them against either Iran nor the Houthis: they’re even less likely to use that against Israel

    Also, Trump 47 has had no qualms about supporting Qatar both diplomatically and w/ weapons. Given that, Israel has a lot more to fear from Qatar than from Saudi Arabia. Jerusalem should also keep a close eye on both Cairo and Amman, since those are not the same regimes as that of Anwar Sadat or King Hussein. MbS, by contrast, is too busy making real but slow changes to Saudi Arabia

  5. The F-35 has a poor maintenence record and requires support beyond the Saudis capability – but MBS must know that. He would need to buy some US expert technicians as well. F-35s are LOUD, the engine is not only powerful, but the loudness points to fuel-gobbling which requires refueling for long distance operations.

    As much as we like to deny it, the Russians have equal jet fighter capabilities(su-57, 35) which makes the idea that SA wants them to send the F-35 “tech” to Russia a bit overblown. Russia has not been sitting still since the 1990s, developing a non-ballistic supersonic kinetic/nuclear missile, a nuclear-powered nuclear missile capable of circling the globe awaiting its time and direction, and a remotely directed nuclear-powered nuclear submarine/torpedo that can create local tsunamis and flood coastal cities. Frankly the US slow procurement, the enormous waste and overrun by few grandfathered defense firms has left us behind.

    If the US wants better “high-tech” weapons have Israeli engineers design them. The appropriate weapons have usually been created by those in a real war.

  7. I’ve been wondering of late what Trump’s end game is where the Middle East is concerned and, frankly, I to date still don’t know and have several questions about it. I have to consider he may know exactly what he is doing and I have to consider that he does not. Does anyone?

    • I’m in the same frame of mind with you on this one Wellington, one minute I doubt him the next minute I don’t. I see the way snuggles up to people like Erdogan, then I ask myself, why the hell is he doing this. But at the moment if I had to choose between does he know what he is doing, or he doesn’t know what he is doing, I would choose he knows what he is doing. After all he did take out Iran’s nuclear facilities that’s something that previous world leaders should have done years ago.

  8. It should be known and not forgotten that the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not and will not spare any of its vast oil wealth as to use its financial resources to fund and promote the advancement of Islam by and through the jihad. By this it means both the stealth jihad and even the subtle support violent jihad.

    As explained, for example in the book HOW ISLAM PLANS TO CHANGE THE WORLD by William Wagner. For on pages 109, 110. The reader is informed that “The Wall Street journal on April 15, 2003, published an article titled ‘In law Seminars, A Saudi Group Spreads Extremism.’ The article began by saying ‘In late February more than 300 young men from across Europe gathered for a weekend seminar on Islamic Law put on by Al-Waqf al-Islaami Foundation.’ The article went on to explain that the most famous graduates from the seminar were half a dozen members of the group of young men from Hamburg, Germany, who plotted the September 11, attacks. The language of the was Dutch, but ‘the message was imported from Saudi Arabia, via Saudi books and lecturers who taught a strict orthodox interpretation of Islam.’ “

    Further on the very same page of 110 the information is given that “TIME MAGAZINE , in an article on Saudi Arabia: Inside the Kingdom,’ stated ‘Apart from channeling money to foundations that have assisted terrorist groups, Saudis have for years supported institutions abroad the propagate Wahhabism.’”

    In addition to all this, in the book of the title of THE HISTORY OF JIHAD FROM MUHAMMAD TO ISIS, by Robert Spencer on pages 333 through 337.Mr Spencer provides valid information of the subject of “ The Saudi involvement in September 11.”

    So, with that Islamic regime of Saudi Arabia and its oil money support the different type of the jihad, both stealth and the violent kind, with its Islamic agenda advancement and spread, influence and infiltration of the Western nations, this kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no friend at all of the United Kingdom or America or any other country of the West.

    Furthermore, the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia many times funds construction and reading material of many madrassas which are Muslim mind control and mind programming places where Muslim males are thoroughly indoctrinated into the strong but blind and unquestioning faith in Koran with all non-watered down; hard core Islam with its militant jihad. Those places, “schools,” are called madrasas. In those Islamic mind programming centers young Muslim male are ingrain in the mindset Koranic dogma of the use of violence and killing for the advancement of Islam. As the Koran instructs. As in, for example, in 2:191. 9:5, 123. 47:4. Many of those who of such center are so much damaged that they are literally dangerous to self and others. As seen many times in jihad suicide, homicide bombing/attacks. For the Koran instructs in 9:111. “The believers fight in Allah’s Cause, they slay and are slain, they kill and are killed.”

    Furthermore, those mind programming places also ingrain the outlandish absurd Koranic doctrine of a ex-filled paradise with many virgins, houris, in it for the Muslim male who dies fighting for the cause of Islam in the jihad. Such a strange doctrine of a houris filled- place in found in the Koran in 44:54. 55:56. 78:31. Moreover, such Islamic mind programming centers are further explained about by the scholar Don Richardson in his book SECRETS OF THE KORAN which on pages 69,70. Informs the reader that “The world needs to be warned. At least forty million Muslim youth in the Muslim worlds’ religious schools, called madrasa, are avidly memorizing the entire Koran … These schools become breeding grounds for potential terrorists. When male students, isolated from family and friends in madrasa, reach puberty and their hormones are active, there are no girls to date. Instead, Muslim clerics easily shift to focusing the male student’s attention on Koranic verse that promises sex in heaven with dark-eyed houris. Students can only fantasize about martyrdom followed by the sexual release Muhammad promised. This is an unspeakably cruel brainwashing technique, and the Koran is its perfect guidebook.”

    In short, Saudi Arabia is very guilty of promoting Islamic terrorism.

  9. The Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia in no friend of any Western nation, Saudi Arabia is best defined as a kingdom of Islamic hate.

    As one Arab scholar who had lived in a Middle Eastern country, for many years revealed “Saudi madrassa notably teaches hatred and condemnation of the West and non-Muslims” and “The Saudi Government also provides free textbooks to Islamic schools throughout the world. many of the Saudi- Issued textbook’s contain wording that encourages hatred and intolerance for non-Muslims.” [1]

    Saudi Arabia in many ways is no better than Iran.

    So with that Islamic regime of Saudi Arabia and its oil money support the different type of the jihad, both stealth and the violent kind, with its Islamic agenda advancement and spread, influence and infiltration of the Western nations, this kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no friend at all of America or any other country of the West.

    [1] THEY MUST BE STOPPED by Brigitte Gabriel, page 106

  10. The Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not and will not spare any of its vast oil wealth as to use its financial resources to fund and promote the advancement of Islam by and through the jihad. By this it means both the stealth jihad and even the subtle support violent jihad.

    As explained, for example in the book HOW ISLAM PLANS TO CHANGE THE WORLD by William Wagner. For on pages 109, 110. The reader is informed that “The Wall Street journal on April 15, 2003, published an article titled ‘In law Seminars, A Saudi Group Spreads Extremism.’ The article began by saying ‘In late February more than 300 young men from across Europe gathered for a weekend seminar on Islamic Law put on by Al-Waqf al-Islaami Foundation.’ The article went on to explain that the most famous graduates from the seminar were half a dozen members of the group of young men from Hamburg, Germany, who plotted the September 11, attacks. The language of the was Dutch, but ‘the message was imported from Saudi Arabia, via Saudi books and lecturers who taught a strict orthodox interpretation of Islam.’ “

    Further on the very same page of 110 the information is given that “TIME MAGAZINE, in an article on Saudi Arabia: Inside the Kingdom,’ stated ‘Apart from channeling money to foundations that have assisted terrorist groups, Saudis have for years supported institutions abroad the propagate Wahhabism.’”

    There is no good valid reason as to why the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia can be trusted. For it reeks treachery and deceit.

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