Saudi arms sale may spark Bush-US Congress battle

[babylonsister]

Saudi arms sale may spark Bush-US Congress battle

Jim Wolf
Reuters North American News Service

Dec 27, 2007 11:21 EST


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A plan to sell Saudi Arabia highly accurate bomb-guidance kits is roiling Israel's backers in the U.S. Congress, setting up a potential clash with President Bush.

The administration could formally notify lawmakers as soon as Jan. 15 of the possible sale to Riyadh of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAM, technology.

As many as 253 members of the 435-seat House of Representatives have signed bipartisan warnings to Bush about such a sale to Saudi Arabia, still in a formal state of war with Israel.

The projected deal involves tail kits produced by Boeing Co that turn unguided bombs into precision munitions with built-in satellite and motion-sensor navigation systems.

"You have the makings of a resolution of disapproval," said Rep. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican pushing for measures to curb what he considers the JDAM's risk to Israel and U.S. forces in the region.

Kirk is a naval reservist who serves a weekend a month as deputy director of intelligence in the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. In a telephone interview Wednesday, he said he was waiting for the administration to propose measures "to prevent these systems from ever being a threat to Americans or Israel."

Kirk cited possible political assurances, special arrangements with the Saudi government or "anything else they can think of."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/12/saudi_arms_sale_may_spark_bush.php

[Purveyor]

1. Putin's Russia will be more than happy to 'fill the gap' and without the pesky conditions that the

israeli lobby insists upon.