"The Saudis have 300 F16 fighter jets" HUH? Are you kidding me?

[in_cog_ni_to]

General McCaffrey was just on MSNBC and said the Saudis have 300 F16 fighter jets!

WHY oh WHY are THEY not attacking Libya????? WHY? That was McCaffrey's question too. I would really like to know why.

[AnOhioan]

1. Too busy supporting the Bahrain dictatorship

[PCIntern]

4. Because they have to roll the jets over all that sand b/c no one

knows how to fly them properly...

almost not kidding...

[Rex]

2. You already know why; they are royalty and don't have to get involved

in the affairs of serfs. Did you forget all those kisses Little George gave to his daddy Sultan?

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. Oh G-d...did you have to remind me?

:puke:

[HarveyDarkey]

20. .

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. .

Now was that nice? :puke: I see a weekend of Pepto Bismol ahead. :puke:

[Rex]

Oh! Ha ha ha ha hah ahahahahahahaha!

Don't make me get out the real smoochie pictures I have saved...please, people will abandon this place in panic!

Did he use...mouthwash?

Listerne...for when you know you are gonna have to be kissing the Sultans ass in the morning...

I bet that mustache is abrasive! Go George!!!

[Rex]

26. Sorry, that was in poor taste and I apologize.

Crap...now I have THAT IMAGE, you know the one...stuck in my head. Dam you photobucket and your free storage offer!!!

Wait I have an idea...:banghead:

Nope. :argh:

Better.

[LostInAnomie]

3. The Saudi Family doesn't want to inject the idea that despots should be taken out...

... into their country's bloodstream.

[Raksha]

38. I think it's a little late for that--the Shiites in Saudi Arabia

have been getting rather antsy lately. I think they've already got the bug.

[GreenStormCloud]

6. Distance. Libya isn't close to Saudi Arabia.

Further, SA would have to overfly some other countries.

[jdlh8894]

10. Not only that

WHY should they? They have no dog in this fight!

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. Saudi Arabia isn't much further away than France. It may even be closer...looking at my map.

I don't think that has anything to do with it. Saudi Arabia could fly over Egypt...easily...straight to Libya.

[Spider Jerusalem]

35. 1600 miles from Riyadh to Benghazi.

About 500 from Sicily, 750 from Cyprus, 1000 from Toulon. (Italy has offered use of bases, the RAF has a base in Cyprus, and the French naval base is at Toulon.) The F-16 has a combat radius of 340 miles when armed with 1000-pound bombs, and the Saudi Air Force doesn't have the midair refuelling capability that France, the UK and US have.

[in_cog_ni_to]

39. Thanks.

That was informative. I appreciate it.

[jberryhill]

46. We limited the fuel capacity in the ones we sold them

Their pilots and maintenance suck, and we have a civilian contingent of permanent "trainers" there.

The idea was that, yes, they get the planes but, no, they aren't even a credible threat to Israel.

[leftstreet]

16. Neither is the US n/t

[bluestateguy]

7. Ronald Reagan sold them to the Saudis in 1981

In spite of Israel's pleas not to do so.

[stockholmer]

23. Barack Obama to authorise record $60bn Saudi arms sale-- both parties are warmongers

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704621204575488361149625050.html

"The Obama administration is set to notify Congress of plans to offer advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia worth up to $60 billion, the largest U.S. arms deal ever, and is in talks with the kingdom about potential naval and missile-defense upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/13/us-saudi-arabia-arms-deal

"Barack Obama is to go ahead with plans to sell Saudi Arabia advanced aircraft and other weapons worth up to $60bn (£39bn), the biggest arms deal in US history, in a strategy of shoring up Gulf Arab allies to face any military threat from Iran.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration is also in talks with the Saudis about possible naval and missile-defence upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more over five to 10 years."


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the total will be over $90 billion


:thumbsdown:

[AngryAmish]

8. Because they can't fly them.

Saudi pilots scare the crap out of their US trainers. Very lazy and immune to criticism.

[eppur_se_muova]

47. Aren't they all members of the royal family?

I don't think anyone else is permitted to fly Saudi military planes. Loyalty is apparently hard to come by otherwise.

And the royal family is HUGE.

[MineralMan]

9. I wonder how many of those 300 are operable.

I also wonder how many fully-qualified F16 pilots are available.

[Sonoman]

40. That's it. The purchase was payback for some deal Reagan made.

I recall, at the time, there was some uproar about the whole deal.

Also, I remember something about the nightmares of training Saudi pilots.

But all of that happened during My Lost Years (thanks to Ollie North and cheap coke).

Sonoman

[Ilsa]

42. Yeah, Barack is holding the F-16-Be-Gone remote control.

(insert your saved pic of "TV-Be-Gone", used to turn off FUX News on TVs in public places.)

IIRC, my friends that were pilot instructors in the Navy didn't care much for having to train Saudi pilots.

[MineralMan]

43. I was stationed in Turkey in the late 60s. They had an Air Force,

with planes supplied by the US. They didn't fly them much. They had few qualified pilots, and the trainees kept crashing the planes, so they essentially quit flying the ones that were left. Of course, since they weren't flying them, they didn't really maintain them, so a lot of them weren't in flying condition. I suspect a similar situation in Saudi Arabia, but I have no real idea.

[somone]

11. Saudi pilots excel at flying into buildings

[onehandle]

17. +1 nt

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. They do, don't they. We know 19 who did a very good job of that.

:(

[undeterred]

12. They're having an Air Show to entertain the Bush Crime Family this weekend.

:hide:

[leftstreet]

15. ouch

:rofl: :spank:

[Wilms]

34. Not another 9/11!

:scared:

[Motown_Johnny]

13. the French wanted to do it, why would the Saudis argue with them?

When someone else wants to do the dirty work, most people will let them.

[Contrary1]

18. Why should that poor country spend their money?

We're more than willing to spend ours.

[WatsonT]

21. Why would they?

Libya's troubles don't threaten them. Likewise any disruption in the oil supply will only increase the value of their own exports.

No doubt they'd like a global uprising against oil producing dictatorships (excluding their own) that lasts for decades or more.

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. Members of the Arab League: THEY wanted this attack.

Members of the Arab League

Algeria
Bahrain
Comoros
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen

[kenny blankenship]

24. Having Libya around is useful. As long as Gaddafi rules, the Saudi dictatorship doesn't look so bad

They look bad, but not they're not the worst the region has to offer (so they like to think) and they may look bad but at least they're not alone. Notorious headline grabbing villains like Gaddafi make it easier for them to avoid scrutiny. Naturally, they are reluctant to see him go.

[leftstreet]

29. All this Democracy breaking out ruffles the Saudi robes n/t

[old mark]

33. And the Saud family is worried they might be the next to go.....nt

[roamer65]

27. Sec Clinton said some Arab countries are not publically anouncing their involvement.

I suspect Saudi jets will be involved.

[in_cog_ni_to]

30. Good. They should be. n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

32. dupe delete

[formercia]

45. Give the Libyans some target practice.

Saudi princes will be buying new skivvies.

[old mark]

28. Because they don't want to spend the money...they will let NATO do it...nt

[jannyk]

31. How do you think we pay for that oil?

[chill_wind]

36. MSNBC's "One-Man Military-Industrial-Media Complex" and first-clast war profiteer

Barry McCaffrey and friends.

http://www.alternet.org/world/110768/nbc%27s_%22one-man_military-industrial-media_complex%22/

It's got to almost be like March 19 (2003) all over again for him. Good time$$. Good time$$.

[BOG PERSON]

37. they're keeping their powder dry for a showdown with Iran

Iran is their #1 real concern

[Codeine]

41. They lack mid-air refueling.

Or they did last time I was reading up on their military hardware. Things could have changed, but I doubt it; the Saudis seem to prefer their military in a defensive role.

[bahrbearian]

44. They also have AWACS too. Same with Egypt

[upi402]

48. We'll be dodging those goodies in due course too. n/t