US Military Spending Still Up 45% Over Pre-9/11 Levels; More Than Next 7 Countries Combined
Last edited Thu Apr 23, 2015, 12:51 PM - Edit history (1)
Despite a decline in military spending since 2010, U.S. defense expenditures are still 45 percent higher than they were before the 9/11 terror attacks put the country on a seemingly permanent war footing.
And despite massive regional buildups spurred by conflict in the Ukraine and the Middle East, the U.S. spends more on its military than the next seven top-spending countries combined, according to new figures compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
That’s nearly three times as much as China, and more than seven times as much as Russia.
Saudi Arabia is now the fourth-biggest military spender on the globe, which in its case means spending nearly $80 billion last year buying weapons, mostly from the U.S., and most notably including fistfuls of F-15 fighters and top-of-the-line attack helicopters.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/04/20/u-s-military-still-spending-45-911-much-next-7-top-spending-countries-combined/
Posting because I think this is an extremely important issue -- Especially given Saudi Arabia is a large purchaser of defense weapons. They are one of the worst of the worst governments in the world.
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's pact with Muhammad bin Saud (which led to The First Saudi State & today's Saudi Arabia)
"This oasis is yours, do not fear your enemies. By the name of God, if all Nejd was summoned to throw you out, we will never agree to expel you."
—Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia: 16
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab replied:
"You are the settlement's chief and wise man. I want you to grant me an oath that you will perform jihad (Struggle to spread Islam) against the unbelievers. In return you will be imam, leader of the Muslim community and I will be leader in religious matters."
—Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia: 16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_Abd_al-Wahhab#Pact_with_Muhammad_bin_Saud
If those two were alive today...
= new reply since forum marked as read
If you notice, the pact was formed with al-Wahhabb
Wahhabism (Arabic: وهابية?, Wahhābiya(h)) or Wahhabi mission[1] (/wəˈhɑːbi, wɑː-/;[2] Arabic: ألدعوة ألوهابية?, ad-Da'wa al-Wahhābiya(h) ) is a religious movement or branch of Sunni Islam.[3][4][5][6] It has been variously described as "orthodox", "ultraconservative",[7] "austere",[3] "fundamentalist",[8] "puritanical"[9] (or "puritan"
;[10] as an Islamic "reform movement" to restore "pure monotheistic worship" (tawhid), by scholars and advocates[11] and as an "extremist pseudo-Sunni movement" by opponents.[12] Adherents often object to the term Wahhabi or Wahhabism as derogatory, and prefer to be called Salafi or muwahhid.[13][14][15]
Wahhabism is named after an eighteenth century preacher and scholar, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792).[16] He started a revivalist movement in the remote, sparsely populated region of Najd,[17] advocating a purging of practices such as the popular "cult of saints", and shrine and tomb visitation, widespread among Muslims, but which he considered idolatry, impurities and innovations in Islam.[5][18] Eventually he formed a pact with a local leader Muhammad bin Saud offering political obedience and promising that protection and propagation of the Wahhabi movement would mean "power and glory" and rule of "lands and men."[19] The movement is centered on the principle of tawhid,[20] or the "uniqueness" and "unity" of God.[18]
The alliance between followers of ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad bin Saud's successors (the House of Saud) proved to be a rather durable alliance. The house of bin Saud continued to maintain its politico-religious alliance with the Wahhabi sect through the waxing and waning of its own political fortunes over the next 150 years, through to its eventual proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, and then afterwards, on into modern times. Today Mohammed bin Abd Al-Wahhab's teachings are state-sponsored and are the official form of Sunni Islam[3][21] in 21st century Saudi Arabia despite the fact that majority of its Sunnis are non-Wahhabis.[22] This makes adherents of Wahhabism a "dominant minority" in the country.
<snip>
Wahhabism has been accused of being "a source of global terrorism",[27][28] and for causing disunity in the Muslim community by labeling non-Wahhabi Muslims (such as Shias or mainstream Sunnis) as apostates[29] (takfir), thus paving the way for their bloodshed.[30][31][32] It has also been criticized for the destruction of historic mazaars, mausoleums, and other Muslim and non-Muslim buildings and artifacts.[33][34][35] The "boundaries" of what make up Wahhabism have been called "difficult to pinpoint",[36] but in contemporary usage, the terms Wahhabi and Salafi are often used interchangeably, and considered to be movements with different roots that have merged since the 1960s.[37][38][39] But Wahhabism has also been called "a particular orientation within Salafism",[5] or an ultra-conservative, Saudi brand of Salafism.[40][41]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabism
Remember Reagan, the "freedom fighters", and Saudi Arabia? Russia does.
Tensions rise between Saudis, Russians
hile the United States is widely considered Russia’s principal rival in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia may well be taking second place. Moreover, not unlike Moscow’s suspicions toward Washington, Russian officials and analysts have often seen a Saudi hand in problems closer to home, in Russia’s neighboring countries and even within Russia itself. Russian-Saudi tensions thus seem unlikely to lessen anytime soon.
<snip>
Saudi Arabia’s Cold War-era cooperation with the United States in supporting Afghanistan’s mujahedeen fighters against the 1979 Soviet invasion is the foundation for much of Russia’s distrust of Saudi Arabia. This is less a historical grievance, however, than a long-term and continuing problem for Russia, in that it ultimately contributed to a civil war in post-Soviet Tajikistan, an ungoverned Afghanistan exporting extremism, the spread of terrorists and drugs across the Eurasian space, and — after the attacks of Sept. 11 — a long-term US and NATO presence in Central Asia.
Worst of all from a Russian perspective has been the spillover from Afghanistan to Russia’s own North Caucasus regions — especially Chechnya, but also Dagestan and Ingushetia. Russian officials have long argued that al-Qaeda terrorists from Afghanistan have not only operated in these regions, but assisted in attacks in Moscow and other cities across Russia.
At times, Russia’s suspicions have also extended to Saudi nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Russia. While US and European media have focused almost exclusively on Russian concerns about Western-funded pro-democracy groups operating in the country, former Federal Security Service Director and current Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev has in the past specifically accused the Saudi Red Crescent (and a handful of Western NGOs) in public remarks as being involved in “espionage operations” with the goal of “trying to weaken Russian influence in the former Soviet Union and the international arena as a whole.” Patrushev suggested that the groups were behind unrest in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan in 2003-2005.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/russia-suadi-arabia-rivalry-us-oil-chechnya-iran.html#ixzz3Y9sn9RZf
the US should be suspicious of Saudi Arabia too but defense contractors make way too much money especially with its bomb campaign.
This was the Houthi embargo meeting
The Jordanian-sponsored resolution aimed to halt the fighting by imposing an asset freeze and travel ban on Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and the former president's eldest son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh. In November the council imposed the same sanctions on the former president; the rebel group's military commander, Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi; and the Houthi's second-in-command, Abdullah Yahya al Hakim.
The resolution also imposes an arms embargo on all five men and calls on all countries, especially Yemen's neighbors, to inspect cargo headed to Yemen if there are "reasonable grounds" to believe it contains weapons.
Russia, however, had insisted that an arms embargo be imposed on all parties in the conflict, not just the rebels and their supporters. It ultimately abstained from voting.
Earlier this month, Russia circulated a separate draft resolution calling for "regular and obligatory" humanitarian pauses in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition to help evacuate foreigners from Yemen and ease access to relief groups aiming to deliver aid to civilians caught in the fighting.
Humanitarian groups have struggled to bring aid into the country and said on Monday that the situation in Aden is deteriorating rapidly.
"Over 600 people [have been] killed [in the conflict], but more than half of them are civilians. This is particularly concerning," said Ivan Simonovic, the U.N.'s deputy secretary-general for human rights.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/14/unsc-votes-on-arms-embargo-against-yemens-houthi-rebels.html
Who are the good guys again?
