US Saudi arms package faces fight in Congress (Posted at 0515)
WASHINGTON: Lawmakers are striking a note of alarm over reported US plans to sell sophisticated satellite guided bombs to Saudi Arabia, as part of a 20 billion dollar arms sale.
A coalition of 188 members of the House of Representatives warned that if the technology fell into the "wrong hands" it could harm US forces in the Middle East and threaten Israel.
"Any sale of JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) technology to Saudi Arabia must come with guarantees backed by strict conditions notified to Congress followed by regular reporting," the lawmakers said in a letter to President George W. Bush.
They also called for tight congressional oversight of the sale, and intense US consultations with key US ally Israel. A US-based newspaper reported in April that the US-Gulf arms package had been delayed because of Israeli concerns over the sale to Saudi Arabia of certain precision guided munitions.
"Saudi Arabia remains in a formal state of war with Israel -- the preeminent democracy in the Middle East," the members of congress wrote in the letter.
"Additionally, Saudi groups continue to export Wahabi extremist ideology throughout the world -- an anti-American ideology we face on battlefields of the Global War on Terror."
The letter was coordinated by Republican congressman Mark Kirk and Democrat Christopher Carney, and contained the signatures of members of both parties.
WASHINGTON: Lawmakers are striking a note of alarm over reported US plans to sell sophisticated satellite guided bombs to Saudi Arabia, as part of a 20 billion dollar arms sale.
A coalition of 188 members of the House of Representatives warned that if the technology fell into the "wrong hands" it could harm US forces in the Middle East and threaten Israel.
"Any sale of JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) technology to Saudi Arabia must come with guarantees backed by strict conditions notified to Congress followed by regular reporting," the lawmakers said in a letter to President George W. Bush.
They also called for tight congressional oversight of the sale, and intense US consultations with key US ally Israel. A US-based newspaper reported in April that the US-Gulf arms package had been delayed because of Israeli concerns over the sale to Saudi Arabia of certain precision guided munitions.
"Saudi Arabia remains in a formal state of war with Israel -- the preeminent democracy in the Middle East," the members of congress wrote in the letter.
"Additionally, Saudi groups continue to export Wahabi extremist ideology throughout the world -- an anti-American ideology we face on battlefields of the Global War on Terror."
The letter was coordinated by Republican congressman Mark Kirk and Democrat Christopher Carney, and contained the signatures of members of both parties.
