U.S. sell arms to allies in Asia and Middle East

    In an article by John Bennet in The Hill defense analyst Loren Thompson claims that Obama's arms sale programs is a striking departure from Democratic practice. Rather than sending more troops to the Middle East and Asia the Obama administration is providing allies with advanced weapons and military equipment.
   The moves are regarded by analysts as attempts to counter the influence of China and Iran. Thompson said: “The President and his [advisers] apparently have decided that well-armed allies are the next best thing to U.S. “boots on the ground” when it comes to advancing America’s global security interests,”
   To counter Iran the U.S. government has provided Saudi Arabia with 85 Boeing-made fighter jets as well as munitions. These jets however are not as advanced as those that the U.S. has provided to Israel. Such sales also are part of a plan to ensure that the U.S. military-industrial complex is well fed and also provides a type of military Keynesian stimulus program.  The fact that Saudi Arabia is a reactionary authoritarian monarchy is neither here nor there.
    The U.S. is also selling upgrading kits for Taiwan's U.S. planes. F35 sales have already been made both to Japan and Australia. There are rumors that South Korea will buy U.S. fighters as well. Altogether 250 U.S. made advanced warplanes will be shipped into the Asia-Pacific region. The arms sales to allies will make it easier to draw down U.S. forces in some regions.
  Thompson remarks: “When a president sustains high rates of military spending, takes out the world’s most wanted terrorist, and sells the latest military technology to friends around the globe,, “it’s difficult for his political opponents to explain how they could have been any harder on America’s enemies.” I find it difficult to see exactly how all of this is a striking departure from Democratic practice. The Republicans can still complain if Obama cuts military spending at all. They can complain about his withdrawal from Iraq. Alternatively, they will concentrate upon domestic policy and slow economic growth, issues that are probably more significant to most Americans than foreign policy.