Don't tell that to the Saudis. They're looking to ink a $60-billion order for America's finest products - weapons. If the deal goes through in full it'll be America's biggest arms deal, ever.
Among the goodies will be 6-squadrons of new F-15s, another 6-squadrons of upgraded Saudi F-15s, about 80-Blackhawk helicopters. The advanced sensors on the Saudi F-15s will be configured so they won't work against Israeli aircraft. Presumably the Israeli F-15 sensors will work just fine against the Saudi ships.
The deal fits nicely with the US/Saudi protocol that has existed since the 50's - the U.S. props up the House of Saud and the House of Saud sees to it that America has first dibs on their country's oil.
Michael Knights of the Washington Insitute for Middle East Policy told The Guardian that the driving force behind the deal is (who could've guessed?) Iran:
"Iran is certainly the only advanced state that Saudi Arabia needs to fear as a credible armed opponent in the next decade. Certain weapon systems like upgraded missile defences are explicitly concerned with Iran."
At least the Saudis will know that, when it comes to Congress, they'll never be really trusted. They'll always be kept one good notch down from the Israelis.
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