U. S. Aid to Saudi Arabia

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. David Brin (1950 - )

Now we are giving arms to Saudi Arabia! But the truth is, our foreign aid to the Saudis is payoff, to let us give aid to Israel. Or is it something more sinister and complex? Oh what a tangled web we weave when we lust for power and glory.

The Saudis have untold riches and live in obscene luxury. Oil prices have tripled in the past 6 years. Why should I be forced to pay for the defense of their power and lifestyles? The proposed package comes with a serious sweetener for Israel: a 25 percent rise in U.S. military aid, from an annual $2.4 billion at present to $3 billion a year, guaranteed for 10 years. The weapons sold to Israel are superior to those sold to the Arab states, thereby, as in the past, assuring Israel of the ability to win any war.

At the same time Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates are in Egypt trying to assure the Arab leaders that we will stay in Iraq to"stabilize" the Middle East. I thought we went into Iraq to eliminate the danger of Weapons of Mass Destruction!

Why must we "stabilize" the Middle East? If their God cannot provide for them, why should I be forced to do what their god refuses to do?

Supporting the Arabs leaders that live in untold splendor is why Bin Laden said he attacked us. As long as we meddle in other countries' affairs will we have blow back. Look for the car bombs to go off in the United States.

Do we ever learn? Maybe some learn how to profit from war. The leaders never tire of trying to gain power over their own subjects, and power over other countries.

Rarely has a State had a leader like Cincinnatus. A noble man who served, then went back to farming, letting the power and glory offered him drift away on the wind.

Political leaders have huge egos. Governor Spitzer of New York used the State Police to try to find illegal activity by his political opponents in the New York Legislature so Spitzer could have his own way with controlling the State of New York. This same kind of ego exists among kings, presidents, and popes. They all try to control each other by bribes, blackmail, and threats of war. Their followers go along meekly, thinking like their hubristic leaders, "Our tribe is better than your tribe!"

The tangled webs will continue to be spun, seeking power and glory. Each web creating another Abu Ghraib or Gulag, and drenched in blood.

Charles Tolleson