Back in September, following the attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais which crippled some 50% of Saudi Arabia’s oil production capacity, the US sent troops to the kingdom, ostensibly for “defense” purposes and to further America’s interests in the region.
In a press conference on September 20, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced the new deployment. Asked by a reporter if “this now represents a full US commitment to defend Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure”?, Esper said the purpose is to “contribute to Saudi Arabia’s defense.”
He made it clear that the US expects the same from other nations. “We are looking for other international partners to contribute”, he said.
Fast forward four months and the US has, of course, deployed hundreds (and probably thousands) of additional troops to the Mideast as tensions escalate with Iran.
Apparently, “stop endless wars” means committing 17,300 additional troops. That is the total number of “new” boots on the ground under the Trump administration.
During his dubious interview with Laura Ingraham, Trump talked a bit about the deployment in Saudi Arabia. Suffice to say his remarks were unnerving, at best.
“We’re sending more to Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia is paying us for it”, Trump patiently explained, clearly oblivious to just how egregious his remarks came across.
“I said to Saudi Arabia, I said ‘You’re a very rich country, you want more troops, I’m gonna send ’em to you, but you gotta pay us“, Trump continued, making sure to growl when he said “pay us”. “They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1 billion in the bank”.
During the same interview, Trump told Ingraham that he believed Qassem Soleimani was set to target “four US embassies” before he was killed in a US drone strike earlier this month. Mike Pompeo made a similar claim last week. On Sunday, Mark Esper came up a bit short when asked if he was familiar with that intelligence. Senator Mike Lee said the “four embassies” story was “news to me and my colleagues”.
Commenting on Trump’s remarks about turning the US military into a mercenary force for Mohammed Bin Salman, Independent Justin Amash said simply: “He sells troops”.
It’s about time a country paid for the police protection the US provides all over the world.
this is a ridiculous comment. America’s enlisted young men and women are not a mercenary force that can be bought and sold by unelected royals.
Damn Straight!
H, that’s the correct and noble response.
But since Trump claimed we got a $Billion from MBS, the question is, did we?
Seems like the receipt of a $Billion would’ve made news somewhere.
Im damn sure Trump had some money deposited into one of his offshore numbered accounts…
I think you’re missing the point. The amount and receipt of payment is irrelevant. The branches of US military are not guns for hire. It sounds a little hypocritical given how often the military is deployed in armed conflicts for corporate or political motives, but that has generally been at the behest of some American asshole somewhere. What’s next, a Russian oligarch being persecuted by Putin drops 1Bn USD and get the marines flown in to defend his interests in Russia? It’s pretty easy to argue Saudi Arabia’s interests are not well aligned with US interests, so it’s not that big of a leap. Trump doesn’t understand the nuanced difference and worse still there are certainly republicans who do understand but don’t care, for whatever reason (almost certainly for personal interests, in one way or another). Those people will be remembered in history as the knobs responsible for the downfall or American dominance, as this is merely the latest step down that spiral staircase.
I agree with you. My point was to determine if Trump was lying yet again
completely true!
That would be a job for Betsy deVos’ brother
Remember when you read about Hessian mercenaries fighting with the British against us in the Revolution. And you concluded they were the bad guys? That’s us now. The relevant historical model to describe how American society is now organized is Feudalism. Ain’t that a kick!
Q: What’s the fight song of the Saudi military?
A: “Onward Christian Soldiers”
And they thought the Mafia was bad…..!!
I’m sure the Saudi‘s have deposited lots of money into one of Trumps offshore accounts or his son-in-law Jared, He’s good friends with the Saudis
What will happen when his base realizes he is sending their sons and daughters to fight in a war that is someone else’s war?