When Congress gets back to business in the new year, one of its priorities will be consideration of the Bush administration’s request for a massive arms sale – in the neighborhood of $20 billion – to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states.
Israel and Egypt also stand to gain billions more in U.S. weapons as part of the package Congress will review.
The proposed deal is controversial because of the Saudi component. Given the Saudi government’s questionable record on fighting terrorism and curtailing terrorism financing, its funding of extremist wahabbist mosques, its supply of foreign fighters into Iraq and a judicial system that recently ordered 200 lashes for a rape victim, some in Congress don’t believe the kingdom should be rewarded with top-of-the-line American weaponry. (Story continues below interactive map.)
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More than 250 House lawmakers have signed a letter warning the White House that they might not support the sale – especially of highly accurate smart bombs known as JDAMs – unless the administration can certify that the weapons won’t be used against American or allied forces.
One of the of the big names supporting the deal is William Cohen, the former senator and defense secretary under President Bill Clinton and regular commentator on CNN.
Cohen has opined on the cable network that the arms deal is good for the U.S. and good for Saudi Arabia.
“The issue really is, are we going to help them modernize their forces so they can be a force to contend with an expansionist Iran, with Iran trying to spread its Shia and revolutionary zeal,” Cohen said last summer when the administration first proposed the sale.
“I think it’s an important idea,” Cohen said on CNN. The Persian Gulf countries “are worried about Iran. In order to help them prepare for their defense capabilities, we should be the country supplying it, so it will be interoperable with our own forces.
“They can buy it from us, they can buy it from the French, the British, the Russians, the Chinese or other country, potentially,” said Cohen. “So the real issue is, are we going continue to solidify our own influence or have it undermined by other countries quite willing to move in and take over the position that we had to date.”
While Cohen cloaked the sale in terms of what is best for American interests, he left out that the weapons sale is good business for him personally.
As chief of the Cohen Group, a lobbying and consulting firm based in the nation’s capital, Cohen represents some of the country’s largest weapons manufacturers, companies that stand to benefit from the weapons sale.
For example, according to lobbyist disclosure documents on file with the U.S. Senate, the Cohen Group represents:
· Lockheed Martin, the country’s largest weapons contractor and builder of high performance jets such as the F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, and the C-130 transport plane. The company also is a major supplier on the JDAM smart bomb.
The Cohen Group has other direct ties to Lockheed Martin. Two of the Cohen Group’s senior officials – retired Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and James Loy, former commandant of the Coast Guard and deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security – sit on Lockheed Martin’s board of directors.
· Pratt & Whitney, manufacturer of engines that power high-performance military aircraft. The company’s engines are in Air Force F-15s and most F-16 aircraft and the F-35 jet.
· Sikorsky Aircraft, a manufacturer of military helicopters, including the Black Hawk and CH-53 heavy lift helicopters.
· Rolls-Royce North America, a builder of military engines for weapons such as the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, the V-22 Osprey, Kiowa helicopters and C-130 transports.
· General Dynamics, manufacturer of combat ships, tanks and the Stryker armored combat vehicle.
Like Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright and others in senior Cabinet posts, Cohen has traded on his government service to build an impressive operation that offers clients access to the halls of government and strategies for meeting their corporate goals.
In addition to the defense companies, clients of the Cohen Group include DynCorp International, T-Mobile USA, Oracle, Iridium Satellite, Alcoa, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Bechtel.
The roster of lobbyists and consultants on the Cohen Group’s payroll boasts former high-ranking government officials along with a coterie of staffers who know how to navigate official Washington’s bureaucratic class.
In addition to Ralston and Loy, group staff includes Marc Grossman, a former State Department under secretary, Lord George Robertson, former NATO secretary general, retired Army Gen. Paul Kern, former chief of the Army Materiel Command, and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, former chief of the Defense Information Systems Agency.
According to the lobbying disclosures, Kern is conducting lobbying for the Cohen Group on behalf of Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney. Kern is responsible for “identifying Defense Department market opportunities for aircraft engines” and “identifying opportunities for helicopter sales,” the documents say.
Ralston is listed as another Sikorsky lobbyist. So is Lesley Kalan, who previously worked on the Senate defense appropriations committee, which helps set defense spending priorities.
The Cohen Group lists Paul Gebhard and Danny Sebright as lobbyists on behalf of General Dynamics. Gebhard previously worked as assistant chief of staff for former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and for Cohen when he was the defense chief. Sebright also worked under Rumsfeld and Cohen when they ran the Defense Department
The Cohen Group’s disclosure statements list Gebhard and Sebright as lobbyists on behalf of Lockheed Martin, along with Deborah Rosenblum, formerly a homeland security advisor at the Pentagon, and Brian Knapp, also a former Pentagon adviser.
Contact: eric@muckety.com
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6 Comments
#1. zeezil 01.20.2008
What a huge breath of fresh air should Lou Dobbs throw his hat in the ring. I would definitely vote for him. Not only is he the only MSM news anchor taking on illegal immigration (which he is totally correct on), he has taken on the economy, special interests, lobbyist influence peddling, government corruption, truth in government, religion in politics, free trade and favored trade status issues, national security, the folly of the Iraq War and how contractors are becoming enriched from it, middle class erosion and American worker protection, outsourcing jobs for larger corporate profit, excessive issuance of H-1B visas, our crumbling infrastructure, education, food safety and inspections, the environment, China’s dangerous imports and its influence on our national deficit, NAFTA, SPP, NAU, LOST, ridiculous government treaties, crime, drugs, racial issues and the list goes on.
Lou Dobbs has talked about, taken stances on, exposed and researched more issues than any other presidential candidate ever has or ever will.
#2. Bluecollar 01.20.2008
Lou Dobbs is a demagogue living on a 16 mil a year salary in a 300 acre home. He has found a way to be relavant in a world where he has to compete with the likes of oreilly and Hannity. I will vote for a candidate who is sincere on issues. Ron Paul is a believer. Lou Dobbs is a phony.
#3. mightymouse 01.20.2008
Because of Lou there are more than 800,000(nightly viewers) American Citizens that know what’s going on in this country. Meddling foreigner leaders controlling our Politicans all the way up to our President!
The newspapers and television telling us that we are not smart enough to think for ourselves and telling and showing only what they want. Even they although, they’re probably fearful of losing their jobs…won’t admit the truth. Into days world, wrong is right and right is wrong, the is, at least, one person who see through the murky lens and tell the truth based on facts.
Because of that, he is shot down as an over zealous tv personality looking for ratings. Well guess what…….they’re wrong and the silent voices were listening and are now being heard. Guess that makes some people and governments nervous, so be it……LOU will get my money and my time if he runs!!! We need an American for America and not for businesses or foreign countries!
#4. zeezil 01.20.2008
Lou Dobbs quote from his book ‘Independents Day’:
The key difference between our two parties is purely partisan: While Democrats describe themselves as liberal, progressive, and committed to civil liberties, and Republicans describe themselves as conservative and committed to tradition and social stability, the truth is, their only guiding principles are that Democrats are anti-Republican while Republicans are anti-Democrat. They have become nothing more than two wings of the same bird.
If the distinction between Republicans and Democrats is blurred and increasingly unclear, it’s in large part due to the fact that both parties are dependent on the largesse of corporate America and the influence of special interests. Bush has sent tens of thousands of our troops around the world to fight the war on terror, and hundreds of thousands to Iraq and Afghanistan, yet for 6 years he has insisted upon leaving our borders and ports open to the illegal traffic of millions of illegal aliens and billions of dollars in illegal drugs.
#5. Jacky 01.20.2008
LOL, he will go as far as Tom Tancredo. I hope he runs. The guy is a LOSER
#6. SOSAFORUS 01.21.2008
We also need someone who has the guts to stand up to the President of Mexico who can not get it through his thick head we are a sovereign Nation run by “we the people”. Lou Dobbs is the only one to stand on national tv and tell Caleron to “stuff it” and mind his own business. Has our so called President or any member of our congress done this yet….I think not.
And because they haven’t, expect Calderon’s visit in Feb.to be apart of a pandering visit with our congress to try to stop what he calls the rhetoric in our presidential campaign by the GOP against illegal aliens. Something he can not get though his pea brain that citizens are demanding the issue be talked about.
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