Weapons Bizarre by Justin Raimondo

Raimondo's got an interesting take "About that arms sale to the Saudis". He writes that "it is clear that the US is arming its allies in the region – Israel and the Saudis – in preparation for an attack" on Iran, something I have been warning about here on different occasions over the last couple of years, especially during the Bush Administration when there was a real danger. The rhetoric has been hotting up of late yet again.

Raimondo continues:

"These twin arms sales, combined with the draconian sanctions just passed by the US Congress, are acts of war. Which isn’t exactly shocking, because we are in fact already at war with Iran, at least on a low level, in view of US-sponsored terrorist attacks on Iranian territory and our ongoing campaign to isolate Tehran internationally.

Obama is continuing and expanding the Bushian (sic) strategy of forging a Sunni-US-Israeli alliance against the “Shi’ite crescent,” i.e. Iran and its allies in Iraq and Lebanon, and the recent arms deals are just part of it. When things really come to a head is the moment it becomes politically expedient – and necessary – for the administration to blame the economic crisis on an “oil shock” that is sure to accompany a military conflict in the Gulf. No one can know precisely when that moment is coming, but its arrival is no longer very much in doubt."

While I agree war is what some lunatic 'Shermans' want, I feel that in the meantime, it could all be a sales ploy. Here's my comment:

"Could an alternative scenario not be that the US Administration has to create the conditions for the military-industrial complex to remain super-rich?

In other words, all this warmongering about Iran could just be a 'sales ploy'...and the benefits you have already pointed out:

1. $3 billion to Lockheed Martin for F-35 joint strike fighters, which would be funded primarily through U.S. military aid to Israel, i.e. the US taxpayer.

2. $60 billion to Boeing Co. and United Technologies Corp.for F-15 fighter jets and helicopters and choppers to Saudi Arabia.

All this after a 'sharp decline' in 2009 of the value of its arms trade down $16 billion from 2008's $38.1 billion to 2009's $22.6 billion which even so was "a dominating 39 percent of the worldwide market"

Is it not entirely possible that the same military-industrial complex and its bought-and-paid-for-politicians in Washington who exaggerated the Soviet threat are doing exactly the same now with Iran?"