It's only fair, since the Soviet Union--er, Russia--is selling updated arms to Israel's enemies.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency recommended to Congress that they not block the sale, that having a strong Israel as a partner was vital, and that we should make sure that they could not only defend themselves from their crazy, rabid radical neighbors, but support us over there militarily, if need be.
And, since we don't have the testicular fortitude to make sure that Iran's nuclear capabilities don't come any further online, Israel's ability and willingness to attack to stop Iran from going nuclear is all to our benefit.
The other bit of interesting news is that Israel isn't the only nation we're selling arms to. We're selling them to Iraq, the legitimate government in Afghanistan, and the former satellites of the Soviet Union that Russia's panting to re-absorb. While I don't think selling arms to Middle Eastern nations that won't necessarily be friendly to us for longer than it takes for us to turn to the greater threat is a good idea, I do like that we're selling arms and training to use them to the former satellites.
And honestly, in the short term, all of the arms sales are a good idea. Russia's arming its proxies, making ready for further moves in Cold War II; if we neglect to do the same, we make it look like allying with Russia is the better idea. It's the long term consequences of weapons sales in the Middle East that I worry about. Selling arms to countries other than Israel in the forever-unstable Middle East is a good example of the realpolitik that I think led directly to September 11.
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