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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ratan lal who wrote (8490)	11/1/2001 8:03:40 AM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi ratan lal; Re: "Correct me if I'm wrong, ratan, but it looks to me like we're getting the worst of both worlds: we pay for the oil, AND we pay for the military and foreign aid that protects the oil-producing countries, notably SA." The US gets a lot of money for its military equipment, far more than any other country in the world. It's one of the biggest exports the country has. And the weaponry is *sold* to Saudi Arabia: Oil rich Saudi Arabia is a cash-paying customer. It receives no U.S. military assistance to finance these purchases, although it does demand that about 35 percent of all major contracts be "offset"-that is, economic benefits equaling 35 percent of the arms contract value must be steered back to the Saudi economy. fas.org But even if the United States were a "sucker" with regard to arms, it doesn't matter. The US is far, far, far more rich than Saudi Arabia, or any other Middle East nation is. It's not like our population is starving because all our taxes are going into government expenditures. We actively have to find ways to get rid of the excess money we generate. We can waste more because we generate more. If we didn't "waste" it, what would we do with it? When the world finally reaches the point where US military expenditures can be steeply reduced (and I don't think that that is too many decades away) I suggest we carry on a stupid program to populate the Moon and Mars. That would give a good outlet for all that excess money that we generate. -- Carl