from RT (H/T Whitney)
The US rarely has 'unblemished' partners so it will pour more
defensive weapons into Saudi Arabia despite outrage over Khashoggi and
Yemen, Pentagon chief James Mattis admitted as the nation handed the
kingdom a big new deal.
The most-recent major
US-Saudi arms deal was rolled out on Wednesday. Riyadh is seeking to get
THAAD air defense missile systems, and the terms of the purchase were
quietly formalized this week, the State Department announced. Under the
$15 billion contract, Riyadh will receive 44 THAAD launchers, missiles and related equipment.
The news of a yet another lucrative contract came the very same day
Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
rushed to defend the kingdom against the mounting anger in the Senate
over the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the bloody
war in Yemen. Speaking at a closed-door briefing, they explained that
Saudi Arabia is simply too important to scrap existing bonds.
The Pentagon's chief called Riyadh "fundamental" to regional and Israeli security, as well as crucial for the US' own interests.
"We are seldom free to work with unblemished partners," Mattis bluntly admitted. He went on to argue that the ties with the kingdom "cannot be dismissed" even as Washington condemned Khashoggi's death...
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