CONGRESS SHOULD STOP FLOW OF DEADLY ARMS TO ISRAEL AND SUNNI ARAB STATES

Condoleeza Rice announces today some of the details of granting billions of dollars of armaments and weapons to Israel and six Persian Gulf Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Writes the BBC:

"The US is to spend billions of dollars in military aid for allies in the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has confirmed.

"Israel will receive $30bn (£14.8bn) and Egypt $13bn. Deals are being discussed with Saudi Arabia and more Gulf states.

"Ms Rice said the money was needed to counter "negative" influences from Iran and Syria, as well as al-Qaeda and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah."

The whole plan is ridiculous and Congress should not approve it. Israel already has too many weapons, war planes, cluster bombs, missiles. The more it has, the more it will use on its Palestinian neighbors, including women and children.

The Arab states don't need any sophisticated weapons. They claim that they need such to protect themselves from Iran, but this stems solely from their xenophobic fear of the "foreign" Persians, who are non-Arabs and who follow Shiism instead of being Sunnis.

Bush and his gang are intent on creating perpetual warfare in the Middle East by filling the area with weapons of war. This is madness.

Instead of threatening and bullying Iran, the United States should sit down and talk with Iranian leaders. Soft power will always be superior to hard power. The firing of missiles and the dropping of bombs never has accomplished anything good or lasting.