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Why Do Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE Need All Those American Weapons?
US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attend a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
During last week’s visit to the Middle East, President Trump signed a number of arms deals with some of the richest countries in the region — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Some of these deals were unprecedented, both in terms of the quantity and quality of the weapons being sold.
From the business perspective, the deals were huge and perhaps beautiful, as the president might put it. The new and reemerging military conflicts of the last few years have set afoot a new arms race. The deals that were signed last week must be considered on two accounts: profit and strategic value.
On those terms, were these good deals?
The first logical question to ask is why Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates need the most modern and sophisticated weapons? What kind of threats are these countries facing that would require such weapons to defend themselves?
All three face threats from radical Islam, though Saudi Arabia used to be — and Qatar currently is — sponsors of such Islamist movements around the world. Iran is claimed to be the current major conventional threat to all three. Yet Qatar is Iran’s ally. Moreover, Qatar has the largest American military base in the Middle East. If that is not the best insurance policy in the region, then none is.
In general, the entire security architecture of the Gulf States has rested and still rests on the US being the guarantor of their security. If one listens to the leaders in the Gulf and the words emanating from the White House, the US still is that guarantor and protector. It is true that the US has recently given signs that this commitment can’t be fully trusted, and the Gulf States want to have their own capability to defend themselves in case their ally becomes unreliable. Do these recent purchases provide enough material support to achieve their security independence? Can they use the equipment effectively to make a difference at a time of crisis?
The quality and quantity of weaponry does not guarantee victory. That observation has always been true, and is even more true today. From the fields of Ukraine to the mountains of Kashmir, the evidence suggests that a capable, smart, and willing to fight populace is as important. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Emirates don’t have that.
Ironically, Qatar does not have much of a population at all, just a few hundred thousand masters supervising millions of people working and living in horrific conditions. Saudi Arabia is the largest country of the three, and has a population large enough to sustain a military force that can defend the country. However, its track record in that regard is beyond dismal — with their dismal performance in Yemen being the latest example (and American weapons didn’t get the job done there).
All three countries are politically unstable, with Saudi Arabia being the most volatile. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to achieve what no country or civilization has ever been able to do: leap over centuries of normal societal development, and come right into the modern world. This cultural upheaval in a country where only seven years ago women could not drive, is a very delicate balancing act. The Prince has so far succeeded in handling it — but these processes often end in revolutions. And if that happens, the new government will have serious US weapons. The US must be very careful selling the most sophisticated weapons to a country with a regime that does not have much legitimacy among its own population.
Putting aside the regimes’ stability, who will operate the numerous weapons platforms brought from the US? The war in Yemen clearly showed the countries don’t have the needed cadre of professionals at their disposal. It is not unreasonable to imagine Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Emirates solving this conundrum exactly the same way they solve all their problems: with money. Why not hire foreigners to operate the complex machinery? Or bring in American military advisors. There are already many military professionals, or even small armies, for hire. The Wagner Group is the most notorious of them all. But the US and some Europeans have other options. For the US and the rest of the world, the prospect of our most lethal weaponry operated by mercenaries is a horrifying idea indeed. The deals signed in the Gulf are very profitable deals, but they are also full of danger.
The author lives and works in Silicon Valley, California. He is a founding member of San Francisco Voice for Israel.
The post Why Do Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE Need All Those American Weapons? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Has Accepted Trump’s Gaza Ceasefire Proposal, Foreign Minister Says
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a press conference with the Danish Foreign Minister (not pictured) in Jerusalem, Sept. 7, 2025. Photo: Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard/via REUTERS
Israel has accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal from US President Donald Trump, Israel‘s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference with his Hungarian counterpart in Budapest, Saar said that Israel was ready to accept a full deal ending the war that would include the release of hostages and Hamas laying down its arms.
According to a senior Israeli official, the latest US proposal calls for Hamas to return all 48 remaining living and dead hostages on the first day of a ceasefire, during which negotiations would be held to end the war.
Hamas said it was studying the latest US ceasefire proposal, delivered on Sunday with a warning from President Donald Trump that it was the Islamist terror group’s “last chance.”
The war began with an assault by Hamas-led fighters on southern Israel in October 2023. The attackers killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza. Most of the hostages were released in ceasefires in November 2023 and January-March 2025, but the Palestinian terrorist group has kept others as a bargaining chip.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and political rule in Gaza.
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IAEA’s Grossi to Iran: Not Much Time Left in Talks on Nuclear Inspections
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi holds a press conference on the opening day of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
Time is running out in talks between the UN nuclear watchdog and Iran on how to fully resume inspections in the Islamic Republic, the watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday, adding that he hoped the discussions would conclude within days.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has not had access to Iran‘s key nuclear facilities since the United States and Israel bombed them in June. Iran passed a law after the attacks suspending cooperation with the IAEA and saying any inspections had to be approved by its Supreme National Security Council.
The IAEA and Iran are now in talks on the “modalities” of a full resumption of inspections, though Grossi says that does not alter Iran‘s duty to allow verification measures such as inspections as a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“There is still time, but not much. Always enough when there is good faith and a clear sense of responsibility,” Grossi said in a statement to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors.
“Progress has been made. It is my sincere hope that within the next few days it will be possible to come to a successful conclusion of these discussions in order to facilitate the resumption, the full resumption, of our indispensable work with Iran,” he added.
Their talks are taking place against the backdrop of Europe’s top three powers having initiated a 30-day process on Aug. 28 to re-impose sanctions on Iran. The curbs were lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers that unraveled after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of it in 2018.
Those three powers – France, Britain and Germany, known as the E3 – have said they will go ahead with re-imposing sanctions under the so-called “snapback” process unless IAEA inspections fully resume in Iran, and Tehran accounts for its large stock of near-weapons-grade uranium and resumes nuclear talks with the United States.
“I am confident that with these practical steps [on inspections] in place, other important diplomatic consultations and processes will find a more promising ground upon which to advance towards positive outcomes,” Grossi said, apparently referring to broader diplomacy such as Iran-E3 discussions.
In Tehran, Iran‘s foreign ministry said the talks with the IAEA were “positive” but had not yet reached a conclusion and that no specific time frame was determined for the next round of talks.
“On Saturday, the third round of negotiations ended and their results are currently being reviewed in Tehran by relevant authorities and we will announce the next steps when this review is finalized,” ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a weekly press conference on Monday.
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Israel Vows ‘Hurricane’ of Strikes on Gaza to Force Hamas to Accept Surrender Demand
A missile falls towards a building during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israel said it would step up airstrikes on Gaza on Monday in a “mighty hurricane,” to serve as a last warning to Hamas that it will destroy the enclave unless the terrorist group accepts a demand to free all hostages and surrender.
Residents said Israeli forces had bombed Gaza City from the air and blown up old, armored vehicles in its streets. Hamas said it was studying the latest US ceasefire proposal, delivered on Sunday with a warning from President Donald Trump that it was the Islamist group’s “last chance.”
“A mighty hurricane will hit the skies of Gaza City today, and the roofs of the terror towers will shake,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X.
“This is a final warning to the murderers and rapists of Hamas in Gaza and in the luxury hotels abroad: Release the hostages and lay down your weapons – or Gaza will be destroyed, and you will be annihilated.”
Katz’s post appeared before reports of a shooting at a bus stop in Jerusalem that killed six people including one Spanish citizen. Hamas praised the attackers.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombed a 12-floor block in the middle of Gaza City where dozens of displaced families had been housed, three hours after urging those inside and in hundreds of tents in the surrounding area to leave.
In a statement, the IDF said Hamas terrorists who had “planted intelligence gathering means” and explosive devices had been operating near the building and “have used it throughout the war to plan and advance terror attacks against IDF forces.”
According to a senior Israeli official, the latest US proposal calls for Hamas to return all 48 remaining living and dead hostages on the first day of a ceasefire, during which negotiations would be held to end the war.
Hamas has long said it intends to hold onto at least some hostages until negotiations are complete. It said in a statement it was committed to releasing them all with a “clear announcement of an end to the war” and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
OFFENSIVE IN GAZA CITY
Israel launched a major offensive last month on Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of residents are living in the ruins having returned after the city experienced the most intense fighting of the war’s early weeks nearly two years ago.
Residents said Israeli forces pounded several districts from the air and ground, and detonated decommissioned armored vehicles laden with explosives, destroying clusters of homes in the Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, and Tuffah neighborhoods.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump suggested a deal could come soon to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas. An Israeli official said Israel was “seriously considering” Trump’s proposal but did not elaborate.
The war began with an assault by Hamas-led fighters on southern Israel in 2023. The attackers killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza. Most of the hostages were released in ceasefires in November 2023 and January-March 2025, but the group has kept others as a bargaining chip.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and political rule in Gaza.