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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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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.