It’s a sly and devious approach to promoting Middle East arms proliferation and saber rattling against Iran: the Obama administration (unlike the Bush administration which refused to do so) has already supplied Israel with the bunker buster bombs which they would need to (try to) take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. But this makes us look like Israel’s weapons pimp. So what better way to defuse that claim than by arming an Arab country that hates Iran almost as much as Israel, with the same weapons? Now, if only Israel can persuade UAE to launch a joint attack on Iran you’d have an Israeli-Arab Coalition of the Willing, even if it’s only two.
Good point Richard.
That may well be the case, or another one may seem more like the real reason, it could be merely to give the economy a boost.
Obama’s administration has most probably accepted the likelihood of a nuclear Iran. So they probably think, may as well make some money out of it.
Anyone serious about peace wouldn’t be indulging in arms proliferation. I’m beginning to think that Obama is making Bush look like a dove. How did this man win the Nobel prize for peace? He was given it in the hope that he would promote peace.
He has failed in the Middle East, succeeding in alienating both sides. At least Bush only alienated one side.
Something isn’t right here.
After the bush era one really understood what havoc he created. He started some illegal wars, created rifts between muslims and west and came out as a imbecile when he spoke publicly being the texan cowboy he really were.
So when obama took office alot of people, including myself was prepared for a change. However some years into his presidency he is as worse as bush were. While bush didnt know better due lack of knowledge of world events, middle east etc obama is atleast coming out as educated but he fails miserably to act according to his moral and views. obama have come out as a weak puppet leader (just like bank ki-moon and mr iaea-amano), people that are easily moved in the direction of lobbyists intrests etc.
how this man could have got the peace prize (which I know is a pathetic prize taking in regard who have received it earlier) is to me totally amazing. He should be ashamed of himself ruining the middle east and american credibility even more than bush did even if its less evident these days with secret drone actions, assasinations of anwar, osama etc
So, Virginia, it’s NOT just AIPAC among the BIGs that rules USA’s pro-Israel policy. The enormously powerful (not-specifically-Zionist) Military-Industrial-Complex that Eisenhower warned us about is another, perhaps a stronger, villain. It want to keep the pot boiling. Keep wars going. Keep selling war-stuff (including CLUSTER BOMBS) to all sides.
Wow! WAR! Gotta love it! Profits galore. GORE galore. Whatever.
Human rights? Make an appointment with my secretary to see me about it in 2050 (if the human race still exists then).
I think the UAE purchased/was supplied those weapons using the Israeli “cry wolf” strategy. I don’t think the UAE actually considers Iran to be a threat to its sovereignty. I do think the puppet rulers in the UAE have a “frenemy” relationship with Iran, but not one that I would describe as “hatred”. Their standing army would pose no threat to Iran, and the opening of that pandora’s box would entitle Iran to recapture a lot of land that was formerly part of the Empire’s. UAE’s streets are friendly towards Iran.
The UAE suffers from something which we call in Arabic *istiqwa*.
And I know that the Iranians understand that entirely.
To what extent is a JDAM actually a “bunker buster” in the sense that anyone who knows anything about it, would understand the issue?
JDAM is really a guidance kit which fits onto standard iron bombs (up to 2,000lb) in the same sort of way that older Paveway laser-guidance kits could be fitted.
Bunker busters as such, are a similar (but not identical) guidance kit fitted to a purpose-built penetrator of very much greater mass, 5,000lb and upwards.
The UAE doesn’t have any aircraft compatible with a 5,000lb bomb.
The capability that ordinary-sized JDAMs would give to the UAE, would be against surface targets, including aircraft shelters and less hardened bunkers, but it wouldn’t allow them to harm the vast and deeply buried structures in Iran which everyone is worrying about.
Although 2,000lb JDAMs exist, the USAF mostly uses the 500lb version: a tenth the mass of the bunker buster.
To damage some of the Iranian facilities, even the 5,000lb bunker buster supplied to Israel would be inadequate: the USAF has developed a “massive ordnance penetrator” which weighs something more like 30,000lb and there’s no way the Israelis can hang one of those under an F15.
I don’t see an F16 (or a Rafale) carrying any single munition much bigger than 2,000lb: I am not aware of an aircraft with more carrying capacity than that in the UAE’s inventory.
Saudi Tornadoes were cleared to carry two Hunting Engineering JP233 mine dispensers weighing just over 5,000lb each. But other than the JP233, the biggest munition the Tornado has been cleared for is the Storm Shadow missile, whose warhead penetrates bunkers by technology rather than by sheer size after the American model.
Your picture isn’t a JDAM; it’s an earth-penetrating variant of the B61 nuclear bomb.
Selling that to the UAE wouldn’t half be controversial, Richard: are you sure this is what Mr Obama has done?
My previous post was based on a slightly more rational probability, which is that the UAE is purchasing a version of the JDAM which does more or less what the Paveway IV used by the RAF in Libya to deal with small warships and surface installations, does.