Missile Shields in Turkey?
September 15th, 2009
Last week we reported that the Obama administration turned its back on deploying missile defense shields to Poland and the Czech Republic, and it’s speculated that countries like Israel and Turkey will be alternative sites. Reuters reports that the administration may sell $7.8 billion worth of Patriot “fire units,” missiles, and other weapons to Turkey.
Called “one of the biggest U.S. government-to-government arms sales in years,” the deal would help Turkey, which borders rogue state Iran, defend itself against missile threats. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said, “Turkey is a partner of the United States in ensuring peace and stability in the region. It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist our North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally in developing and maintaining a strong and ready self-defense capability that will contribute to an acceptable military balance in the area.”
One can make a fairly accurate guess how Turkey’s neighbor, Iran, will react to such a sale.
Reuters also reports on possible sales between the U.S. and Jordan and the U.S. and Morocco. The U.S. would sell $220 million worth of artillery rockets to Jordan and $187 million worth of F-16 fighter-carried weapons to Morocco.