DOHA: Saudi Arabia and the UAE each has more combat aircraft than Iran and nearly one-third of US arms exports go to the GCC, says Anthony Cordsman, a US expert.
Some 28 percent of US arms exports are directed to the GCC, double the exports to Europe, he said.
The US is selling more weapons to the GCC than to its European allies, Cordsman told the Third International Conference on Strategic Studies, organised by Strategic Studies Center Doha and Geneva Center for Security Policy.
The Minister of State for Defence H E Major Gen Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah attended the opening session of the two- day forum held in Doha Marriot Hotel under the theme ‘Shifts and changes in the world system and its impacts on the Middle East’.
Cordsman, from Center for Strategic and International Studies from Washington, downplayed the threat posed by Iran to the Gulf countries and said the US had well-equipped GCC allies to counter any such threat. He said the US has four air bases with GCC allies and has stationed one of its latest fighters F22 in the region. Iran’s military capability is also depleted with the state having no modern aircraft, he added.
Cordsman dismissed as myth that Iran dominates Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq and said Tehran was only capable of playing a role in these countries but not to dominate them.
He said the US was the GCC’s main strategic partner in challenging Iran and extremism. “The US since 1945 has been operating in alliances. This has been the case when we dealt with the Cold War, or when we went to the first Gulf War in 1991.
“In 2003, US intervention in Iraq was a coalition. We have never been able to act alone, without allies.” He, however, urged the US Muslim allies to come to terms with their divisions and said Washington cannot solve ideological and religious divides in the region.
He said 99 percent of terrorism-related casualties are in the Mena region and not the US or Europe, and in all these cases it was Muslims killing Muslims.
Dr Vladimir Orlov, an expert on Russia and international security, branded the new rivalry between the US and Russia a new 3D cold war, saying it is being waged on three dimensions: nuclear, outer space and cyber.
He said the major threat to the global security is the increased proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and that the US and Russia have 97 percent of nuclear proliferation.
He said Russia is urging Iran to improve relations with Gulf neighbours but the effort should not be one-sided.
On the Syrian conflict, Orlov said the Russian policy has been clear and is not changing. “Interventions are not acceptable, changing of elected governments are not acceptable.”
General Sanad Ali Al Nuaimi, Commander, Strategic Studies Centre Doha, called to differentiate between the proper teachings of Islam and terrorism.
He said the caliphate is using the path of the Prophet while committing heinous terrorist acts. “Not to kill is the message, and killing innocent people is something Islam and the rest of the world reject,” he said. The threat of terrorism to global security requires co-operation from all parties to counteract and there is need for dialogue in which others’ views are respected, he added.
The Peninsula
