Posted on Jun 2, 2019
The Most Powerful Arab Ruler Isn’t M.B.S. It’s M.B.Z.
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Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the 29-year-old commander of the almost negligible air force of the United Arab Emirates, had come to Washington shopping for weapons.
In 1991, in the months after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the young prince wanted to buy so much military hardware to protect his own oil-rich monarchy — from Hellfire missiles to Apache helicopters to F-16 jets — that Congress worried he might destabilize the region.
But the Pentagon, trying to cultivate accommodating allies in the Gulf, had identified Prince Mohammed as a promising partner. The favorite son of the semi-literate Bedouin who founded the United Arab Emirates, Prince Mohammed was a serious-minded, British-trained helicopter pilot who had persuaded his father to transfer $4 billion into the United States treasury to help pay for the 1991 war in Iraq.
Richard A. Clarke, then an assistant secretary of state, reassured lawmakers that the young prince would never become “an aggressor.”
In 1991, in the months after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the young prince wanted to buy so much military hardware to protect his own oil-rich monarchy — from Hellfire missiles to Apache helicopters to F-16 jets — that Congress worried he might destabilize the region.
But the Pentagon, trying to cultivate accommodating allies in the Gulf, had identified Prince Mohammed as a promising partner. The favorite son of the semi-literate Bedouin who founded the United Arab Emirates, Prince Mohammed was a serious-minded, British-trained helicopter pilot who had persuaded his father to transfer $4 billion into the United States treasury to help pay for the 1991 war in Iraq.
Richard A. Clarke, then an assistant secretary of state, reassured lawmakers that the young prince would never become “an aggressor.”
The Most Powerful Arab Ruler Isn’t M.B.S. It’s M.B.Z.
Posted from nytimes.com
United Arab Emirates
Washington
Weapons
Pentagon
Persian/Arabian Gulf
Posted >1 y ago
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The Saudi's are allies of the U.S. and maintain their superiority as the regional leader. Most of the Princes are trained abroad in the UK and the US, because to them such training gives them the edge. Even North Korean negotiators are trained by British instructors and other European teachers, which is why most of the DPRK negotiators speak the Queen's very own English language. Similarly, the Saudis are educated in the UK and US to make them ready for leadership in line for the Crown. MBZ leads the negligible Air Force that he has been charged to build, operate and command (BOC). The leader of the Armed Forces typically is third in line to the Crown; however, MBZ might eventually change this old precedent.
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