Iraq Press Roundup

The Kurdish Al Ittihad newspaper said Thursday the U.S. Congress is starting discussions on a resolution the Bush administration adopted to sell weapons worth $20 billion to Arab countries.

The editorial -- headlined "The arms race in the Middle East" -- said the White House chose this as a way to "distribute stability" in the Middle East, a region threatened by Iran and terrorism.

"The U.S. Congress has to reject this bargain as arms given to the Arab world will not be for the interest of the region or the United States," the paper said.

It said instability will dominate the Middle East as every area has growing problems due to the birth of terrorism and consumption of human freedoms. The editorial said weapons in the Arab world create an arms race and instability.

"In addition to weapons sales that the Bush administration is offering, there are other major powers trying to escalate weapons sales. … The French are engaged in selling $400 million worth of weapons to Libya and the Russians are bargaining to sell Algeria weapons and are also involved in providing weapons to Iran," the paper said.

It said the Middle East didn't need more arms. It is not in the interest of Iran to engage in a military war with Saudi Arabia or with Kuwait, it said.

"Neither the United States nor the European allies will allow Iran to attack these two countries," it added.

"Iranian weapons are to be used to support fighting groups that provoke instability and chaos in the Arab world. … Iraq and Lebanon are in the heart of this matter," the paper said.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's newspaper said providing Arab countries with such weapons is a wrong tool if the U.S. wants to fight radical movements in Lebanon and Iraq.

"The real threat the Arab countries face lurks in religious radicalism and terrorism," the editorial said.

The editorial explained that the purchase of developed weapons won't result in ending violent radicalism. It reasoned that the creation of radicalism and violence was because of the lack of prosperity in Arab countries.

The paper concluded that selling weapons to the Middle East will create a "volcanic" situation.

"Historically, the U.S. Congress questioned and on other occasions opposed selling weapons to Arab countries as it could be a threat to Israel when it was not," it said.

The paper said that for the United States to be right and ethical, its Congress must prevent arms sales to the Middle East. Arabs, it said, needed real support as they face suppressing challenges.