US Helps Arabs Prepare for Iran

While the United States is talking up tough sanctions against Iran, it is training United Arab Emirates pilots on F-16 planes in the U.S. for the first time ever, to help the Arab nations prepare for war with Iran.

The American military previously has trained UAE pilots on their own planes for eight years and more recently on U.S. fighter planes other than the F-16.

The pilots, from seven oil-rich UAE kingdoms, are participating in an exercise at an American Air Force base in Nevada after having spent two weeks training at an Arizona base. Closer ties with the Arab states provides the U.S. with better assurance of an immediate defense if war breaks out with the Islamic Republic or if an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities prompts an all-out regional war.

Military relations with Arab states were chilled following the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. The pilots, including two from the UAE who crashed planes into the WorldTradeCenter and the Pentagon, and attempted another aborted attack, trained in the United States.

“They’re getting world-class training,” Col. Greg Stroud told Defence.com in reference to the UAE delegates.

“The Americans also work with UAE commanders to figure out what kind of surprises the Iranians might try to pull,” noted StrategyPage.com. “Arab nations fear the Iranians, who have dominated the region for thousands of years, and have a long history of coming up with imaginative tactics, and using them aggressively and often with success.”

The threat of Iran becoming a nuclear power has pushed the international community and the Islamic Republic into a diplomatic confrontation that is reaching a climax, as Iran comes close to enriching enough uranium to manufacture a nuclear warhead to be aimed at Israel.

In response to the threat of tougher United Nations sanctions, Iranian state television announced on Tuesday that the government is ready for negotiations and has prepared a new proposal. U.S. President Barack Obama has issued an ultimatum that Iran agree by the end of the month to stop its nuclear development program in return for trade benefits, or else face harsher sanctions.

The regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not reveal details of what it called its “new nuclear package.”