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Elsewhere in the region, NBC was the only network to have a reporter cover the United States' weapons diplomacy. Andrea Mitchell previewed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to offer "top of the line weapons" to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including laser guided smart bombs, air-to-air missiles and high-speed naval vessels. Mitchell noted that King Abdullah undercuts US foreign policy in the region by brokering deals with Hamas, the Palestinian faction in control of the Gaza Strip, and by arming insurgent forces fighting the US-backed government of Iraq. Yet the US wants to arm the Saudis anyway in order to "frighten and contain their neighbor"--referring not to Israel or Iraq, but to Iran. Israel will also receive US weapons as part of the deal. "That will start an arms race without solving the problem," was how Mitchell paraphrased critics of Rice's policy.
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