( LatWp ) - The Bush administration's proposed $20-billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia appeared to be in trouble in the House on Tuesday , as Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., and other legislators from both parties expressed strong reservations about the deal."It's no secret that large sums of money flow from Saudi Arabia to bad people and organizations all over the world," Ackerman, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Middle East subcommittee, said in a prepared statement, referring to alleged Saudi funding of terrorism.
He said in an interview that he is "predisposed to oppose" the legislation authorizing the sale, which includes $30 billion in military aid (not sales) to Israel over 10 years.
At a hearing Tuesday on the proposed Saudi sales before Ackerman's subcommittee, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., suggested not only the possibility of blocking the arms sales but also of the United States considering "covert action" against Saudi Arabia if it can be established that the Saudi government is directly involved in supporting insurgents in Iraq who are killing U.S. troops.
While the deal has provoked opposition in Congress, its most likely opponent, Israel, has been unusually quiet, as has its biggest lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Sources close to AIPAC say Israel is happy with the large aid package it would get. Ackerman said Israel might want to curry favor with Saudi Arabia, particularly in return for help with Hamas, the militant Palestinian organization that rules Gaza.