Wonder if they have a copywriter compose official statements to get the correct "aura"?
Don't you just love terms like "Investment for peace" being wrapped up in an another "aid package" to supply still more weaponary?
OK.. Let's cut the crap
The US has screwed around and used and abused Iran for decades. It did not work the way it was planned, but backfired.
The invasion of Iraq to establish a base never worked either and the current US "foreign policy" is ally with groups within Iraq, who were "terrorists" last year, in the hope of cooperation and this has temporarily worked to a degree. But, a number of Iraqi's have traditional ethnic ties with Iran and no warfare will ever change that. So.. Iran has more influence in Iraq that anyone else and is, or will, supply more construction materials to Iraq than any occupying forces.
So, the US sees weaknesses and knows Iraq is not a viable long term "ally" (read an ally which can be used for predatory reasons). The reaction is send the ineffective Bitch from Hell (otherwise known as Condi), around the Middle East to try and offload tons of weaponary (sorry "aid") to other Arab nations and Israel as an "investment for peace" - to create more "allies" who can be used/abused. Unfortunately Arab nations are not exactly scrambling to take up these kind offers of "investments for peace".
You are 100% correct woj in that this is also an effort to sell weapons to support the US economy. Apart from wheat, the weapons industry is the only other to have a positive trade balance.
By far, the biggest disruptive "agent" in the Middle East in the last.. almost 40 years, has been US interference - not al Queda or any other party. The current trend to cause division between other Arab states and Iran is doomed to failure - it's simply the bully schoolgirl telling all the others not to speak to her victim. Very naive.
How long will this allegedly westen civilized country continue to be a blot on the international landscape and consistantly manage to achieve so much ill-will in the Middle East and drive any credibility it had with all other nations into the ground?? How long will it take for a realisation to hit the braincell that it cannot live on this planet simply by leeching from other nations?? How long will it be till it addresses it's own domestic problems and actually becomes of use to it's own citizens??
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is progressing economically, especially in Asia and China, and developing the largest economic powerhouse the world has ever seen - and while all other western countries have, in comparison, a very healthy economy which actually has a benefit for people.
There is something kinda sad about this......