Saudi Arabia Rift with America?
I for one think lip service, smiles and winks are BS. I think as of late the Bush admin. has few options but to kiss a**.
For Example:
Read this and wonder just how things are going between the US and Saudi Arabia.
It is troubling. Rift ? You decide...
What do I mean by troubling?
and...
The real kicker:
Your thoughts?
Fellowship
For Example:
Quote:
"Ironically, the Bush administration attempted to quell such criticism by issuing a new report last week that lavishly praised the Saudis for a renewed effort to crackdown on terrorism in the wake of last May?s deadly bombing at a housing compound in Riyadh. ?I would cite Saudi Arabia as an excellent example of a nation increasingly focusing its political will to fight terrorism,? U.S. Amb. Cofer Black, the State Department?s coordinator for counterterrorism,_ said in a statement accompanying the department?s release of its annual ?Patterns of Global Terrorism? report."
"Ironically, the Bush administration attempted to quell such criticism by issuing a new report last week that lavishly praised the Saudis for a renewed effort to crackdown on terrorism in the wake of last May?s deadly bombing at a housing compound in Riyadh. ?I would cite Saudi Arabia as an excellent example of a nation increasingly focusing its political will to fight terrorism,? U.S. Amb. Cofer Black, the State Department?s coordinator for counterterrorism,_ said in a statement accompanying the department?s release of its annual ?Patterns of Global Terrorism? report."
Read this and wonder just how things are going between the US and Saudi Arabia.
It is troubling. Rift ? You decide...
What do I mean by troubling?
Quote:
"Crown Prince Abdullah?the country?s de facto ruler?has startled_ Bush administration officials by blaming ?Zionists? and ?followers of Satan? for recent terrorist acts in the kingdom. ?We can be certain that Zionism is behind everything,? Abdullah told a gathering of leading government officials and academics in Jeddah as he talked about the weekend attack on oil workers, which killed six people, including two Americans."
"Crown Prince Abdullah?the country?s de facto ruler?has startled_ Bush administration officials by blaming ?Zionists? and ?followers of Satan? for recent terrorist acts in the kingdom. ?We can be certain that Zionism is behind everything,? Abdullah told a gathering of leading government officials and academics in Jeddah as he talked about the weekend attack on oil workers, which killed six people, including two Americans."
and...
Quote:
"But Walker added that the Saudi rulers ?don?t feel they owe this country or this administration much of anything these days._ They were terribly disappointed in the 100 percent support of Sharon ? Maybe this is their way of making their disappointment clear. It?s also a way to blunt the edge of public opinion which is very much opposed to what we are doing ? We have a horrible situation in the region.?
This is hardly the first time that Saudi leaders have upset U.S. officials with controversial remarks in the war on terrorism. It took Saudi officials months to publicly acknowledge that 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 terror attacks in the United States were Saudi citizens and, when they finally did so, in February 2002, they still appeared to blame others. Prince Nayef, the Saudi interior minister, who is in charge of internal security, insisted that the hijackers were a small minority who had been ?taken advantage of? and that there was no Al Qaeda presence in the kingdom. As recently as December 2002,_ Nayef claimed that "Jews" were behind the September 11 attacks?a comment that drew strong protests from the U.S. State Department."
"But Walker added that the Saudi rulers ?don?t feel they owe this country or this administration much of anything these days._ They were terribly disappointed in the 100 percent support of Sharon ? Maybe this is their way of making their disappointment clear. It?s also a way to blunt the edge of public opinion which is very much opposed to what we are doing ? We have a horrible situation in the region.?
This is hardly the first time that Saudi leaders have upset U.S. officials with controversial remarks in the war on terrorism. It took Saudi officials months to publicly acknowledge that 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 terror attacks in the United States were Saudi citizens and, when they finally did so, in February 2002, they still appeared to blame others. Prince Nayef, the Saudi interior minister, who is in charge of internal security, insisted that the hijackers were a small minority who had been ?taken advantage of? and that there was no Al Qaeda presence in the kingdom. As recently as December 2002,_ Nayef claimed that "Jews" were behind the September 11 attacks?a comment that drew strong protests from the U.S. State Department."
Quote:
?Our country is targeted,? the story quotes Abdullah as saying. ?You know who is behind all of this. It is Zionism. This is clear now.?
?Our country is targeted,? the story quotes Abdullah as saying. ?You know who is behind all of this. It is Zionism. This is clear now.?
Quote:
"The Saudi ruler went on to say that the real perpetrators ?have tricked some of our sons and they deceived them.? The Saudi militants who committed the attacks on the oil workers had been ?misguided by foreigners ? They allied themselves with Satan and the followers of Satan and the followers of colonialism.?
"The Saudi ruler went on to say that the real perpetrators ?have tricked some of our sons and they deceived them.? The Saudi militants who committed the attacks on the oil workers had been ?misguided by foreigners ? They allied themselves with Satan and the followers of Satan and the followers of colonialism.?
The real kicker:
Quote:
"The attack?the latest in a spate of terrorist incidents in the kingdom?was particularly alarming because it threatens to cause further disruptions in world oil markets. The U.S. Embassy has redoubled its efforts to warn American workers in the country to leave and that exodus alone could threaten Saudi oil production.
Oil industry expert Philip Verleger, a fellow at the Institute for International Economics, said that the incident in Yanbu was especially worrisome because the Saudis have repeatedly assured American contacts that security in that oilfield complex is very tight. What is troubling, Verleger said, is not that incidents in the Saudi oil fields will stop the production of Saudi crude, but rather that such incidents will cause both foreign and Saudi engineers and skilled workers to leave the region or the kingdom.
Even more potentially damaging, Verleger says, would be for terrorists to somehow shut down, either through a direct attack or by intimidating operating personnel, a number of oil refineries in Saudi Arabia which produce special gasoline blends formulated for the American market. Although those refineries have not been attacked and are still believed to be operating normally, they are fragile, heavily automated plants which could be hobbled by a loss of a relatively small number of personnel, or, alternatively, by a serious terror attack.
If terrorists succeed by one stratagem or another in taking down some of the Saudi-based refineries, Verleger said, "it is really, really frightening." A shutdown or big attack on one of the refineries could produce a quick rise in U.S. retail gasoline prices of 50 cents to $1 per gallon, Verleger told NEWSWEEK. If crude production is ultimately curbed by the flight of personnel or a direct attack, Verleger says, the world price of crude could soar to $60 to $70 per barrel unless the United States and other oil-consuming countries dipped into their strategic petroleum reserves to help stabilize the market."
"The attack?the latest in a spate of terrorist incidents in the kingdom?was particularly alarming because it threatens to cause further disruptions in world oil markets. The U.S. Embassy has redoubled its efforts to warn American workers in the country to leave and that exodus alone could threaten Saudi oil production.
Oil industry expert Philip Verleger, a fellow at the Institute for International Economics, said that the incident in Yanbu was especially worrisome because the Saudis have repeatedly assured American contacts that security in that oilfield complex is very tight. What is troubling, Verleger said, is not that incidents in the Saudi oil fields will stop the production of Saudi crude, but rather that such incidents will cause both foreign and Saudi engineers and skilled workers to leave the region or the kingdom.
Even more potentially damaging, Verleger says, would be for terrorists to somehow shut down, either through a direct attack or by intimidating operating personnel, a number of oil refineries in Saudi Arabia which produce special gasoline blends formulated for the American market. Although those refineries have not been attacked and are still believed to be operating normally, they are fragile, heavily automated plants which could be hobbled by a loss of a relatively small number of personnel, or, alternatively, by a serious terror attack.
If terrorists succeed by one stratagem or another in taking down some of the Saudi-based refineries, Verleger said, "it is really, really frightening." A shutdown or big attack on one of the refineries could produce a quick rise in U.S. retail gasoline prices of 50 cents to $1 per gallon, Verleger told NEWSWEEK. If crude production is ultimately curbed by the flight of personnel or a direct attack, Verleger says, the world price of crude could soar to $60 to $70 per barrel unless the United States and other oil-consuming countries dipped into their strategic petroleum reserves to help stabilize the market."
Your thoughts?
Fellowship
Comments
Economically they are related to the occidental world, and are therefore our natural allies (by natural read common interests). But in order to keep the power, they have to deal with others parts of the population. Unfortunately the more noisy and organised are not democratic followers, but islamits integrists. These people are a threat for the Saudi leaders. Saudi leaders do not want to struggle them directly, because they fear them.
This paradox explain the strange behavioring of Saudi Arabia, in their relationship with terrorism and the occidental word. I don't see any reasons why such a systeme would change.
Even if these people were referring to actual zionists, so what. The existance of the state of Isreal might be offensive to some, maybe even many arabs BUT that's no excuse for terrorism. You can do things which stop young people turning to terrorism but when a person commits an act of terror the responsibility and blame fall on that person's shoulders. THEY are the ones who choose to terrorise and not whatever their object of hatred is.
Barto
# Expression or appreciation of subtle shades of meaning, feeling, or tone:
i now have the only post in this thread that shouldn't piss anyone off.
No oil, no friendship, it's as simple as that. We're oil whores.