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Saudi Arabia: friend, foe or in-between?
One of the under-reported aspects regarding U.S. national security is how our so-called 'friends' in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, are not really allies in the broadest sense. The Saudis are allies of off-and-on momentary convenience and certainly no observers of basic human rights. Were it not for for the voluminous liquid gold--oil--under the sands there, Saudi Arabia might well be on George Bush's so-called axis-of-evil list based upon the use of torture, the stifling of any dissent, the abuse of migrant workers, human trafficking, etc.
In various books such as "The One Per Cent Doctrine" by Ron Suskind, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War" by Michael Izikoff and David Corn and other tomes, sections detail how the Saudis have been reluctant 'along-side-the-U.S.' participants in fighting terrorism. It's taken cajoling and sometimes unveiled threats to insure cooperation. All this, despite almost every 9/11 hijacker being of Saudi nationality, despite a large portion of Middle East terrorist funding coming from Saudi donors and charities, despite hatred taught in the Saudi schools, despite estimates of 12% to 25% of the foreign fighters in Iraq being Saudis.
The 9/11 Commission succinctly put it this way: Saudi Arabia is “a problematic ally in combating Islamic extremism...”
A few of the Saudi elite may favor some degree of progressive change but a majority of Saudis do not and the power players certainly are in the obstructionist camp. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the recent Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and the invasion of Iraq along with the political diminishment of the Sunnis, rightly or wrongly, are all factors feeding this Saudi anti-U.S. feeling.
There's extensive documentation available but here's a couple of instances that demonstrate the nature and values of those ruling Saudi Arabia.
Suthers reassures SaudisTo read the rest, go here.
Feds back Suthers' trip to explain case of captive nanny
By Chris Barge
Rocky Mountain News
November 18, 2006
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers flew to Saudi Arabia this week to reassure government officials there that Homaidan Al-Turki was treated fairly when he was convicted of sexually abusing an Indonesian nanny held a virtual captive in his Aurora home.
Suthers sat knee-to-knee for an hour with King Abdullah and also met with Crown Prince Sultan, Saudi journalists and relatives of Al-Turki during his weeklong trip to the capital city of Riyadh, Deputy Attorney General Jason Dunn said Friday.
"There was a lot of public attention in Saudi Arabia on this case," Dunn said, adding that "misperceptions" there about the U.S. judicial system and Colorado in particular convinced U.S. officials that the highly unusual trip was warranted.
In June, Al-Turki was convicted in Arapahoe County of 12 counts of unlawful sexual contact with force, one count of theft of services over $15,000, false imprisonment and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
Al-Turki has been portrayed in the Saudi press as a victim of the U.S. judicial system's bias against Muslims. Many Saudis say Al-Turki would not have been convicted in his own country.
The Saudi government gave Al-Turki $400,000 to post bail on the charges.
During the trial, the 24-year-old victim testified that she was brought to Colorado from Saudi Arabia by the Al-Turki family in 2000 and worked and lived with them in Aurora for four years. She worked seven days a week and was paid $150 a month, but Al-Turki and his wife kept most of that money.
She also testified that Al-Turki took her passport and that he repeatedly sexually abused her.
At his sentencing, Al-Turki said he would not apologize for "things I did not do and for crimes I did not commit."
"The state has criminalized these basic Muslim behaviors," he told the judge. "Attacking traditional Muslim behaviors was the focal point of the prosecution."
The reach of the Saudis hit the UK recently with this:
Blair hit by Saudi 'bribery' threatTo read the rest, go here.
David Leppard
The Sunday Times
November 19, 2006
:SAUDI ARABIA is threatening to suspend diplomatic ties with Britain unless Downing Street intervenes to block an investigation into a £60m “slush fund” allegedly set up for some members of its royal family.
A senior Saudi diplomat in London has delivered an ultimatum to Tony Blair that unless the inquiry into an allegedly corrupt defence deal is dropped, diplomatic links between Britain and Saudi Arabia will be severed, a defence source has disclosed.
The Saudis, key allies in the Middle East, have also threatened to cut intelligence co-operation with Britain over Al-Qaeda.
They have repeated their threat that they will terminate payments on a defence contract that could be worth £40 billion and safeguard at least 10,000 British jobs.
The Saudis are furious about the criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into allegations that BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest defence company, set up the “slush fund” to support the extravagant lifestyle of members of the Saudi royal family.
The payments, in the form of lavish holidays, a fleet of luxury cars including a gold Rolls-Royce, rented apartments and other perks, are alleged
to have been paid to ensure the Saudis continued to buy from BAE under the so-called Al-Yamamah deal, rather than going to another country. Al-Yamamah is the biggest defence contract in British history and has kept BAE in business for 20 years.
At least five people have been arrested in the probe. They include Peter Wilson, BAE’s managing director of international programmes, and Tony Winship, a former company official who oversaw two travel and service firms that are alleged to have been conduits for the payments. Both deny any wrongdoing.
The Saudi threat was made in September after the royal family became alarmed at the latest turn in the fraud inquiry. Sources close to the investigation say the Saudis “hit the roof” after discovering that SFO lawyers had persuaded a magistrate in Switzerland to force disclosure about a series of confidential Swiss bank accounts.
All nations at times play hardball. The hands of the United States are certainly far from clean in this regard. But overall, the true measuring stick is who is a greater force for good versus who is a greater force for bad. It easy to determine the default position of the Saudis.
I say give the Nobel Peace Prize to the next U.S. President who actually makes this country far less dependent or even non-dependent on foreign oil. Such will reverberate throughout the world and induce a far, far greater chance for peace and civility throughout the world and less economic blackmail.
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