Our Friends the Saudis:
Apparently criticizing prison conditions is enough to get a Saudi academic arrested. (Link via Henry Farrell)
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Our Friends the Saudis:
Apparently criticizing prison conditions is enough to get a Saudi academic arrested. (Link via Henry Farrell) |
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This is the same country that disbars attorneys for complaining when their client, a rape victim, is entenced to be flogged.
I agree that there is a limit to what we can do, but we certainly don't need to cuddle up to the Saudis the way we do. Not only is it one of the most autocratic countries in the world, but it is a major exporter of both ideology and funding for Islamism, anti-Semitism, and terrorism. Why are we selling them sophisticated military aircraft, for example? Who's going to invade them? The Soviet Union? Iraq?
Kissingerian real-politik, and I'm not even a fan of Kissinger.
that of the ruling partiesthe "Truth".I'm afraid we'd like whatever alternative to the present regime is waiting in the wings to take its place much less.
Iran. The Magic Kingdom didn't start exporting their faith until Carter gave Iran to the Ayatollah Khomeini who really, really wanted control of Mecca.
Do you think that Iran has a realistic chance of invading Saudi Arabia? Since crossing Iraq and Kuwait would presumably have unfortunate consequences, I assume they'd have to do it by sea. From what I can tell, they aren't equipped for a massive amphibious operation like that.
Not unless Iraq falls apart which is looking less and less likely by the day.
However, destroying Israel isn't the only reason Iran wants nuclear weapons. There is a lot of hate between the Shia and Sunni Muslims and Wahabism really sets the Shia's teeth on edge.
Weapons platform, sensors, weapons, spare parts, and maintenance are separate sales. We gain a measure of control by selling the weapons platform. Ask Iran how well an AIM-54 works when U.S. maintenance assistance terminates or how useful a HAWK batter is without missiles. Moreover, it is part of a larger effort colloquially referred to as "recycling petrodollars."
Virtually all Saudi oil exports are by sea. One doesn't have to invade to exercise sufficient sea control to significantly affect the cost of ocean-based transport. Remember the Tanker War in the 1980s?
I do not believe that President Bush or other high level White House officials consider Saudi Arabia to be an ally or the Saudi royal family to be friends of the U.S. They see a monarchy that owns billions of barrels of easily extractable oil, and they want access to that oil. Hence the sales of military hardware (mostly fighter jets). Many of the princes join the Saudi Air Force so they can play with these toys. This seems harmless to me, because the jets would only be useful against a second-rate air force. A first rate air force (us or the Israelis) would eat their lunches.
Thank goodness we've set such a sterling example on human rights issues on a wide range of fronts over the past seven years, so we are well-positined to embarass and lean on the Saudis to behave more civilly.
Kissingerian real-politik, and I'm not even a fan of Kissinger.
Folks interested in how we got to where we are wrt the Saudis should read _Confessions of an Economic Hitman_. It explains how, as a reaction to the embargo, a complicated alliance was created wherein the Saudis would buy U.S. securities, the interest on those securities would be used to pay U.S. engineering firms to build infrastructure, the U.S. would provide regime stability and military assistance to S.A., and S.A. would not embargo again.
And it is suspected that Kissinger was the one who sold the deal.
They don't need to invade - one missile strike on the oil terminal will take Saudi crude off the market for weeks or months. That's enough to destabilize the developed world.
If I'm going to read fiction, I prefer first-rate fiction.