Posted on 04/23/2017 11:17:32 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a decree late Saturday naming one of his sons, an air force pilot who has taken part in coalition strikes against the Islamic State group, as the kingdom's new ambassador to the U.S.
The appointment of Prince Khaled bin Salman to Washington signals the kingdom's eagerness to strengthen bilateral ties under President Donald Trump. As the king's son, the prince has a direct line to the Saudi monarch.
Saudi Arabia is the world's third largest defence spender. Prince Khaled's appointment positions him as an influential broker in deals with U.S. manufacturers.
Saudi-U.S. relations had cooled under the Obama administration after Washington pursued a nuclear accord with Shiite-ruled Iran that the Sunni-ruled kingdom strongly opposed. Saudi Arabia and Iran are regional rivals, and back opposing sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen.
Relations with the Riyadh have improved since Trump took office. King Salman dispatched his most powerful son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also defence minister, to meet Trump at the White House last month. Saudi Arabia was quick to praise Trump's missile strike on a Syrian military base in response to an apparent chemical weapons attack on civilians.
Prince Khaled is a former F-15 pilot who graduated military-aviation training from Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi in 2009 and took part in anti-IS strikes in 2014 as part of the U.S.-led coalition. He also participated in flight missions over Yemen, where the kingdom has been bombing a Yemeni faction aligned with Iran for more than two years.
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news website says the prince studied briefly at Harvard University and Georgetown University. The news website says he trained at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, but that a back injury forced him to stop flying.
He has been an adviser at the Saudi Embassy in Washington since late last year.
U.S. officials say the Trump administration is considering ways to boost military support for the Saudi-led fight against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. The U.S. already is helping the Saudis with intelligence and logistical support for the bombing campaign in Yemen, and could assist with greater intelligence support to counter Iranian influence there.
Prince Khaled will be replacing Prince Abdullah Al Saud, who served in the post for just 18 months. Though a member of the royal family, Prince Abdullah was not seen as part of the inner Al Saud circle and is not a direct grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz.
Days before being relieved of his post in Washington, Prince Abdullah published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for continued U.S. resolve to end the conflict in Syria.
He said Saudi Royal Air Force jets operating out of a base in southern Turkey have conducted more than 340 strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria since February.
[Salman]
Sal Bass! - Cosmo Kramer: He substituted one fish for another!
It’s like a sauna in here!
I take it this is the Saudis mirroring Trump’s naming his SIL Kushner a special envoy to the region.
Except Kushner, Trumps SIL, is Jewish.
If only we could send Ivanka to Riyadh as US Ambassador. That would make so many heads explode in both countries!!
So? Saudis back both terrorists and anyone against the Iran/Shiite nexus.
I think they’d be more gracious in that situation than you think. We’re not Haiti or Slovenia. We’re the big dog.
Iran and NORK spending is offensive?
Yes, but could they really handle a Jew and a woman living in their midst, representing the USA from the very personal position of daughter of the POTUS?? Would they even accept the ambassadorial credentials of a Jew? It would be great to try it. I think they might be mostly gracious, at least in public. It’s just that I’d love to see the pressures that might create on both sides of the world. Not to mention that I’d rather have Ivanka and Jared in Riyadh than in DC!
I’ve been around several embassies and they live much better than you and me, but it’d be a slum to Jared and Ivanka.
BTW, there are MANY Western females, Jews included, in the Kingdom staffing their infrastructure or married to those males who do.
Salman has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and at many times cannot remember his own name. link
These wahabbi bastards should have been the first ones taken down after 9/11.
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