House of Saud looks close to collapse

The Guardian ^ | November 21, 2001 | David Leigh and Richard Norton-Taylor

[Thinkin' Gal]

The dictatorial Saud clan describe themselves as "guardians of the two holy places" and preside over the vast annual pilgrimages to Mecca.

Well then, perhaps Mecca should revert to its previous custodian... the 'House of the Prophet':

[RadicalRik]

Be nice if the "Land of Saud" was close to fission temprature.

[JD86]

Thanks for posting this. Another reminder that all actions have consequences and sometimes actions have unintended consequences.

[JD86]

Thanks for posting this. Another reminder that all actions have consequences and sometimes actions have unintended consequences.

[Dog Gone]

The dramatic headline isn't justified. There are no street protests. There is no palace coup.

[TheLooseThread]

The writer of this editorial misses the trees and the forest. All of this is mooooooooooooot.

If the US and Russia were allies saudi arabia would no longer have any influence whatever. They could not play the US and Russia against each other.

At the strategic level, who cares about the current management of saudi arabia if the US and Russia can (if push comes to shove) walk in, box off, and take the oil?

[Cicero]

I've said it before. If there is a revolt against the royal family, we should go in quickly and split the country in two. One part with all the oil, the other part with the holy places. It's dynamite to keep both of them in the same country, with one man controlling the sites that are essential to a billion Muslims as well as the oil on which depends the entire world economy.

[independentmind]

.

[Patria One]

"This week, newspapers, including the Economist and Time magazine, published extensive and flattering advertisements placed by the Saudi regime - a clear indication of its concern about the future, as well as the bad publicity seeping out about its past links with Bin Laden and the Taliban. "

That's not the reason for the PR. Their American friends have been encouraging them for years to let the world know more about them. As private as they are, they have been sufficiently hurt and troubled by the horror of the attack on America and the accusations against them to come forward ad make their case..

[hsszionist]

Let's get that military equipment out of there. Israel can always put it to good use. Our personnel can come back for the oil later.

[Shermy]

Patria One: in part, I agree with you--but it's not their "American friends" but they themselves. The American press for time immemorial has given Saudi Arabia and the House of Saud a pass on any real analysis. Instead, we get selected bits of a lawrence of arabia kind of image of the second most sexist country on earth.

JD86: Good point. But I take issue with the statement, for one "Modern Saudi Arabia is to an extent a perverted creation of America and its British ally." Perverted? How so? What has America done to "prop up" Saudi Arabia? Buy its oil? Wouldn't the next regime sell oil too?

Would the House of Saud still rule if it weren't for the USA? All that is offered for proof is a non-sequitur cite to Henry Kissenger intended to raise the blood pressure of the typical Guardian reader by invoking a bogeyman.

This one paragraph is a classic propaganda piece:

"Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, spelled out in his recent book on American foreign policy its essentially manipulative approach to such Middle East states as Saudi Arabia. The US, he says, cannot afford the region to be "dominated by countries whose purposes are inimical to ours". Well, there are and were concerns about USSR and Iran and Iraq dominating our "interests," to the advantage of their own interests. Lefties can never credit foreign countries with their own legitimate interests and fears if such would mitigate the anti-Americanness of their own thinking.

Their economic "purposes" have been to prop up a regime which would guarantee a stable flow of petrol and oil to the US at relatively low prices and recycle its petrodollars back to the west in the shape of construction projects and arms purchases.

Is this what Kissinger said? We only get one word in quotation marks. What is a "relatively" low price? What about world market, OPEC, embargoes, etc. Why shouldn't we get our money back? That's called trade. Might as well sell them the expensive stuff. Are we forcing it down their throats?

[Roger_W_Isom]

For all practical purposes and intent... Saudi Arabia is INDEED two countries... One with the Oil the other with the Two holy Mosques... The ONLY question NOW is WHEN THIS SPLIT WILL OCCUR....

[Patria One]

Why don't you check out some websites on modern Saudi Arabia?

[headsonpikes]

Whaddya got? A hot-line to their freakin' Embassy??!!

You show up faster than ravens at roadkill!

[Agent Smith]

I am not so sure.

I seem to recall that over a thousand Saudi royals scampered off to Switzerland at the first hint of trouble, in September. Their own actions don't inspire confidence and I am not so sure they are long for this world.

[Patria One]

Good God, Roger.. before you go on making cryptic, idiot predictions why don't you back up and do the research on SARIN.

[Roger_W_Isom]

7000 Princelings does NOT make for a STABLE GOVERNMENT!!!.... give me 10 Billion Dollars and I can GURANTEE THE COLLAPSE OF THIS SO CALLED "GOVERNMENT!!!!