Posted on 01/16/2002 6:00:32 AM PST by truthandlife
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:50:36 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The Senate, of course, does have a role in foreign policy. But Levin is nit-picking, apparently bent upon creating antagonism where there is none. The Saudis have a problem--as any but a damn fool would realize--in these days of radical fanaticism. (I do not know whether Levin is merely stupid or also malicious.) It is the same problem that is found even in Moslem sectors of London. The greater number of Saudis actually involved in terrorist actions is misunderstood to be a reflection of the attitude of the Royal house, but it is far more likely a reflection of a larger wealthy group than most Moslem countries. Revolution is always the play-thing of the affluent--such as bin Laden. They may recruit others, but the plotters are usually those who have the time to plot, not those struggling to survive.
What Senator Levin is actually promoting is to give bin Laden his principal wish. Surely that is not the proper response at this moment in history. I wonder what can be done in Michigan to make sure the man does not get reelected?
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Your comment is a thing of the moment. Over the years, the Saudis have striven for more stability in the oil market. Prices are for the moment abnormally cheap again. But when prices have been abnormally high on other occasions, it has often been a Saudi threat to open the flow, that has forced the rest of OPEC to be more responsible. I think that a fair longterm assessment would demonstrate that the Saudis are our friends, and should be treated as such.
Russia is not acting as our friend now, they are simply desperate for Dollars.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Yes. Amazingly, he seems to have had at least a small attitude adjustment lately. Who knows, maybe he finally realized that his neck is in the noose right along with the rest of the royal family if the royal family is overthrown. Maybe we look like winners, and he wants to back the winning horse. Or maybe he is just biding his time, waiting to stab us in the back. Time will tell.
If 80% of the population approves of Bin Laden I say about 80% of the population of Saudi Arabia starting with the religious establishment police royals and upper class( except for the few genuinely pro American members) should be shot.
You could get your wish. Ultimately, the rabid anti-Americanism preached by the Wahabbi radicals has to stop. If it does not, eventual confrontation is inevitable.
Personally, I would rather clean up as much of the rest of the worldwide mess as we can first. We need time to rebuild weapon stockpiles (especially cruise missiles) and spare parts. We also need to make sure we have North Korea neutralized, and sufficient force in Taiwan to prevent a Chinese attack. Either place could explode almost without warning if we are perceived as too distracted by war elsewhere to respond.
I think that a fair longterm assessment would demonstrate that the Saudis are our friends, and should be treated as such.
Their record is mixed. That's the best one can say for them. Yes, they've (mostly) kept the oil flowing for us. But they cut it off entirely in 1973. And they helped prevent us from finding the Khobar Tower bombers. And their dangerous (and thoroughly anti-American) subsidizing of Wahhabism around the world is well-documented. Go to the MEMRI site and read what the official Saudi press puts out for domestic consumption; it's hardly the rhetoric of a friend. Given this, they deserve to be treated with a great deal of suspicion and caution.
Russia is not acting as our friend now, they are simply desperate for Dollars.
The same may be said for the medieval, tottering House of Sa'ud.
Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit.com wrote, "Boo hoo. As a reader comments, this is like the Austrian line that 'Austria was Hitler's first victim.'"
Also desparate for trade and survival, like any country would be. We have more in common with Russia than we have with the Saudies and many other countries in the world.
Putin stated it best when he said, they, the US, and England ( and I would add Yugoslavia) is the only thing that will save western christian culture from the fanatical onslaught that's being racheted up.
Where I live in Ohio (and perhaps surprising to most people) there is abundant gas and oil. The local drillers say that if prices are sustained long enough above 30-35 dollars per barrel drilling here will commence (again.) This is also the case, as far as I know for Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and other midwestern states. Now we add in Texas, the Gulf of Mexico and ANWAR and we just might find enough domestic production to sustain ourselves. Using up the Saudi oil first is, of course, a good conservation practice. Someday, however, it will be that the cost in dollars and political capital for Saudi oil is not worth it. When that someday will be is the question we should try to answer.
They charge us fairly for a barrel of oil, but we are slack to charge them for the piles of blood their culture of hatred left on the sidewalks below the WTC in the mid-morning of Eleven September.
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