This despotic Al-Saud family has long been kept in power by massive American military force in order to siphon off the oil wealth of the region as seen in the massively corrupt arms deals etc that Trump, Kushner, Erik Prince, and Goldman and Blackstone Inc engaged in recently. All this while Muslim people in the surrounding region suffer from want. This predatory Western imperialism is why the devastating attacks of 9/11 took place and not because of "American freedom". As long as the American people allow their corrupt establishment and the foreign Saudi and Israeli lobbies to control their foreign policy they will continue to face such massive retaliation or "blowback" in the form of terrorism which undermines their own democracy as well.
1
Hard to fathom the idea of Donald Trump jailing all his top Cabinet Secretaries, yet that's the tyranny story we're sold every day by the NYT, CNN, WaPo and MSNBC.
This is reality, and this is good for the Middle East. They just moved 100 years in >>>>>>the right direction.
2
Slowly, the worlds oligarch re-establishes itself in preparation for a cataclysmic world war.
Some will fight it as a religious war, some as a patriotic war when all the time, it’s about wealth, power and control. The US used to be the sensible check against this insanity but with the appointment of trump and his House Of Frauds, nothing makes sense anymore.
3
How's this different from North Koreans purging family members to consolidate Kim's power?
3
What makes this autocratic king different and “phonier” than any other?
I think our wannabe POTUS’s endorsement- the Real Trump ‘s quick endorsement of this move to “modernize “ Saudi Arabia.
Though not surprised by the almost-immediate tweet supporting the arrests, I am frightened by every Trumpism praising, it seems, every dictator on the planet other than the third god-king of North Korea, who he seems to consider a lovely target for a war of his own.
Back to “phony” - check out the overnight creation of France’s “ancient Salic Law” - which declared the king must come from the male line, even if it meant choosing a cousin over a prince.
Or the semi legitimate claim of the English to the French throne that led to more than a century of war.
Or John of Gaunt’s descendants’ declaration they had the right to seize the English throne, despite the wishes of the first Lancaster in favor of the princes they defeated in the War. of the Roses.
Just because the English created a half-dozen or so monarchies and only one relatively democratic state of Israel when they turned over the Middle East doesn’t make the legitimacy of the king of Saudi Arabia any phonier than the House of Wetin, excuse me, Windsor, and the continuing reign of Elizabeth II.
2
When the Arab world is not fighting each other, they're fighting their own!
At this point, I'd be surprised if someone Trump appointed didn't have Russian ties.
23
Sorry everyone, I was commenting on another story and I don't know what happened. As for this one, I bet Trump wishes he had this kind of power.
Women, women, women, women.
Women.
Women! Women women women, WOMEN! Women? WOMEN.
WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN. WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMENWOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN.
That is the only thing I care about when it comes to Saudi Arabia. WHAT ARE WE DOING TO FREE THEIR WOMEN?
2
Under the totalitarian dictatorship of the House of Saud there is never any change, there is just rearrangement of the deck chairs. This is a "nothing burger."
1
About 2 years ago Rex Tillerson, as Chairman & CEO of ExxonMobil, signed ExxonMobil to a partnership with a company super-majority owned by the Saudi King, Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), the 4th largest chemical manufacturing company in the world, with plants in Europe and the Middle East. The Saudi-Exxon entity is called Gulf Coast Growth Ventures
SABIC/Exxon lobbyists skulked around Texas last year and this, secretly obtaining local political support to build a giant petrochemical plant on 14,000 acres of flat farmland in San Patricio County where an American family currently grows cotton. That farm was SABIC's first choice because it is near existing port facilities on the south side of Corpus Christi Bay. Plans for the new chemical plant were formally announced in April 2017
SABIC/Exxon claim they plan to invest $9.3 Billion to build that chemical plant. The plant will include an ethane steam cracker, which uses heat and pressure to turn natural gas into ethylene and polyethylene, materials used to make plastic. SABIC/Exxon claim they will produce up to 1.8 million metric tons of those chemicals each year, making San Patricio the world’s largest ethane steam cracker industrial plant
Now with the Saudi King in his dotage, and his reckless 32 year old son in control of SABIC and everything else owned by the King, I sure hope no enemies of the Saudi Crown Prince show up in South Texas to try to sabotage or blow-up the SABIC/Exxon chemical plant
1
Regardless of intentions, which are suspect at best, the ends NEVER justify the means. Something that the millennial generation seems to not have been taught - even millennials in Saudi Arabia.
So Mr. Stephens wonders if these arrests signal a "slide into despotism." Seriously? Just what do you call a country run by family where religious police routinely accost people on the street and where Christians cannot even drive to Mecca. Oh, by the way, Saudi Arabia did not outlaw slavery until 1962. Not 1862, 1962.
4
Since Saudi Arabia is essentially one gigantic private holding, this is a "family dispute." Sounds like having "Saud" as your last name and being in the "Royal" family is a bit like the Hotel California - you can check out but you can never leave (unless, or course, your head "somehow leaves your body.")
Well, just so long as these steps continue strengthening Saudi Democracy .....
[And as we speak, the Saudi version of "The Denver Boot" (applied to the wheels of the cars of parking ticket scofflaws so the vehicle cannot be moved) is being applied to the legs of camels across the Kingdom.]
1
Young princes and kings tend to wage wars. It is in their nature as young, inexperienced, males with surging hormones. It's very easy to wage wars without seeing the harm it causes. Ambition, pride, susceptibility to flattery and influence and undue optimism are the failings of princess.
2
I was on Roosevelt Island this weekend at the FDR Four Freedoms Park and it brings to mind how atrociously backwards Saudi Arabia, and many other countries, are on achieving FDR's vision for people of the world:
Freedom of speech - NOT in Saudi Arabia
Freedom of worship - NOT in Saudi Arabia
Freedom from want - for Saudis, but NOT for "guest" workers
Freedom from fear - NOT in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a medieval, autocratic monarchy-theocracy. That would be bad enough if the country was some backwater inflicting their dogma of repression just on its own people. But, due to Saudi Arabia's tremendous oil wealth, they've corrupted, distorted and blocked many, many paths forward for democratic reform and greater liberty throughout the Middle East.
If any place is long overdue for an Arab Spring, it is the House of Saud's monarchy and the fanatical form of Islam terror they've been exporting around the world for decades. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end - since it really can't get much worse than it already is.
5
C'mon that is not a revolution or a step towards enlightenment, that is MbS fighting for survival against internal enemies and fighting for his share in the corruption cake.
There are already a number of bets in the kingdom how long MbS will survive this?
This is one of the most regressive governments in the world. They are mired in the 15th century. Especially about women. But of course the U.S. has catered to them for years. Bin Laden was schooled there. Trump loves them especially when the royals hung that ostentatious gold medallion around his neck. I don't really care what they do internally because they are a disgusting bunch of 15th century autocrats that like war and don't think women are human beings. They have big money and we have gladly armed them to the teeth. I'm far more concerned with us and our decline in morality as we watch home grown terrorists wreck havoc on our people. And they are terrorists.
6
Here in Australia, I had coffee with 3 women in their 90s last week.
The topic was how sad it was to live to witness the decline of the United States.
6
So basically anyone who had a chance or means to truly cause the crown prince trouble is now guilty of corruption and needs to be jailed or at least detained.
Nothing about this sounds fishy at all.
Let's hope our new autocracy doesn't last 80 years.
3
interesting Jared resently met with him....and somehow this is triggered....against someone who had money jared wanted...
3
For the longest time, Saudi Arabia has been the top dog in the middle east. Iran has aggressively challenged this status quo. Despite being less wealthy, the Iranian leadership by now wields more influence in the region than does the al-Saud family. Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen are exemplars. Thus, the Saudi position is not just threatened by the economic prospects of dwindling oil reserves, but also by their shrinking sphere of influence. The Saudi ruling elite seemed unable to decide how they needed to respond.
Mohammed bin Salman has now taken the initiative, and in one stroke dismantled the intra-family opposition. Expect Saudi Arabia to be led far more decisively, with much higher risk and, of course, with disregard of democratic norms. Whether MbS has the smarts to make his mission successful is uncertain. However, it is clear that the edifice of power sharing in the al-Saud family was no longer functional, even before the coup. What MbS did on Sunday would not have been possible 10 years ago, not in a 1-against-rest-of-family scenario.
1
The Saudis are known for their opaque private government processes. One would have to assume what we see is only the tip of the processes going on behind closed doors. Those doors are probably not prison cell doors as we understand them, although the inhabitants of the guilded rooms are probably suitably frightened.
Which makes me ask, "How frightened is the King?" ...and makes me note, Obama began a diplomatic shift away from the Saudis, toward Iran, an illustration of America's long understanding of how unstable Saudi Arabia is.
Is America choosing the wrong side in a foreign war...again. Mr Trump is very clear which side he has chosen. I hope he knows what he is doing.
5
Trump has no clue what he is doing. I'm sure Jared and the other no nothings probably gave the Prince the green light the other day. This will not end well in Saudi Arabia. It's ironic that someone as corrupt as Trump in business and in character is the most fervent supporter of cleaning up the corruption in Saudi Arabia.
Wow - convenient helicopter crashes, a missile attack and mass arrests in Saudi Arabia, at the very moment a major multi-nation military exercise starts right next door. Quite a night!
(Shocked Prince Talal was arrested; you'd think that faux bandolier would have scared everyone off!)
3
1920-32 Republicans Harding, Coolidge, Hoover gang, most corrupt in history (Teapot Dome scandal) set up SOCAL, formulated the US global oil policy.
Oil had recently been found in East Arabia where Shia sat. Republicans went to Shia notables asking them to give their oil for free in return of a state and protection. Shia showed them the door.
Reps turned to Saudis from oil-less, water-less Nejd, then a band of brigands fighting progressive Sunni Hejazis and moderate Turks, assuring them a state and protection on promise of free oil. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was born.
Republicans used the Sauds royally, but deals with Devil never pay off. 9/11 was Saudi gift for giving them Shia oil - 15 of 19 operatives were Saudis busting 1825 Monroe Doctrine:
For its perfidy America paid with urban sprawl economy now hostage to free oil. America is now beset with white elephants of spread out cities built on free oil for ever.
The Shia sit on 95% of the ME oil, and all of its water. Now a 9/11 shocked chastened and wisened America deathbed conversion dreams of returning oil to Shia to manipulate them a la Saud for yet another century.
Secret and open plan in US Armed Forces Journal by Lt Col Ralph Peters (2006) wants the kingdom split in 3:
- in the west an Islamic “Vatican”
- in the middle an oil-less Saudi Nejd
- in the east an oil-rich Arab Shia Oil Megastate under our tutelage.
http://www.oilempire.us/new-map.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Peters
In the not-too-distant future and after the disappearance of American democracy and the establishment of the oligarchy, the US may in fact look like Saudi Arabia today, with the strongest oligarch dispatching those who stand in his way.
In fact, it it weren`t for the institutional structures in place, there is little logical argument against Trump and his oligarchs eliminating the competition and hoarding up the totality of power. There is a logic -albeit an unconscious one - behind Trump`s and the GOP`s relentless attack on democratic institutions, all the way from the independence of the Judiciary to the autonomy of the Central Bank.
By looking at Saudi Arabia today, we may in fact be looking into our not-too-distant future. Unbelievable, but perfectly possible.
2
There is nothing at all unconscious about the logic behind what Trump and the GOP are doing. It is quite deliberate and won't ever stop.
1
As Mel Brooks wryly observed: “It’s good to be the King!” (Or Prince.) But seriously, it seems like only a decade ago (or less) that the Times’ Thos. Friedman was lauding “China's one-party autocracy [for its ability to] impose the important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century.” Could Kirkpatrick’s neutral reportage - “only time will tell” if the royal purge is a good thing or bad - be mistaken for tacit praise of the ends justifying the means? It’s disconcerting that liberalism seems to view raw exercises of power with equanimity, if not envy.
1
King Donald and Prince Jared had no idea that this was a possible way to rule. They are hoping they too can behave similarly.
2
The only thing worse than the "change" at the House of Saud,
is the almost unreported "changes" occurring as the other half of the Mideast equation, Shi'ite Iran, cleans its own house in a most undemocratic fashion.
While the Times cannot restrain itself from reporting on an ally it considers "unworthy," the Iranians escape scrutiny as they cement their regional hegemony.
We are waiting for the Times in-depth reporting on the sudden resignation of Lebanon's Prime Minister, Hariri, whose father was murdered by Iranian-puppet Hezbollah and who just fled Lebanon in fear for his own life.
Saudi Arabia is centralizing to combat the coming Persian winter.
3
The new ruler of the House of Saud seems to be following the Ottoman script for succession: upon accession to the throne, first order of business is to eliminate siblings, cousins and any other potential rivals to the throne. Time will tell if it does anything but create chaos and mistrust for the ruling elite of the world's single biggest exporter of Islamic fundamentalism.
2
So, this great, so-called "ally" of the US, how is this any different than the freakshow regime in North Korea...or Putin's neo-czarist Oligarchy? Not to defend Kim Jong Un or Putin, but random, pure powerplay actions against potential rivals...and for crying out loud we still have the reality that MOST of the 9-11 conspirators were sons of Saudi Arabia....how can these medievalists really be our allies?
6
Yemen, Qatar and now this,
Clearly Saudi's new kings what to gamble everything till the last dime. This will not be ended well in a society everything about blood relation.
This Saudi King so far the only one thinking that Trump is a visionary political leader. That says a lot.....................
However I hope this will end Saudi's ultimate power grab on Islamic world and they will be engulfed with civil war, so they will see what they do the rest of the Islamic world.
All Muslim world hopefully can see a good days when this evil Wahhabis kingdom collapses, that fate hopefully engulf Iran's Ayatollah's too.
1
Can’t wait for the Saudis to overthrow their government.
As has been noted, Trump has multiple axes to grind with Alwaleed. I imagine he has encouraged bin Salman's consolidation of power and thinks he can profit from it. I am sure he's wishing he could do the same kind of thing in this country. Nevertheless, I think the House of Saud is sooner or later going to be sorry it ever decided to believe anything Donald Trump had to say. Anyone who makes the mistake of thinking that Trump deals in good faith comes to feel that way.
4
I'm sure our liar-in-chief called the king to congratulate him on ridding himself of some pesky opposition. Trump would feel well at home in this anti-democratic, totalitarian monarchy where women are 2nd class citizens and transparency is shielded by an "anti-corruption committee" within a vast fratricidal family.
5
I used to work in the Middle East - have lived in Kuwait and Qatar.
And traveled to Saudi Arabia and still count on several Saudi friends.
It's about time someone did something about these princes. Unfortunately, it is by another prince - he needs to be thrown in the wastepaper basket of history like we threw the communists.
Like other dictators including the communists, Saddam and Gaddafi - once they introduce any measure of accountability - what goes around comes around.
While this may be long over due - it is not enough. The only way the Saudis will prosper in the long run is a departure of this family of Saud's - who preach one thing at home and practice something else outside home.
I tell folks that I am old enough to have seen the end of Berlin Wall but not that old to see the fall of a Saudi Kingdom.
I cannot but think that this is the beginning of end of the House of Saud as we know it.
1
"The absence of a judicial process 'sends a chill down the spine of foreign investors.' "
Nonsense. Investors love a totalitarian government--much easier to work with than a democracy.
I don't suppose anyone will ever explore the complicity of Saudi Arabia, our "important ally" in the World Trade Center attack. Trump, like the Bushes before him, is too busy trying to attract their business--witness his enthusiasm for bringing ARAMCO to the NYSE.
22
The problem is that businesses generally prefer a legal system in which they know how things work. Where there is a codified set of laws which allows them to project their influence and protect their assets. In a system driven by absolutist decree this can lead to uncertainty and businesses hate uncertainty.
2
Well, sort of. Investors do like a clear and reliable legal code in democracies, where lawsuits are a part of doing business. But if reliable courts were so essential, there would be no investment in Saudi Arabia today--or, for that matter, Chad. Where there is no democracy, deals are cheerfully made according to the gory rules of the marketplace.
Corporate hand-wringing about the importance of due process is mostly a PR dodge. Just ask the citizens of Bhopal, India, or the executives of Union Carbide.
The Crown prince is at least a student of history and realizes that the rigid control over the population by the Whabbi clerics would at sone point bring ISIS home to the Arabian peninsula. In fact there have been reports of unrest and crack downs on the Shia minority but also lessor reported rebellions taken by more conservative Sunni elements.
In fact Bin Laden broke with the royal family over what he described as corruption and allowing sacred Muslim land to be turned into US military bases.
Whether this will work or not remains to be seen. As autocratic as the regime is they will likely have some initial success. But they may also have sown the seeds of their own destruction. There is plenty of money floating around in the hands of lessor family members and emails released by Wikileaks during the Obama years has linked much of it to terrorist activity abroad. It wouldn't take much to simply change targets.
But at the end of the day the US will support the Crown Prince because we will forgive almost any nations sins for the right price. A hundred billion dollar commitment to buy American weapons will erasse a lot of bad memories and create a lot of exceptions.
6
So why was Jared in Saudi Arabia, twice? Getting funding for 666 Fifth Ave?????
8
So when will the first Christian church open its doors in Mekkah?
1
Right after it snows a few inches in Jiddah.
1
Batazoid,
There are literally hundreds of Christian churches in the largest Muslim country, the staunchly pro-American, Muslim vibrant democracy that is Indonesia, and with population 8 times the size of 30 million Saudi Arabia. Likewise, in the country projected to be the second largest Muslim country and is the largest democracy on earth, India, too there are hundreds of churches. A few relevant facts that hopefully will make you think.
This Saudi Crown Prince is about the age of Kim Jong-un when he took power, soon eliminating anyone who might be a threat to his reign.
Surely Trump had a heads-up prior to this happening, as Jared was recently in Saudi Arabia and has gone there numerous times this year. It’s probably not an accident that this happened while Trump was in Asia.
2
Wow! Saudi Arabia is sliding into despotism...lol
8
This occurred right after Jared Kushner's visits to Saudi Arabia. Coincidence? I don't think so.
4
Jared Kushner must be so jealous, not to be able to do the same type of coup here. (At least, not as of yet...)
Rich corrupt government officials consolidating power and getting rid of their enemies. And now it's happening in Saudi Arabia, too.
3
Looking at the larger picture, with 5 to 6 thousand "royal" princes running amok, mostly idle, doing little, entitled to a lot, that is a slice of potential power and combined wealth that could spell trouble. This could be the opening salvo in a long, bitter, civil war in the kingdom. Revolutions have succeeded driven by fewer people and less wealth, and depending on the reaction to these actions, this could be the beginning of the end for the House of Saüd. So, don't hold your breath. Things move and changes come very slow in that part of the world.
1
lt sounds like something right out of The Godfather movies, somebody wants to make a big move in his family, so he calls a meeting with the Don’s consigliere ( Jared )to make sure the Don is notified and agrees with the move , once the Don gives the okay the old guard is pushed out. Welcome to the world of Donal Trump. A world based on the concepts and moral imperatives of a gangster movie.
3
There won't be reform until the House of Saud deal with Wahhabi -Salafist- Religious Establishment. The Wahhabis - the extremist puritans fatwa (religious rulings) that are in many cases not in accord with rulings by other well regarded Sunni Rulings. For a long time, the fatwas were in the extreme. Much of their so called fatwas have no basis in the 5 recongnized schools of Islam.
On a personal note, the Saudi Ministry of Religious Affairs had set up a tent, where I and many Americans were based at Al-Khobar Towers in January 1991. The ministry had an American Educated Saudi to promote Islam and to slam any religion including Islam that didn't adhere to the Wahhabi Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy. The man was a zealot and he and I tangled for nearly 30 minutes. Ever since 1991, I have been a student and observer of Islam. I know that most Muslims are not terrorists and just like anyone else. The power of the Wahhabi ulama has been crushed before the country will ever do anything.
The elimination of the Wahhabi ulama won't happen under Mohammad bin Salman. He is building a massive support base and one key component are the Wahhabi ulama. Mohammad bin Salman is modernizing under a faced or reforming. He is "reforming" by centralizing power with consensus as had been practiced by the Sauds. He has the tools of the 21st century to make his people's lives a living hell.
12
Is it too early to be optimistic about this revolutionary moment in Mideast politics? Or is it doomed to be another “Arab Spring” with all the false hopes and failures to reform an incredibly corrupt and backward state system? How will this play out?
3
You do realize that making arrests without any charges or legal process is also backward? He may be getting rid of unpopular people and making some changes many of us agree are long past due. But there is a lot to be pessimistic about already.
1
True, but there are few legal processes in the western sense that are existent in the region. The alternative could be another extraordinary bloodletting, another chaotic civil war leading to another failed state. The current system of disseminating extremism and duplicity obviously requires radical measures. And yes, revolutions can often run off the rails in horrible ways. This is the most important story in the world today.
I suspect the prince saw the perfect opportunity for this coup and future dictatorship. A weak US with a weak and easily bought president. He probably said he is pushing for more investment with the Trumps and Kushners with the first seat at the table.Expect more craziness to come.
10
Did Jared get his $2 billion real estate mortgage for 666 yet?
Trump hates Alwaleed for numerous reasons:
Plaza Hotel short sale during Trump's first bankruptcy
Citibank (Alwaleed major share holder) will not lend to Trump and all NYC banks have followed that dictum
Four Seasons Hotel (Alwaleed) major owner) chain Trump's major competition
Alwaleed contributes to Clintons
Alwaleed insults Trump
etc.
20
NY bank and real estate players have known for a very long time that Trump is not trustworthy. They didnt need a Saudi to enlighten them
Everything is connected.... really.
2
These type of purges and sweeping arrests are to be expected in autocratic countries and this is truly a monarchy with such control.
It worries me that our country seems to be warming to the idea of a Strongman and that our current leader seems to expect and desire such power.
While a benevolent King can be a blessing, that King still has the power of life or death on a whim.
3
The new man at the top is regarded as opposed to strict Wahhabism. This is his first move toward the goal of installing a more moderate regime of Islam in Saudi Arabia. Let us wish him success.
4
That whole thing obviously took a lot of planning and the Secret Service in the US or Russia didn't know it! Come on.
7
Actually, Jarrod Kushner and other Trump bunch were there just a few days ago ... there is much more to this than we are being led to believe ....
1
This is a coup in disguise. A senior prince was also killed in a suspicious helicopter crash near the Yemeni border this week, and the Lebanese PM resigned, while in a visit to Saudi Arabia. Huh?
The coup plotters are being presented as reformers, but they are hard-liners, and I fear that they are lining us up for a regional war with Iran. With Netanyahu throwing fuel on the fire, and Trump anxious for his war, Americans should expect lots of war-drum beating in the coming weeks.
War is a farce designed to distract citizens while their resources and livelihoods are stolen away from them. Trump and these scoundrels look down their noses at us commoners. Mark my words -- they will devour our national patrimony and cloak themselves in the flag -- whether Saudi or American or Lebanese.
28
How friendly is Trump with the military industrial complex? Is he going to get some juicy little kickbacks if he can gear us up for more war?
1
The Saudis may send in an occasional bomber but do they provide the troops that Iran does? It seems if the Saudis do not have a proxy army they are not a force. The Iranian forces seem like the battle hardened force that few want to stand up to in battle.. Can't see anything but blustering over direct involvement from the Saudis.
If brave GOP members emerge,
I'd love to see a Washington purge.
All Trump's huffs and his puffs,
As he leaves in handcuffs,
And the pipers play a nice dirge.
11
I can see some good coming out of this...
2
Trump gave his approval and plans to do the same thing.
5
A "favorite son"? God almighty what kind of people are these anyway?
4
Kennedys, Bushs, Clintons, and your point?
2
Remember the Shah of Iran but this time it will be the Sunnis.
Good times.
For oil, this you have bequeathed to your children.
8
I am uncertain as to why recent US presidents have felt the need to bow and scrape to this 'ally': it is a dictatorship that still conducts public beheadings, treats women as cattle, forbids any religion other than Islam and gave us almost all of the terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks, including BinLadin himself. All of that is worth ignoring in the name of oil?
It will be a long time before anyone can describe the place as 'modern'.
81
You're still obsessed with Obama greeting a king, on that king's soil, on their terms?
When people visit our president, they shake hands, unless it is the king of Saüdi Arabia, and you are GW Bush, you kiss the man on the lips.
3
Money. And I would like to see an article on all the various countries as China, Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc. and the banks, oil companies, sports teams, real estate, etc. that they own in this country. I think people would be shocked.
The Bush family made a great deal of money in the oil industry by cozying up to the House of Saud. In the days after 9/11, Saudis were permitted to fly in and out of the US even when all flights were supposedly grounded. Think about that.
3
This abysmal Saudi Arabian story and our own role in supporting Wahabi Islam has given us and mostly those that live in the middle east a twisted version of the Koran that has justified abject horor to give the house of Saud power and unfathomable wealth by birth.
The modern millennial "ruler" probably sees that money alone can free him to have power greater than the power hidden by the clerics.
If Wahabi's twisted view is thrown off the end may justify the means.
1
Donald Trump must be salivating at the idea of arresting his political opponents and holding without charge.
4
Opening up Islam is not enough. We need religious freedom, freedom of speech, equal treatment of everybody under law and democracy. The Prince is going backward. No one person or a family can subjugate the entire nation and its people for long.
1
Well, this is certainly a game changer in Saudi Arabia, and I am sure Trump and Kushner were there primarily to protect their personal empire interests for the most part, and the smell of corruption from Saudi Arabia must have wafted through the windows of our WH giving them a warning of what was going down soon in the Saudi government. They returned to America, just in time, coincidentally.
A despot and dictator who has cleaned house in order to maintain his sovereignty, someone not afraid to kill any real or perceived conspirators, even family members, who were threats to his absolute power. He plans to rule alone. In addition to this he is a misogynist and sounds like someone who is going to throw the future of Saudi Arabia into reverse. Another train wreck, like Trump, traveling headfirst back in time.
I am heartily sorry for all his people and the situation they are now in as far as no freedoms at all, or very little.
2
A very different set of rules. I wouldn't expect changes on this order would be possible without a consolidation of power.
Pollyannaish as it may be I do hope tolerance of other religions and equal rights for women come from this. The planet is too small for any form of zealotry.
A lot of talk about process, but very little about substance. Are the charges true should be the focus of any discussion, not if the proper forms were followed.
1
Our Orange-headed wannabe dictator can only sit and watch in admiration and envy
8
What is most ironic is that the Crown Prince orders arrests "without formal charges or any legal process" but does not seem to realize these actions are what make Western investors wary of business in such environments. Just a week or two ago, the same Crown Prince was touting a $500BN urban modernization project as well as planning to bring Saudi Arabia back to "moderate" Islam. Now these actions may have doomed his grand plans before they even started.
Sounds like the Crown Prince made many powerful enemies in an instant. Hope he has a personal security detail above reproach.
3
When future reservations at Deera Square are made, this will finalize the transition of power and money. Live by the sword.....
1
Not that I have much sympathy for the coddled princes, but this is a blatant purge. Nothing to do with modernization. First one out is a Trump critic. How convenient!
18
Does anyone else find it interesting that Jared Kushner made a sudden, unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia just before this coup, a coup which arrested one of the wealthiest Saudis who had been a vocal critic of Trump the candidate and President?
54
Two ways to get carte blanche from a US president.
Have your own nuke
Have oil. Saudi is a feudal nightmare. No legal system to speak of. Known to support terrorists 9-11 anyone ? Saudi citizens and money paid for the urban renewal in Lower Manhattan . Yet, President after President soft pedals them. I cant blame #45 for this one as no one does anything. I dont really care about the Game of Thrones in the House of Saud. It is pretty much a worthless group living the life of the old TV show Hollywood Hillbillies. Still, as long as they hew to the US military industrial complex with big contracts I suppose they are untouchable. A disgrace all around in US Diplomacy
5
While I am all in favor of rooting out corruption, but little is known about the person ordering the arrests. He is consolidating power in his branch of the family, rather than having it spread around the various branches. I am willing to bet that he is at least as corrupt as those arrested, but we will never know because of all the secrecy associated with the House of Saud. I don't see this as being much different from what is happening in North Korea, except that Saudi Arabia has oil and the Trumps have huge investments there.
3
"...Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s biggest oil producer and an important American ally."
A regressive, misogynistic regime that beheads dissidents, funds ISIS, commits war crimes in its attacks on Yemen. No matter which party is in power, US foreign policy is all about money and shows little regard for justice and human rights.
18
The US doesn't have friends, it has interests, and oil-rich Saudi Arabia is a huge US interest oil-rich enough to keep us looking the other way even when 15 out of the 19 terrorists on 9/11 were Saudis.
In fact, during the initial moments of 9/11 when no airplane took to the sky in the entire continental United States, our own security state flew Osama Bin Laden's family and relatives residing in the US on three special chartered jet planes.
Our biggest oil partners demanded door-to-door service and so we elevated their convenience to the same level as matters of our own national security, such as air traffic during the 9/11 catastrophe.
Saudi Princes continue to dine in the White House, and our presidents regularly visit them in the Saudi Kingdom for business-as-usual deals while taking in some fun rounds of falconry between games of polo.
Ah, the rich and powerful live entirely on their own terms, don't they? And those terms are very elastic: They can flex and stretch to suit the private needs of the elites. Never you mind the rest of society.
We still look the other way today, in 2017, when a woman waiting for the bus in Riyadh can be suddenly ambushed and killed on the spot in broad daylight by the savage religious police, bystanders paralyzed in terror as they watch.
Yet we continue to give these royals regal coverage in our media, treating them with utter respect as our equal partners.
The things we look away from just to get all that money!
oz.
35
As recently as in the 1940s, young Saudis were Bedouin nomads. Presentday, the sons and grandsons of those same nomads live in cities with low-paying jobs based on an economy tied to falling prices for petroleum. Prince Mohammed bin Salman recognizes this powder keg situation and wants to create a buffer against rebellion. Alas, a powder keg is still explosive whether it's in a bucket or a barrel.
2
I'm sure Trump would like to do the same. He has certainly cowed Congress but at least our judiciary is still independent. As for the Saudis, we're already energy independent, even though renewables are still in their infancy, so we don't meed to be as cozy with them as we were before. Best keep the royals and all their machinations at arm's length because the House of Saud will eventually be toppled by revolution when its oil wealth is depleted.
3
Heard that the Prince put all detainees in the Four Seasons hotel in Riyadh. Even under arrest Saudis get treated like royalty.
1
The Ritz was booked.
1
The recent arrest of 11 crown princes and dozens of influential figures for various charges of corruption in Saudi Arabia is BIG. Now if only Saudi Arabia would do the same to its marketing of Wahhabism !!! and kill the BEAST !!!
Saudi Arabia funds the establishment and running of Madrassas in many countries of the Middle East, particularly in poor countries like Pakistan, The system of Madrassas do not teach children the basics of any civil education, including math, science, language, history, etc., they only teach the Koran and other religious studies based on Wahhabism. Madrassas serve as institutions of recruitment for terrorist groups worldwide !!! Saudi Arabia is an active player in world terrorism through its funding of Madrassas in the name of Wahhabism !!!
This purge is just the beginning … I expect more purges to come … Saudi Arabia has a new team in charge … the country is strapped for cash and has a high rate of growth in its population with lots of poverty … Saudi Arabia is facing a lot of internal stress and tensions. Expect more changes to come.
But the big challenge is State supported Wahhabism As long as the royal family manages Saudi Arabia like a feudal kingdom; don’t expect any changes in this. Saudi Arabia will continue to be a sponsor of worldwide religious radicalism and terrorism through its marketing of Wahhabism !!!.
5
I'm sure Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was shocked to learn that his money didn't protect him from this.
I hope Trump is taking note.
6
Agent Orange should be super pleased now that the House of Saud is run by a tin horn dictator. Wonder who gave the crown prince his marching orders? How come little Jared showed up days before this putch happened? Why did little Hariri announce his resignation in Riyadh? All sounds like going to plan in the image of our Big Bambino. Regardless of how despicable the new regime is, it couldn't happen to a worse bunch of satraps, the princes and their beneficiaries. The sad thing is that no matter how far the regime goes, it won't go far enough because corruption in the Gulf is embedded in the psyche of the regime and region, and nothing short of an invasion by two legged locusts will change it.
2
Is this the end of corruption or the beginning of new corruption?
6
It's continued corruption.
5
Keep your eyes on Young Jared.
NOT my president
5
Thanks to Saudi Arabia, we can all time travel and see what it must have been like to live under the rule of "kings," whose sole qualification to hold the highest office was a few strands of DNA, coupled with the murder or exile of competing relatives if/as required.
Crown Prince Mohammed, a modern Henry VIII without the fascinating (and mostly ill-fated) wives. A modern Louis XIV, without Versailles, Lully, Marais or Couperin. A modern Richard III, without the winning personality or spinal deformity. Isn't it great?
Why do we do business with leaders who think and act like we're all still living in the pre-enlightenment world?
1
Why? Money, of course.
1
Hard to see how they float Aramco after this.
1
The Trumps, with oil. Period.
5
If you can afford it, buy a Tesla.
7
With Trump in the White House, this could well happen in the US. No doubt the Republicans would go along with him.
4
I'm sure that Trump is watching these events unfold with great and growing admiration for the Saudi political system.
5
Saudi Arabia is a Royal Dictatorship and this is nothing more than the type of arbitrary justice authoritarian regimes routinely dispense. He is no friend of democracy, human rights or due process of law. Little difference between his conduct and that of King George III, King Louis XVI, Augusto Pinoche, Mao Tse Tung, Josph Stalin or.... if he had his druthers about it, Donald Trump!
5
This is the Islamic culture in full display. Look at history of Mughal Empire in India - every change of power had these purges when challengers will killed or jailed. In modern age, best antidote to corruption is democracy, rule of law and free press. There is none of that going on in Saudi Arabia. This is just consolidation of power..
4
There is nothing Islamic about what happened in Saudi Arabia or for that matter what the Mughal did in the past. It is all about power grabbing and greed, no different from Europe in the Middle Ages. Perhaps one difference is that In the case of Europe, the Pope was front and center of committed atrocities, while here the scholars are just acquiescent bystanders.
Enough is enough, you want to blame Islam for the ill advised actions of its followers, then we should blame Christianity for the rampant pedophilia among the catholic priests and evangelist for gun murders and perhaps Jews for Harvey Weinstein excesses.
4
What is the private wealth of the arrested princes? Will it be enough to compensate for aborting the sale of 5 % of Aramco?
1
Jared Kushner is trying to convince his new BFF Salman to acquire 666 Fifth Venue as his NYC pied a terre, at a premium of course.
What company or investor would put money into a place where an anointed 32 year old can overnight remake a government and its economy? There's always the Trumps, Kushners and Wilber Ross.
7
There are no winners here. Saudi Arabia is a country controlled by a huge parasitic caste. Conservative estimates place it at something like 5,000 to 6,000 princes. Each one of these individuals producing nothing of value and consuming hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars a month in unearned stipends.
This is a system that spawned Bin Laden. Women have neither status nor respect. Talk about human rights violations. Immigrant workers are routinely abused.
The only thing the Saudi ruling caste has going for it is... money. This is money derived from a lake of fossil fuel beneath their feet that took nature hundreds of millions of years to create and will be largely gone within a century. In the process Earth's atmosphere will be irreparably damaged. And for what? Shiny baubles and endless harems?
As John Paul Getty established - this has been a partnership in crime. The whole world bows before Saudi wealth. They continually flaunt the stunning contradiction that Goethe understood so well. Money can make the mentally enfeebled brilliant, the morally lame righteous, and those in abysmal, garish decrepitude - young and vibrant.
How can a true democracy regard these people as anything other than pariahs and a blight upon humanity - all of them? Yes, we have been their coequal enablers.
44
Tucson Arizona, huh. I lived there, and was amazed to see that this city of less than 1 million people was probably several hundred square kilometers in size. A European city of that population would typically cover half the area. Such was the sprawl. Almost everyone lived in mostly bungalow houses, and everyone drove private cars, not a significant public transportation system to speak of. And of course most people drove SUVs and trucks.
So it is a good idea to check your electricity bills for cooling (which would be way smaller if people chose to live in apartment buildings) and the possibly multiple V8 gas guzzlers in your garage before laying any blame on oil producers. This stuff gets produced in such quantities because some people, a lot of them in the US, really really enjoy burning it. They are mesmerized by its consumption, and here we are as species.
Bernard Haykel and Michael Stephens present the most interesting response to the recent purge. They both basically approve the action although not necessarily the method. The world is a strange place when academic professors view extrajudicial arrests as necessary national policy. I can see their point but I'm not sure I feel any better about it.
13
Oh please stop. It's not for them or anyone else to approve of. In fact, their remarks are not in anyways approval, but merely observations of what, exactly, is going on, because no one really knows.
3
Having worked as an expat in a GCC country, I believe the new Crown Prince is wise to attempt to dismantle his Kingdom's oil welfare system. However, there are more significant challenges than simply purging these so-called leaders of certain sectors of government which are for the most part just appointments and not real jobs. In the country where I worked, it took a lot of "wasta" to even get a drivers license because those offices were just not open to the public, even though some prince was appointed to be in charge of the office (no office hours, for example). When your DMV is run by a Saudi prince, customer service is not a priority. Most of the real jobs in KSA have been performed by expats for decades, thereby relieving the Saudis of any need to learn how to manage and run their own affairs. Now that the Crown Prince has instituted a levy on ex-pat employees in order to provide room for Saudi workers, let's see if this serves to motivate young Saudis to want to fulfill these positions. I am encouraged by the steps the new Crown Prince is taking, but it will take a long time to change the attitude of perpetual entitlement. I wish them the best.
47
Perfect description of "the way things are" in KSA and other GCC countries. I would disagree as to the wisdom of arresting top members of the Saudi royal family. Others will see this and assume they're next. The Crown Prince might be making far too many enemies far too quickly.
2
It's very difficult to believe that this massive internal consolidation of power was done without at the very least tacit support by the United States. Kushner and other top Trump advisers make a last-minute trip to the Kingdom, and depart just a day before the hammer falls? Trump calls the Prince, but says nothing of the crackdown?
15
Past POTUS's would have made public statements regarding this Saudi Princes coup that would have reflected our democratic values in response. My guess is the 45 will not say a word that reflects these same values. He will either say nothing or will publicly praise the move, reflecting his own dictatorial values. I am sure that 45's approval was a factor in the depth of this power grab by a member of the Saudi family.
4
From family rule Saudi Arabia is now moving to dictatorship - single man rule. The transition will be full of Violance and blood shed. The next phase will be full of promise of reform and modernization - nothing will happen as the dictator will take mNy years to consolidate his power. In the process the ruler may be assassinated. Only hope, if the young crown prince be bold enough, he can declare a decree to set up a parliamentarian democracy with King as figure head and young prince himself go for politics and come back as elected Prime Minister. In that case, he can rule the country for long time.
1
This is just the time that we need a fully functioning, fully staffed State Department to help the White House navigate through this event. So sad that we don’t have it ... by the WH’s design.
33
This is what authoritarian rule looks like. Recall when Saddam Hussein took power, he intimidated others with his round up of those who didn't agree with him.
Clearly they want to be the country of power in the region. It makes me wonder how this was spun in Iran who has the same goal of regional dominance.
2
Is it possible that this younger Crown Prince will change the Saudi policy of exporting their conservative form of Islam around the world? Saudi Arabia, using the money that we, in the West, pay to buy their gas, build Mosques and Madrasses in Middle Eastern countries and beyond. This allows them to teach and export their extreme form of Islam, creating terrorists.
If so, some good may come of this purge.
3
Make America Saudi Again.
8
I'll believe Saudi culture has truly changed when the men in the country start wearing full burkas along with the women so that they can share the true meaning of "modesty."
7
King Salman, however, quickly named his favorite son, Mohammed, as his defense minister, chief of the royal court, a top economic adviser and deputy crown prince.
1
I'd say that this is potentially a very positive development.
5
How so?
2
Promoting a less conservative brand of Islam, lessening of corruption.
What a vile and disgusting state-no rule of law, decades of wealth
concentrated in those lucky enough to have the right genes, the exportation
of a a violent strain of Islam and a no consequences for providing us most of
the 9/11 terrorists. The House of Saud is in absolute trouble as it sees the
decline of oil in the coming decades coupled with a coddled population used
to cradle to grave social services and lack of imagination to start new businesses. And how many of their fellow Muslims ravaged by wars in Syria
or Iraq or Libya did the Saudis welcome with open arms? Virtually none.
And to hear our Grifter in Chief call the Saudi's to tell them he is ok with
their latest march towards a new religious dictatorship is the icing on this
rotten cake.
21
The House of Saud is not a friend of the American people. I am disgusted by our alliance with this government, and our treatment of Iran, and lack of involvement in resolving the Yemeni conflict. We no longer need Saudi oil, and they are proven destabilizers of the international order. We are only allied with them because of back-room business deals. SHAME!
4
It is not the right genes. It is the right pedigree. You need to be born into it, not just be fit for it.
" . . the Saudi government appeared on Sunday to have started a social media campaign seeking to make him the new face of public corruption."
Chilling words indeed. Social media appears to be an out of control monster, a 21st century lynch mob and propaganda machine of unprecedented power. God help us all when the legions of Facebookers and Twitterholics are raining terror, ignorance, and instant karma upon the rest of us.
12
Interesting to note that Kushner travelled to/from Saudi Arabia before this all went down. I wonder if he was given a 'heads up' and if he ordered any WS trades for him or his family based on that information.
34
It's not surprising that there are tyrannical forces in Saudi Arabia trying to consolidate power. The story this time around is that the Crown Prince is having himself a purge. The real problem, though, is that governments reflect their populations to a significant degree. And so the real question is why the only imaginable form of government in Saudi Arabia is some flavor of tyranny, and why the only debate is about which flavor.
I can't wait for the show when the oil runs out. The trouble in Saudi Arabia is that it's full of Saudis.
11
When the oil runs out, it will be a return to extended tribes fighting each other for control of swaths of desert.
3
...and ironically these sand ceatures will be fighting with high-tech weapons this nation foolishly provided to them.
2
Oh, because it was such an open society before?
1
As long as there’s a chance Saudis will bring the Aramco IPO to the US, our Dear Leader is sure to make nice to theirs. But if they stiff us, all bets are off. Prepare for Gulf War III.
1
Most observers will welcome these changes even if they smack of old style palace intrigue. of the proposed changes the ones to do with minimising the public role of clerics and the religious police will have much global impact. The West thirsty for Saudi oil and greedy for the resulting oil fuelled investments has chosen to tread lightly on Saudi brand Salafi and its vicious Wahhabi offshoots that have been exported in the guise of charities and more overtly as well. In effect this ostrich with its head in the sand Western policy towards Saudi Arabia has been counter productive. Thousands of lives have been lost worldwide due to this export of religious intolerance including our own in 9/11. While we may disagree with Mr. trump as a candidate he seemed to question Saudi role in global terrorism and hinting at a more pragmatic relationship. But once elected one of his first trips was to Saudi Arabia. Many will remember the bowing by Mr. Obama to the then Saudi King. The Clinton Foundation has accepted millions in Saudi donations. Clearly, on this issue we are bipartisan shamelessly sacrificing higher principles for protecting billions in business investments. Lauding a country for promising to allow women to drive a year from now as sweeping reform in women's rights is abjectly pathetic. Mr. Trump enjoys a bully's pulpit, let us see if he can goad the Saudis to bring fundamental change in their kingdom and stop exporting extremism.
Until then all this is window dressing.
5
You sort of missed the Bush family ties here in your comment.
2
Nothing of this magnitude in Saudi Arabia happens without US approval. Say hello to the new dictator--consolidating power under the guise of "reform" (which the Western media is quick to parrot). The propaganda of social reform (women can drive, yay!) emanating from the Saudi royals is a bait and switch. The Crown Prince is setting the stage for an even more repressive security state and one-man rule. This is the same crown prince waging a brutal and vicious war on Yemen, one of the worst human catastrophes in our broken world which gets no media attention. The U.S. alliance with this family is a stain on our nation's history.
30
This is what happens when family business is run without clear established rules. The oil income Saudis have enjoyed over the long years has been wasted. If these petro dollars were spent and invested wisely, Saudis should have owned "half" the world's wealth. The reform crown prince has embarked was inevitable. Promoting hatred and intolerance has gotten Saudis to no where, but modernizing Saudi economics and social life will be an achievement of historical proportions. Prince Muhammad must have read about Babur Shah. With oil prices falling and electric cars replacing combustible engines oil prices will fall further and that has an impact not just on Saudis but all petro relying countries. Time for these countries to get creative.
1
Really, only 8 comments about this! Too busy with "Games of Thrones"? Truth is stranger than Fiction.
3
This ongoing kerfuffle in Saudi Arabia has nothing to do with modernization, fighting corruption, moderating Islam, liberating the women, empowering the youth, controlling the clerics, or any other such reason. However, all the proper noises related to many of these will get made to engage and please the Western audiences, and make them feel better.
It is a simply a naked power play worthy of a Mario Puzo novel. Period. A power play to push aside all other branches of the ruling family to firmly ensconce the current king’s progeny, now and in the future.
It will take some time for the dust to settle down in the Arabian desert. We have definitely not heard the last from the Saudis.
85
Arresting all your enemies in one night-of-the-long-knives and consolidating power over all state security services is the stuff of totalitarian dictators, but it's OK because these are "our" guys. Until they're not anymore, that is -- as Saddam Hussein found out.
We would be so much stronger and independent if we developed our own renewable and fossil energy resources to the point where we were not beholden to these extremists.
23
Let us try to remember it is none of our business!
24
Oh but it is. Ask our businessman leader and his cohorts.
We're in this, very deeply. Yes, we are. Most recently 500 BILLION dollars deep.
3
Makes me happy I am an AMERICAN, with rights
Take rights away and this is what happens
I wish it was none of our business - but since the Saudi's now control the largest oil refinery in the United States as well as a long list of other major businesses and real estate in the United States - as well as using arms - sold to them by the US- so they can bomb Yemen....then I am afraid what happens in Saudi Arabia is very much our business.
5
Isn't these actions clearly at the support of the trump administration? The proving ground for trump's next moves here. Lock them up!
3
This place is ripe for our next Iran, Iraq, Afghan., Libya etc.
America protects brutal dictator types till the revolution comes and America is hated and pays the price in some way, shape or form.
Stay tuned.
7
And Trump danced and jigged with 'em all......at our expense, before our very eyes.
15
The sooner we wean our country off fossil fuels and have nothing to do with this retrograde country the better.
26
This is why Trump is so enamored with the Saudi's---they really know how to take care of the opposition.
7
For people who say they want the government to be "run like a business", this is what that looks like. "Management shakeup at saudi-co".
2
Hard to see this as anything other than a consolidation of power and wealth into the hands of a few.
Noble intentions carried out through despotic means seldom ends well.
79
Rita, your comment sounds like you're talking about the USA.
The sooner the world can sufficiently develop its renewable energy capabilities, the sooner we can all wash our hands of this dirty relationship of necessity.
181
And i'm not even sure about the "necessity" part. We don't need to be funding their oppression of Bahrain's people, or their genocide in Yemen.
If we just break with them already, the sudden fall of petroleum supply will lead to more quake-causing, climate-wrecking fracks, but also a massive surge in energy research. Everyone and their grandma will think of new ways to power, and not everyone with a bright idea has a degree (and vice versa).
Wouldn't that be nice. Never going to happen, of course.
We do not need Saudi for oil. And with the growing populations and improvements in standard of living in third world countries, there will not be enough 'renewable' energy anytime soon.
It's a good thing we just made another arms deal worth over $100 billion with the Saudis! I'm sure this won't threaten stability at all in the region.
105
the MIC has no conscious esp'ly when we(USA) can make deals like this. We should be vetting all non democratic allies not selling WOMD to such nations.
The birth pains of a new dictatorship.
113
King Trump, anyone?
You know it's what He wants.
5
All these kingpins are now in dingy dungeons? Where are they, exactly? Where no WiFi signal comes, but one wonders whether it's a country club or a pit.
http://www.thecriticalmom.blogspot.com
3
News reports say they are being held at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh. Not quite a dungeon.
They are in 5-star hotels. But presumably without WiFi access!
A power play
Saudis live on corruption. The regime feels, it needs to do something to keep people calm.
Saudis run a brutal regime and have no respect for human rights. It seems Trump is not interested in following up on the involvement of the Saudis royal family in the terrorist attack on 9/11.
Also, the US support for Saudis war crimes in Yemen and Israel's war crime against Palestinians will lead to more terrorist attacks on the US soil.
65
No doubt. I was going to say, isn't government by a royal family by definition corrupt?
1
"Israel's war crimes against the Palestinians" !?- Looks like you're gulping down that Leftist Kool-Aid where you worship Jihadist killers as your heroes.
4
Ah, another ultimat Trump entanglement: The Plaza Hotel.
68
Often family businesses are weakened by the continual expansion of the family and the subsequent lessening of each members cut.
This is a normal evolution in business, in statesmenship though this is where the heads start to roll. The newly promoted Crown Prince, like his contemporary Kim Jong Un has and will continue to flex his control by replacing the old guard with "his people", that usually means 'blood relatives".
So let us see where this new profligacy gets him. Saudi Arabia is still a youngster as far as longevity and continuity of ruling. There history is steeped in feudalism and barbaric behavior. Most folks just think of the Saudi's as being international playboys with billions to blow.
Yet due to their primative nature and fantastic wealth they have branched out into other ventures, real estate, stocks, exporting theology and terror. Saudi Arabia may never achieve these long time goals but they are giving it a good shot.
I realize we have armed the Saudi's to the teeth with some of the most sophisticated weapons on the planet, yet look, they can't even defeat the Yemeni's.
So in conclusion I just hope the US watches the Saudi's closely, very closely, as far as their being friends I am not so certain of their intent at any time. I realize their position in the Middle East and their fantastic oil fields will keep them influential for many years to come. They even have US presidents bowing to them ( Obama anyway ), Bush just held hands, a bit weird.
28
You know what struck me the most about this article? That the only time the word "woman" appeared was to talk bout them being now legally able to drive.
Even in the US, no women mentioned. The word "she" doesn't even appear. I appreciate the term "businessmen" because it really is just the men.
How much more powerful would this article be if it inserted the word "male" in front of any people descriptor?
2
Bush kissed.
"to flex his control by replacing the old guard with 'his people.' that usually means 'blood relatives.'"
Yes. This happens in many declining societies.
2
And Trump danced with them.
3