Tag Archives: Mecca Pact

Helping When Needed

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On Tuesday, Breitbart posted an article about the help Israel is giving Saudi Arabia as Saudi Arabia is under attack by the Houthis.

The article reports:

Israel has begun providing intelligence to Saudi Arabia through the United States as Riyadh battles an escalating Houthi offensive that has struck deep inside the kingdom and threatened the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to multiple Israeli reports Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia initially turned to the United States for assistance, prompting Washington to approach Israel, which began transferring intelligence to Riyadh through U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Israel’s Kan News reported, citing a diplomat from a regional country.

…The cooperation comes as the Houthis have expanded their campaign against Saudi Arabia, launching missiles and drones deep into the kingdom while advancing along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and around Bab el-Mandeb.

Warning sirens sounded Tuesday in Mecca, Jeddah and Taif as the confrontation escalated, while Saudi and Yemeni forces continued striking Houthi positions in Yemen. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed Saudi warplanes carried out 52 strikes over the previous 24 hours and warned that the attacks “will not go unanswered.”

The article notes:

Pointing to Saudi Arabia’s new defense pact with Turkey and Pakistan, the official argued that “the latest escalation proves that, in practice, Erdogan’s defense pact isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

“Erdogan has handed Israel a golden opportunity to show the Saudis who they should align with,” the official continued.

The same assessment extended to the prospect of Saudi-Israeli normalization, with the official arguing that their shared interests could reopen a path toward expanding the Abraham Accords and saying Riyadh was now reassessing its course.

The emerging cooperation is particularly significant because Saudi Arabia and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations, despite years of U.S.-backed efforts to secure a normalization agreement between the two countries.

For Riyadh, the immediate concern remains military. The Houthis have seized territory along Yemen’s western coast and strengthened their position around Bab el-Mandeb while attacks on Saudi territory and energy infrastructure have increased pressure on the kingdom to push back against the group and protect the strategic Red Sea passage.

The growing pressure around Bab el-Mandeb comes as the United States expands commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following months of Iranian attempts to obstruct the waterway. U.S. officials told Axios that roughly 40 ships are now moving through the strait each day under American guidance and protection, carrying about 14 million barrels of oil a day, while Saudi Arabia has significantly increased tanker traffic through Hormuz as fighting around the Red Sea intensifies.

Maybe it’s time for Saudi Arabia to take another look at the Mecca Pact.

Hitching Your Horse To The Wrong Wagon Has Consequences

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During the ceremony at Ground Zero on September 11th, one of the people whose family was impacted by the terrorist attack asked the government to reveal and deal with the role of Saudi Arabia in the attack. Saudi Arabia is at best a part-time ally, but at times they have been a very valuable ally. The thing to remember is that the main priority of the Saudi government is to protect the House of Saud, the ruling family which has been in power since 1932. The current ruler of Saudi Arabia is Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. One of the goals of the Arab Spring (after they got done toppling the dictators in the Middle East) was to depose the royal families in the other countries. The long-term  goal was to reestablish the Caliphate that had been the Ottoman Empire. The House of Saud walks a very fine line to stay in power. Compromises are common, but have limits. The murder of Jamal Khashoggi was an example of those limits. Although the American media described him as a journalist, he was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood. I don’t know exactly what he did that caused the House of Saud to murder him, but the fact that he was part of the Muslim Brotherhood needs to be taken into consideration.

Saudi Arabia has been largely responsible for the fact that oil is traded in American dollars. That fact is probably what has kept the American economy afloat despite our massive debt problem. Saudi Arabia has also often been the moderate voice in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). They have been good friends on occasion. On the other hand, so far they have refused to join the Abraham Accords. Instead, last month they became part of the Mecca Pact with Pakistan and Turkey. The pact is a defense pact that states that any attack on any of these three countries will be considered an attack on all of them. Unfortunately, in light of recent events, it looks like the accord is not worth the paper it is written on.

The Houthis have recently attacked Saudi oil facilities and seized islands in the Red Sea that are strategic to Saudi Arabia’s export of oil. Both Turkey and Pakistan condemned the attacks. No military assistance was provided by either country. Currently diplomats from Saudi Arabia are meeting with American diplomats. I suspect Saudi Arabia is looking for some military aid from America.

A part-time friend is better than no friend at all, but backing the wrong horse can be costly.