Tag Archives: Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud

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.

I Love The Welcome Saudi Arabia Gave To President Trump

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On Tuesday, Red State reported the following:

President Donald Trump rolled out his favorite songs, “Y.M.C.A.” and “God Bless the USA,” during his speech in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, and those in attendance loved it.

On Tuesday, Trump attended the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh and spoke to a room full of Saudi business investors with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, in attendance. President Trump spoke about America’s plans for success under his administration and his vision for a peaceful and prosperous Middle East.

Trump opened his speech with Lee Greenwood’s famous patriotic song playing. As the entire song played, the president stood on the stage before he took to the podium.

And as the final line in the song, “God Bless the USA” played, those in attendance went crazy.

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy said the audience, made up of prominent businessmen from Saudi Arabia and the U.S., “didn’t take their seats” during the entire song.

After his speech, the president was joined on stage by the Saudi Crown Prince as the Village People’s 1978 hit “Y.M.C.A.” played in the background. Those in the room gave the president a standing ovation.

There is a lot going on here. The Saudis were ostracized during the Biden administration. The Biden administration simply could not overlook the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi was a prominent dissident and critic of the Saudi government. He is also alleged to have had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that during the Arab Spring was planning to bring down the House of Saud and takeover Saudi Arabia. The plan was to turn the countries in the Middle East that were ruled by dictators into countries run by the Muslim Brotherhood. For a short time, they were successful in Egypt. Considering the relationship between the Biden administration and the Obama administration (which supported the Arab Spring), the Biden administration’s attitude toward the Saudis was not surprising.

During President Trump’s visit, the Saudis also set up a mobile McDonald’s at a press center for covering the event in Riyadh, an apparent nod to the president’s love of the burger restaurant. (article posted at Breitbart)

What we saw in Saudi Arabia was the equivalent of the ostracized middle school student being asked to sit at the ‘cool’ kids’ table at lunch.

I Guess That Didn’t Go Too Well

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On Saturday, The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about President Biden’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia. It was not a rave review. The article pointed out that although the American media covers for the frailty and obvious mental challenges President Biden exhibits, the international press does not. America’s enemies also take note of the obvious physical (and mental) weakness of our President.

The article includes the following:

From MbS (Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud) as interpreted: “We agree on many things, but we differ on a few others. Every country has its own culture and circumstances. I respect yours, you respect mine. Do not impose your culture on us. Do not impose your beliefs on us.” … “We agree we need to do more for climate change, but you guys are doing it wrong by favoring certain energy sources over others. The world needs energy security. We need all energy sources including oil & gas. We are doing our part on both fronts: climate change & energy security.” … “The stage of a country’s economic & social development must be considered in climate change negotiations.” … “We are increasing our production capacity to 13 million barrels per day (from 12 mb/d), but that is it. We cannot do more.”  The message here is: You guys do your part and invest more if you want to avoid energy crises, recessions, and unemployment. Do NOT blame us!

Remember, America was energy independent under President Trump. Inflation was under control because the energy industry was earning money and paying taxes to the government–the government was not borrowing large amounts of money not backed by anything. Bringing back American energy independence would do a lot toward stabilizing our economy–bringing in tax revenue and slowing inflation.

Just for the record, no one is entirely sure exactly who called for the murder of Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi, and I am not saying the murder was justified. However, it should be noted that Khashoggi did have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and might well have been plotting to overthrow the rule of the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia. That is a possibility that needs to be considered when discussing his murder.