A Challenge From A Saudi Oil Kingpin To You

Last night on 60 Minutes, two sheiks that control a sizable portion of the oil that comes to the United States mocked our clean energy alternatives. The current chief of OPEC has every right to do so, because we as a nation have depended on their oil to make our economy move without much investment in clean energy. Well on the show last night he challenged us to find another way, so let's quit stalling and help put him out of business.

Congressman Weiner Gets It With The Saudi Arms Deal

It's always nice to see a little reasoned and common sense approach to the world coming from New York. Congressman Weiner (D-NY) gave us a dose of that today by speaking out against the multi-billion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other countries in that troubled region. Saudi Arabia is only friendly with us because of oil, but many citizens do not care about that (or their government for that matter) and want to do us harm. President Bush ignores this reality as the price of oil.

From WNYC:

NEW YORK, NY July 29, 2007 —The Bush Administration's proposed sale of weaponry to Saudi Arabia is being challenged by Congressman Anthony Weiner. The Democrat, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, plans to introduce legislation today to block the multi-billion-dollar sale, which would include advanced weaponry and systems to enhance the striking ability of Saudi warplanes.

Weiner says the Kingdom's support for the war on terrorism has been questionable.

The proposed weapons sales are intended to strengthen U.S. allies at a time of uncertainty in the region. Egypt and Israel are also expected to receive financial support.

I would personally go farther than just say their support is "questionable," but it suffices for a member of Congress. United States arms dealers and merchants of death are frothing at the mouth for these weapons contracts. Their friends in the White House are happy to oblige, but at least one Congressman has the courage to challenge the status quo of our arms exports, especially considering who the recipients are.

U.S. Foreign Policy: Everybody Should Kill Each Other

One of the biggest exports in the United States is death. It comes in the form of guns, bombs and all things military. The Bush Administration is a full-fledged supporter of this, and has recommended more than $20 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its neighbors to Congress. This is the same country that spawned 16 of the 19 September 11th villains that crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Why on Earth would we want to go through with this?

From The New York Times:

The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia, which includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and some of its supporters in Congress nervous. Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

But administration officials remained concerned that the size of the package and the advanced weaponry it contains, as well as broader concerns about Saudi Arabia’s role in Iraq, could prompt Saudi critics in Congress to oppose the package when Congress is formally notified about the deal this fall.

In talks about the package, the administration has not sought specific assurances from Saudi Arabia that it would be more supportive of the American effort in Iraq as a condition of receiving the arms package, the officials said.

The brilliant thinking in the White House is that by selling all these arms, the growing strength of Iran can be mitigated. Of course that doesn't make any sense. All it does is give weapons to countries that want to see harm come to us. They are flush with cash from oil sales and this is how we get the money back? Its completely insane and can only bring more chaos to the region and to our troops that are stationed there.

Countering the pro-Israel critics with weapons for the little democracy on the Mediterranean is also crazy. The only thing that will happen is that there will be more for each side to kill each other with. Why would we want to sponsor death? It's simple, the Bush Administration does not care about the consequences, but they do care about the profits of defense contractors arms dealers

Bush Still Won't Talk About The Saudis

The President loves to bash Syria and especially Iran for their actions regarding Iraq. Iran has been in the Administration's crosshairs for sometime now. Yet he doesn't even mention Saudi Arabia, not one little bit, not one example of their influence in Iraq and deadly attacks on civilians and U.S. troops. There was a lone, anonymous voice who did speak up recently and shed some light on the facts.

From The Los Angeles Times:

About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said.

Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, said the senior U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity. It is apparently the first time a U.S. official has given such a breakdown on the role played by Saudi nationals in Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency.

He said 50% of all Saudi fighters in Iraq come here as suicide bombers. In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis.

With such terrible statistics, you might have thought Bush would want to rush in their and destroy their country too. It should have happened almost six years ago since 15 of the 19 terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 were Saudis as well. The desert nation has had the most prolific amount terrorists spawned out of any country in the world. Yet, except for a military base or two that we occupy on the Arabian Peninsula, the Saudis remain untouched.

Of course the main reason that we don't do anything is because of their oil and the relationships that have been fostered between the Bush family and the Saudi royalty. Imagine what would happen to crude oil prices if we shock and awed them. Prices would skyrocket so high that we might actually have to take action on relieving ourselves of foreign oil dependence. How terrible!