A Friend Indeed (Saudis threatening are us)

Arab News ^ | March 28, 2004 | Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

A bill is slowly wending its way through the US, called the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act. The act is similar to the one passed against Syria. What is interesting about it is that some congressmen want to use it to cut off all foreign aid provided by the US to the Saudi government.

Foreign aid?

To the Saudi government?

Yet again the learned men and women of the US Congress demonstrate their breathtaking ignorance of the world outside of their individual constituencies. They seem to have confused us with Israel.

For many years we in Saudi Arabia have invested huge sums of money in US treasury bills at very low interest rates. We call this “investing” to preserve our US friend’s dignity. It is “investment” similar to that performed by the US when it tries to protect the Mexican economy from collapsing or when it tries to keep Argentina from going belly up. We “invest” in America because we are and have been for many decades friends of the US. We are happy to do what we can to help our American friends keep their leaky ship of state afloat.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been pumped by both our private and public sector into the US economy, even at times when such investment has not been entirely in our interest. Why did we do this? Because we are friends. Because that is what friends do for one another. After all, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Massive “investment” in the US economy is only one of the many fields of fruitful cooperation the US has had with us over the years. Let us not forget the crucial role this country has had in ensuring the stability of world oil prices. This task is and has been enormously complicated, and many times it has run contrary to our own interest and to that of our OPEC partners. But we do that because that is what friends do for one another.

Recently, however, we have not been sensing much love from our American allies. Instead we feel great ingratitude and a serious lack of appreciation from our buddies stateside. It may therefore be time for us to look for some other, and more appreciative, areas to put our foreign aid — excuse me, I mean “investment”.

It is to the East that we must turn, dear readers.

After all, it is in the East that the sun rises and in the West that it sets.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Saudi Arabia--Terror State

[Bobby777]

Shoulda turned Saddam loose on Saudi Arabia ...

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Man that got my blood boiling: Should've been "Saudis are threatening us" Or "all you are bases belong to us."

[Mr. Mojo]

Our Enemies, the Saudis

[MarMema]

Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed reading it.

[rageaholic]

Remember, every time you tank up, you put a dollar in some scumbag sheik's purse (they don't have pockets on their robes).

[Steve Eisenberg]

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been pumped by both our private and public sector into the US economy, even at times when such investment has not been entirely in our interest. Why did we do this? Because we are friends. Because that is what friends do for one another. After all, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Unbelievable. Is it really true that the government of Saudi Arabia runs a surplus which it invests in US treasury bills? Or is this author suggesting that when individual Saudis buy US treasuries it's an act of charity?

Of course, this does show how the recipients of foreign aid must feel. The thought that foreigners are propping up my government out of charity hardly warms my heart. No foreign aid for Israel, but first stop all aid to Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority directly or through the UN, and help develop oil fields in both Alaska and Russia to put these arrogant SOB's in their place.

I like Kerry's idea of not buying Middle East oil, althogh, of course, given his opposition Alaska drilling, it is a promise that would not be kept. (Kerry is dangerous because he is a skilled politician saying what a lot of people want to hear.)

[A.J.Armitage]

For many years we in Saudi Arabia have invested huge sums of money in US treasury bills at very low interest rates. We call this “investing” to preserve our US friend’s dignity. It is “investment” similar to that performed by the US when it tries to protect the Mexican economy from collapsing or when it tries to keep Argentina from going belly up.

From what I understand, there's a (small) element of truth to this -- it gives them something to threaten. If they offload all of it at once the price will collapse.

(Almost needless to say, they get all their money from the West in the first place. The West has functional societies. They have oil.)

[CrucifiedTruth]

It is to the East that we must turn, dear readers. After all, it is in the East that the sun rises and in the West that it sets.

Well, well... "The East" was (and is) developed exactly by whom? And Why? Another oops.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

In Tolkien's Middle-Earth, evil also came from the east.

[pragmatic_asian]

Those T-Bills pay interest, something that is absolutely forbidden by Islam, but I'm sure the Saudi's are taking that money out of the goodness of their heart for out benefit.

[pragmatic_asian]

And the reason those T-Bills pay such a low interest rate is that they're the safest investments anywhere. If those Saudi's think they can get a better return on their money at the same level of risk, I'll foward them the e-mail address of my Nigerian friends.

[Finalapproach29er]

If they stopped pricing OIL in Dollars, the value of the dollar might collapse by as much as 25-33%. If OPEC prices oil in EUROS, America is seriously screwed.

This is why we stay involved and control things over there in the Gulf States away from Israel.IMHO

[Blue Scourge]

Blah Blah Blah...We hate Israel...Blah Blah Blah..we hate America for supporting Israel...Blah Blah Blah...JIHAD!!!

I just saved everyone a minute or so of reading the article.

[RichInOC]

Friends don't drive their friends' commercial aircraft into their friends' high-rise buildings and kill thousands of their friends' fellow citizens. Mohammed, you guys are not our friends. You guys are our business associates. That business relationship is probably the sole reason we haven't attacked Saudi yet. Actually, I'm kind of hoping you guys are in fact stupid enough to throw that away.

[John Frum]

That's true, but you do that in a somewhat indirect fashion. You're first putting a dollar into some refiner's pocket (bloodsucking middlemen leeches) who then pays an oil company who finally pays a scum-sucking sheik. Figure the Sheik is getting at least 50% of that dollar, though.

[montag813]

Shoulda turned Saddam loose on Saudi Arabia ...

You're not far off. We should have let him take Riyadh and kill off the Saudi leadership, and THEN move in and restore things to our advantage in Iraq, Kuwait and S.Arabia.

[Bobby777]

oh yeah, that was my next step ... 8) ... of course, I might have let Saddam have Kuwait again after they started ripping the USA off on oil prices a couple years ago ...

[Bon mots]

Why bother sending dollars to these vermin. Let's just send the sixth fleet and get it over with. The French will shriek bloody murder, but they always do.