Posted on 06/10/2008 7:27:21 AM PDT by MrCFdovnh
Here's a quick geopolitical quiz: What country is three times the size of Texas and has more than 300 days of blazing sun a year? What country has the world's largest oil reserves resting below miles upon miles of sand? And what country is being given nuclear power, not solar, by President George W. Bush, even when the mere assumption of nuclear possession in its region has been known to provoke pre-emptive air strikes, even wars?
If you answered Saudi Arabia to all of these questions, you're right.
Last month, while the American people were becoming the personal ATMs of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Saudi Arabia signing away an even more valuable gift: nuclear technology. In a ceremony little-noticed in this country, Ms. Rice volunteered the U.S. to assist Saudi Arabia in developing nuclear reactors, training nuclear engineers, and constructing nuclear infrastructure. While oil breaks records at $130 per barrel or more, the American consumer is footing the bill for Saudi Arabia's nuclear ambitions.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
—Why Is Bush Helping Saudi Arabia Build Nukes?
Because they told him to.
Ah. A very onjective source of information. Perhaps Markey would prefer the Germans do it? Or the French? Russians? Chinese?
Ironic that oil producing countries will have nuclear energy a a viable national source long before we do and we’ll still be buying their oil instead of using our won or building our own nuke plants.
Repeating: I trust my government to take care of me...I trust my government to take care of me... I’m getting dizzy...
I think it’s because to Wash, $$$ talks louder than anything else, even it’s citizens. They know what we need, and what is good for us much better than we do...afterall, we elected them, so it must be true.
“While oil breaks records at $130 per barrel or more, the American consumer is footing the bill for Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions.”
That would be a bit misleading. They aren’t going to lower the price of oil if we tell them we won’t help them build nuclear reactors. In fact, you could make a pretty good argument that selling nuclear reactors to them is reducing the price of oil, since it represents a counter-flow in the balance of payments.
My suspicions are that Bush realizes that if we don’t sell this technology to the Saudis, they will get it from the Russians, which is what the Iranians are doing.
The other aspect of it is that he’s giving the Saudis an opportunity to counter the Iranian nuclear bomb threat. My guess is that on the day that the Iranians test a nuclear bomb, we will sell a few nuclear bombs to the Saudis to counter the threat.
Nope, the reason is simple in my eyes - this administration is just as much in the Saud's pocket as the previous one was with the ChiComs.
And all for the same reason - money, influence, power. Some things in this old world just never change, ever.
*sigh*
I’d prefer that no one do it and the U.S. make certain of it.
I think that the Chinese are slightly less likely to nuke us than the Saudis.
Exactly! The Saudis are signed onto the NPT. Either we do it or as you say, the French, Russians, or Chinese will do it.
Saudi is industrializing. The oil should remain available for export rather than increasingly being consumed domestically.
Apparently a few people in this thread understand what can be done realistically, and what can't. Either we get in first, and do our damndest to ensure it's a safe program, or we let someone else in, and have *no* influence.
As much as I completely disagree with Ed Markey on just about everything, he is right to raise concerns about the Saudis building nukes. If 9/11 taught us anything, it is that Saudi Arabia is a literal terrorist factory. It is not unreasonable for us to expect that every nickel we send to them, be it in the form of payments for oil, nuclear technology, and any other sort of military weaponry stands a very good chance of being used against us in the form of a terrorist attack.
Why not solar?
Because you can't export solar a few kg at a time...
German and French nuke businesses were selling the technology and had already done so to Israel and S Africa.
So the Saudis put up the money with the agreement that they would be able to purchase finished nukes at a heavy discount. The Saudis were primarily concerned about Saddam's (and to a lesser degree Ghaddafi's) nuke program and unsure if America could project enough military power to counter Saddam.
When we threw Saddam out of Kuwait, the Saudis were satisfied that America would stabilize/garrison the Middle East and protect the Saudis.
We knew all about their nuke weapon ambitions and got them to stop in return for saving them from Saddam and agreeing to underwrite an energy-only reactor program.
The Saudis agreed, understanding that their own natural gas that currently supplies their domestic energy needs, could then be sold world-wide for much more than the cost of nuke powered electricity.
It is a very simple and highly profitable business arrangement for the Saudis and takes one more nuke weapon player out of the doomsday game. Our Israeli "partners" are very supportive. La heim, ya'all.
And either way, it is perfectly reasonable and logical to assume that any Saudi nuclear technology will be used in terrorist activity against us.
They are rich.
Mainly because our own folly. Of course, the Democrats believe above all else that the USA should be subservient to other nations, so even though the terrorist threat from a nuclear-armed Saudi Arabia is real, they still won't support domestic drilling for oil.
“Why Is Bush Helping Saudi Arabia Build Nukes?”
Many reasons, one probably being that one of the most lucrative career paths in Washington involves years of government service topped off by a stint as a lobbyist for the Saudis. Maybe some key Bush officials are paving the way for their next job where they can make some serious money.
It’s just a matter of time until push-comes-to-shove on Jerusalem. No matter how we get there, this is the end game.
Zechariah 12:1-3
Saudi Arabia was far more guilty for 9/11 than Saddam, that’s for certain. Or at least SA citizens.
Because "Mission Accomplished" is an anomaly as a follow-on to Ronald Reagan's legacy, a regular "chip chimp off the old block when you consider his "Read My Lips" old man's record as the commander-in-chief, who for some reason was content to pull a 1991 "stalemate" in Iraq out of the jaws of overwhelming victory. Why he would give an anachronistic kingdom, teetering on the brink of another fanatical Islamic regime, the keys to building a "big potato" is beyond comprehension!
Bump that!
Nope! Two words and both begin with the letter "I": INFIDELS and ISRAEL. Arabs could care less if another Islamic-believing nation has nukes as they reserve the sword, rifle, rope and stone for punishment of fellow Islamomites. "Mission Accomplished" Bush's "gift" of nuclear technology transfer makes absolutely no sense as:
1. Eventually the House of Saud "kingdom" will fall to Islamofacism just as the anachronistic kingdom of the Shah did in the 1970s (with help, of course, from Jimmy Carter).
2. Arabs and their Allah-worshipping Persian cohorts both eventually want to see another "Ottoman Empire" type world Islamic caliphate.
3. All Islamic peoples despise both the nation of Israel and the culture of the west.
We need the world to use nuclear power for electricity, to save the mobile sources of power like oil for the mobile uses like airplanes and cars.
It is utter insanity. Even if we could trust the Wahabbist Saudi clan, who is to say that they will properly control all nuclear material or that they will not be overthrown one day? Even if you only believe that the problem is Islamic terrorists, the simple fact is that Al Qaeda was formed by Saudis. What I don't get is the silence of the "all powerfull" AIPAC.
Can't argue with any of that. AIPAC, they're a political organization, they stroke folk when things are going fine, but I can't say they're big on political controversy.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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With oil prices what they are, even the Saudis are moving to nuclear.
Or could they have something else on their mind.
If you're right I sincerely hope the forward looking Bush administration has considered the impact of an Israeli strike on both nation, Iran and Saudi Arabia, with whom they're still at war.
You need to get up to speed.
We'll have a new President soon.
Should it be Barry "I've got a halo" Obama, he's going to engage these people in discussion.
He's a tought talker, and my guess most Saudi's will be joining Reverend Wright's Church.
Whether that means we'll be better off is for you to decide.
Barry "the anti-Carter" will prevent that.
Besides, who are you to bring up Carter, geezer. Those who don't remember tell me he's a senior statesman.
I’ll see your Iranian Shah/Carter
and raise you.
Maybe I am holding the Obama King/Obama flush.
/s
Ain’t that the truth!
Giving nuclear anything to the Fraudis is like giving matches and a gasoline container to a five year old pyromaniac - ping!
More oil for us? Or maybe the Saudis can start selling us electrical power. Better yet, we can trade them — for their electricity, we’ll ship them dehydrated water. ;’)
i hope he hasn’t caught the “Embrace your dhimmitude” bug..
Yea I mean what possible stupid thing could we ever teach the Sauds anyway? How to fly a commercial airliner WITHOUT LANDING IT? Bush needs to keep his sitter home in DC and pressure congress to approve domestic drilling including offshore Florida. Oops I forgot that one has likely been promised to China. I may not like who's telling the story but I dislike arming the Sauds with nukes even more. Opening up our own domestic fields on a wide scale basis to drilling would have far more long term impact on the Sauds and everyone else lowering the price and raising their production.
See my response in #18.
Far better for the US to help the Saudis build their nuclear power plants than the Soviets or the Russians or the Chinese or the Japanese. The Saudis can buy the technology from anyone they want.
This creates jobs in the US and gives us continuing leverage on the Saudi use of the plants in terms of maintenance and spare parts. We would be totally dumb not to help the Saudis.
FYI: We also sold them AWACs aircraft.
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