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Prince Turki al Faisal responded to Mr. Obama's interview with the Atlantic during which he said, "a number of American allies in the Persian Gulf — as well as in Europe — were “free riders,” eager to drag the United States into grinding sectarian conflicts that sometimes had little to do with American interests". He showed little sympathy for the Saudis, who have been threatened by the nuclear deal Mr. Obama reached with Iran. He went on to criticize KSA by saying that they need to learn to "share" the region with Iran.
Prince Turki responded that POTUS' comments may be because he is "petulant" that KSA supported the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt or because the U.S. president has "pivoted" to Iran. Being diplomatic Prince Turki ends the letter on a positive note, "We will continue to hold the American people as our ally and don’t forget that when the chips were down" -- such as the 1991 war that drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait -- Saudi and U.S. soldiers "stood shoulder to shoulder,"
Prince Turki is no longer in the KSA government but his position in the royal family and his career in diplomatic negotiations and service in the intelligence community lend a lot of weight to his letter rebuking POTUS and expresses the sentiment of many in the community.
Fahad Nazer, a nonresident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and former political analyst at the Saudi Embassy in Washington said"Many Saudis readily admit that they are now simply awaiting the end of President Obama's tenure," "with some boldly proclaiming that 'anyone will be better than Obama.'"
Prince Turki responded that POTUS' comments may be because he is "petulant" that KSA supported the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt or because the U.S. president has "pivoted" to Iran. Being diplomatic Prince Turki ends the letter on a positive note, "We will continue to hold the American people as our ally and don’t forget that when the chips were down" -- such as the 1991 war that drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait -- Saudi and U.S. soldiers "stood shoulder to shoulder,"
Prince Turki is no longer in the KSA government but his position in the royal family and his career in diplomatic negotiations and service in the intelligence community lend a lot of weight to his letter rebuking POTUS and expresses the sentiment of many in the community.
Fahad Nazer, a nonresident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and former political analyst at the Saudi Embassy in Washington said"Many Saudis readily admit that they are now simply awaiting the end of President Obama's tenure," "with some boldly proclaiming that 'anyone will be better than Obama.'"
Mr. Obama, we are not ‘free riders’
Posted from arabnews.com
Middle East
Diplomacy
Barack Obama
Politics
Posted >1 y ago
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The truth hurts. How many Saudi divisions were or are on the ground fighting the bad guys? and what a joke about "when the chips were down, they stood shoulder to shoulder" with the US. No shit. They were terrified that Saddam would continue to roll into SA and seize oilfields. But even then we had to carry most of the water.
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To all of you who have commented negatively towards the Saudi response, -- I can tell you from 7 years living and working in Saudi Arabia (with both the RSLF and the SANG) -- you do not have a clue. Turki was gracious to Obama in that he did not embarrass Obama by mentioning a long list of other things that Saudi Arabia has done (sometimes to their own detriment) for the US or at our behest around the world in the past. They have quietly contributed to several strategic initiatives for us when we could not do it ourselves.
During Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Saudis hosted US bases when they could have said NO (contrast that with our NATO "ally" Turkey, who refused to allow us to railhead the 4th ID into Northern Iraq). They have also done so against the loud protests of the Muslim world.
Furthermore, The Saudis agreed to sell their oil in US Dollars EXCLUSIVELY when Nixon took us off the Bretton-Woods Gold Standard -- which created an artificial demand for our fiat dollars as the world's primary reserve currency...and when our Fed inflates (prints) the US dollar, Saudi families suffer the economic hardships along with US families...and the Saudi rulers have to manage the domestic backlash.
The Saudis have done all this to honor a longstanding arrangement that we would help to protect Saudi Arabia (and Kuwait, et al.) in exchange for their propping up our currency. Obama's fanning of the flames in the Middle East and grating hegemony to Iran has signaled that he has no desire to honor the agreement, and is ready to let the Saudis hang as "thinks" for over 40 years of support. If the House of Saud falls, it could spell destruction for the US economy (e.g. hyperinflation, etc.).
While I too have issues with the Saudis, and perhaps we should never have made such an arrangement with them, the fact remains that we have; and Obama is treating them dishonorably and with contempt.
Here is se suggested reading before you comment: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ [login to see] ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
During Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Saudis hosted US bases when they could have said NO (contrast that with our NATO "ally" Turkey, who refused to allow us to railhead the 4th ID into Northern Iraq). They have also done so against the loud protests of the Muslim world.
Furthermore, The Saudis agreed to sell their oil in US Dollars EXCLUSIVELY when Nixon took us off the Bretton-Woods Gold Standard -- which created an artificial demand for our fiat dollars as the world's primary reserve currency...and when our Fed inflates (prints) the US dollar, Saudi families suffer the economic hardships along with US families...and the Saudi rulers have to manage the domestic backlash.
The Saudis have done all this to honor a longstanding arrangement that we would help to protect Saudi Arabia (and Kuwait, et al.) in exchange for their propping up our currency. Obama's fanning of the flames in the Middle East and grating hegemony to Iran has signaled that he has no desire to honor the agreement, and is ready to let the Saudis hang as "thinks" for over 40 years of support. If the House of Saud falls, it could spell destruction for the US economy (e.g. hyperinflation, etc.).
While I too have issues with the Saudis, and perhaps we should never have made such an arrangement with them, the fact remains that we have; and Obama is treating them dishonorably and with contempt.
Here is se suggested reading before you comment: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ [login to see] ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
Amazon.com: Thicker Than Oil: America's Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia (9780195367058):...
Amazon.com: Thicker Than Oil: America's Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia (9780195367058): Rachel Bronson: Books
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CPT (Join to see)
LTC John Wilson Your post cuts off at "so against". I'm not sure why that is. I read it in it's entirety earlier. You might open edit and select save again and this will reset your response. Thank you.
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CSM Charles Hayden
LTC John Wilson Thank you for the personal perspective Major. The 'personal' adds credulence!
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What confuses people around the world is our mantra for democracy, but yet, we support dictators, monarchs, and other governments with dubious human rights records.
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