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Is Saudi Arabia a reliable U.S. ally in the Middle East?

Is Saudi Arabia a reliable U.S. ally in the Middle East?


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MildSteel

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According to Sen. Bob Graham, Saudi Arabia played a role in the 9/11 terror attacks. Not only that but the Saudis have been bitter about the reluctance of the United States to use military force to depose Assad in Syria. As such, is Saudi Arabia a reliable U.S. ally in the Middle East?

 
According to Sen. Bob Graham, Saudi Arabia played a role in the 9/11 terror attacks. Not only that but the Saudis have been bitter about the reluctance of the United States to use military force to depose Assad in Syria. As such, is Saudi Arabia a reliable U.S. ally in the Middle East?



It could be or it was someone else like Putin or the mob. But maybe it was only bin Laden.

But they have been pretty reliable allies for longer that most Americans can remember. On the other hand Snowden wasn't a problem for a few decades either.
 
what did SA do re 9-11? If anything it was the House of Saud, not the actual government in Riyadh ....

whom is reliable in the ME -certainly not Iraq for all the blood and treasure thrown down that sectarian hellhole .
Jordan and Israel are "reliable" -some of the Gulf State too..

SA is reliable enough..the "special relationship" goes back to FDR
 
I voted No, but second thought they are sort of reliable. Trustworthy? Not in a million years but can, at times, rely on them when our interest align.
 
The best ally we ever had in that part of the world was Iran, but that was before Carter betrayed them, and allowed the Shah to be overthrown, and the Khomeniacs to take over. All of the trouble we've had with radical Islamists would have been avoided, if not for that terrible, tragic error on Carter's part.

As for Saudi Arabia, I see that as a very shaky alliance. We need them, and they know it, and aren't above pressing their advantage, from time to time, to our detriment. They're not a particularly good ally, but they're the best we've got in the area, aside from Israel.
 
No, of course not.
 
A friend of mine manufactures a product which is petroleum based. He went on a trade mission to Saudi Arabia with the State Department which ended in a deal which created a partnership between my friends company and the Saud family. The State Department advised him not to invest anything in Saudi Arabia which he wasn't afraid to lose.

The Saud family has problems maintaining power. The problem is that with all their oil revenue they have created a society where everyone's based needs are met. The average Saudi citizen has too much free time and there is lots of political unrest among the population.

The Saud family is doing what they can to put people to work because idle hands are the devils workshop, I think that's the old saying.

Personallh, with the turmoil in the middle east I'd say the enemy of my enemy is my friend and at this point, the Saudi's are my friend, understanding they can't be trusted.
 
The best ally we ever had in that part of the world was Iran, but that was before Carter betrayed them, and allowed the Shah to be overthrown, and the Khomeniacs to take over. All of the trouble we've had with radical Islamists would have been avoided, if not for that terrible, tragic error on Carter's part.


no country for s.... posters.jpg

Do you see a problem with casually jumping to conclusions and making stuff up about important geopolitical issues?
 
I never cease to be surprised at the number of people in our country who will risk American lives to carry out a policy that sees a nation like Saudi Arabia be friended as, "the best, or only one we have in the region." Supporting despots and tyrants anywhere is not what I was raised to believe our nation was about. Better to let them all fight amongst themselves in their small little sandbox as much and as long as they want.
 
To expand on my earlier sentiment, even if you get rid of every single other reason to support renewable and green energy, transitioning away from oil would allow us to no longer do business with a miserable place like Saudi Arabia. If their oil wasn't necessary anymore, then we could strip them of whatever power they have in the world. That would be pretty great.
 
Neither trustworthy nor admirable, but fairly reliable when their interests dovetail with those of the US.
 
Considering one of the reasons the Saudi's are deliberately tanking oil prices is probably to damage the U.S. shale oil industry...horrible allies.


The U.S. government over the decades has been incredibly naive.

First they allied with Iran - that turned out to be a mess.

Then they allied with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The former has given America nothing but grief since the Cold War and cost them billions. And the latter has caused them huge indirect grief and again cost them billions.

Then they were allied to Egypt...what good has that done America except cost her many billions more (the question is rhetorical)?

Then for a while there was Iraq as an ally. That was a disaster.

This neocon drivel that it is in America's best interests to directly involve herself in the Middle East is absolute nonsense. It has cost America trillions, thousands of lives and the region is more unstable and less pro-American then ever before.

America's foreign policy should be much like China's (outside of her historical borders' anyway) - let other countries fix their own problems and concentrate on building up your economy.

Economics and common sense builds/maintains powerful countries, not wreckless spending and bravado.
Unfortunately, the latter two is all Neocons seem to know.
 
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Considering one of the reasons the Saudi's are deliberately tanking oil prices is probably to damage the U.S. shale oil industry...horrible allies.


The U.S. government over the decades has been incredibly naive.

First they allied with Iran - that turned out to be a mess.

Then they allied with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The former has given America nothing but grief since the Cold War and cost them billions. And the latter has caused them huge indirect grief and again cost them billions.

Then they were allied to Egypt...what good has that done America except cost her many billions more (the question is rhetorical)?

Then for a while there was Iraq as an ally. That was a disaster.

This neocon drivel that it is in America's best interests to directly involve herself in the Middle East is absolute nonsense. It has cost America trillions, thousands of lives and the region is more unstable and less pro-American then ever before.

America's foreign policy should be much like China's (outside of her historical borders' anyway) - let other countries fix their own problems and concentrate on building up your economy.

Economics and common sense builds/maintains powerful countries, not wreckless spending and bravado.
Unfortunately, the latter two is all Neocons seem to know.

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No, but no US government is going to worry about that at all. As long as they keep selling the US the oil it wants and buys the weapons US companies keep selling to Saudi Arabia, no US government is going to be too critical towards a country with a very spotty record on human rights and a diabolical record when it comes to the rights of women.

But as said, the US is making money of them, the Saudi's keep pumping money into the US economy and the thirst for oil is being quenched by Saudi oil, the US government is not going to make any waves towards Saudi Arabia.

And no, besides the human rights abuses, women's right abuses, the Saudi government supports Salafist Jihadi's and from Saudi Arabia a lot of money goes to organizations that support and commit terrorism. With their support for Wahabbism and Salafism, they are the main sources for money towards political islamism which is one of the biggest reasons for terror in the world IMHO.

So no, not a good or reliable partner.
 
As a couple people have said, pretty reliable when our military regional interest align, but that's about it. They're not swell people otherwise.
 
Yes, and increasingly so as the royal family will increasingly being dependent on the USA to remain in power.

The real question is do we want Saudi Arabia to remain our ally, or does doing so lock us into fighting their battles so they can continue to consume the vast wealth of their country for their huge royal family?
 
According to Sen. Bob Graham, Saudi Arabia played a role in the 9/11 terror attacks. Not only that but the Saudis have been bitter about the reluctance of the United States to use military force to depose Assad in Syria. As such, is Saudi Arabia a reliable U.S. ally in the Middle East?



They're a horrific theocracy, I wouldn't rely on them in the least. They gots lots of oil, so we'll be friendly with them so long s it plays to our advantage. Which is why the real question should be to SA as to whether or not WE are a reliable ally. So long as you give us what we want, yes. But we ain't above ****ing some **** up if we don't get our way.
 
The best ally we ever had in that part of the world was Iran, but that was before Carter betrayed them, and allowed the Shah to be overthrown, and the Khomeniacs to take over. All of the trouble we've had with radical Islamists would have been avoided, if not for that terrible, tragic error on Carter's part.
@bold: Explain.
 
I voted "maybe." Which is to say Saudi Arabia being a reliable ally in the Middle East all comes down to our money and their mood.
 
No

Saudi Arabia is not an ally but merely a good business partner. And for that, even this is getting worse and worse.


joey
 
Saudi Arabia is where radical Islamic ideology was born. Look up Wahabism and then tell me we should be allies with these people.
 
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