Be Consistent—Invade Saudi Arabia

[Catherina]

Be Consistent—Invade Saudi Arabia
by Robert Scheer

It’s the black gold that drives nations mad and inevitably raises the question of whether America and the former European colonial powers give a damn about human rights as the basis for military intervention. If Libya didn’t have more oil than any other nation in Africa would the West be unleashing high-tech military mayhem to contain what is essentially a tribal-based civil war? Once again an American president summons the passions of a human rights crusade against a reprehensible ruler whose crimes, while considerable, are not significantly different from those of dictators the U.S routinely protects.


Fallout: During a Tuesday trip organized by the Libyan authorities, a supporter of Moammar Gadhafi salutes amid the wreckage of what was described as a maintenance warehouse hit by two missiles Monday evening. The site was at a naval base in Tripoli

...

But this time, in the glaring light of the democratic currents sweeping through the Mideast, the contradictions in supporting one set of dictators while toppling others may prove impossible for the U.S. and its allies to effectively manage. The recognition, widely demanded throughout the region, that even ordinary Middle Easterners have inalienable rights is a sobering notion not easily co-opted. Why don’t those rights to self-determination extend to Shiites in the richest oil province in Saudi Arabia or for that matter to Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza?

The fallback position for U.S. policymakers is the “war on terror” standard under which our dictators are needed to control super-fanatic Muslims. That’s why the U.S trained the Republican Guard led by the son of the despised ruler of Yemen as the counterterrorism liaison with Washington. On Tuesday it was the tanks of the lavishly U.S-equipped Republican Guard that stood as the final line of support surrounding the Presidential Palace as calls for departure of Yemen’s dictator increased in intensity. The U.S. was still following the lead of Saudi Arabia, long a financier of the Yemeni ruler.

...

The Saudi lead was made clearer in the kingdom’s support for the royal family in neighboring Bahrain as Saudi troops were sent in along with forces from the United Arab Emirates to suppress Bahraini democracy advocates claiming that freedom would enhance the power of the majority Shiite population. The fraud here is to locate Shiite Iran as the center of terrorism when it was the Sunni monarchies that were most closely identified with the problems that gave rise to al-Qaida. Not only did 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 come from Saudi Arabia but Saudi Arabia and the UAE, along with Pakistan, were the only countries to diplomatically recognize the Taliban regime that harbored al-Qaida. In Bahrain the majority Shiite population is dismissed as potentially under the sway of the rulers of Iran without strong evidence to that effect. Once again it is convenient to ignore the fact that Iran, as was the case with Saddam’s Iraq, had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack that launched the U.S. war on terror.

...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/be_consistent_invade_saudi_arabia_20110323/

[Gravel Democrat]

1. ^^

"...It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Moammar Gadhafi must now go not because his human rights record is egregious but rather because his erratic hold on power seems spent. After all, from the London School of Economics to Harvard, influential foreign policy experts were all too happy until quite recently to accept Libyan payoffs in exchange for a more benign view of Gadhafi’s prospects for change under the gentle guidance of what Harvard’s Joseph Nye celebrated as "soft power."


"...the contradictions in supporting one set of dictators while toppling others may prove impossible for the U.S. and its allies to effectively manage..."

one can hope (still)

*************

Quelle est cette odeur? soif de sang!!

http://costofwar.com

[Catherina]

2. soif de sang et faim de guerre. Sarkozy a peace lover now. Gimme a break

Good link thanks.

[Raksha]

3. Exactly! The double standard is becoming so blatant it's insupportable.

Re "...the contradictions in supporting one set of dictators while toppling others may prove impossible for the U.S. and its allies to effectively manage..."

[pampango]

4. I remember Saudi Arabia was willing to fund Mubarak's battle to hang on to power.

My guess is they are helping Gaddafi (if he needs any financial help). They must know that the more dictators that fall from power, the more tenuous the hold of the Saudi royal family onto its power.

Pretty much the only way they can hold onto power is through a combination of brute force against their own people and the willingness of the international community to overlook it. Given that, they have a vested interest in Gaddafi defeating Libya's revolution (even more so now that it is backed by the UN). A Gaddafi defeat at the hands of the UN would set a precedent for using the UN's Responsibility to Protect successfully which is not something that the Saudi royal family would be happy about.

[thewiseguy]

5. Is Saudi Arabia butchering their citizens as we speak?

I understand that they are abusing their powers and not allowing much freedom in their country but do we have an acute case of violence against civilians happening in Saudi Arabia?

[Catherina]

7. Yes. Starting with the Facebook activist who planned the protests.

Shot cold dead. On top of that they've provided military hardware and over 1500 Saudi mercenaries to Bahrain to kill protesters there and put down the revolt.

There's a lot of stuff not being reported in our press. And guess who's apparently serving as the go-between?

Crackdown in Bahrain: Notes from the field
Despite the protests, the Al Khalifa family does not look like it will be dethroned, but that may come with a cost.
Michael Hudson Last Modified: 21 Mar 2011 17:35


Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, met with Bahrain''s king Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa shortly before the GCC military stepped into Bahrain, pointing to possible US complicity and foreknowledge of the Gulf intervention

MANAMA — Against all advice, I flew to Bahrain to witness first-hand the confrontation between the royal authorities and the thousands of protesters in the streets.

...

The crackdown was beginning. I could see a steady line of armoured personnel carriers inching down a road toward the roundabout.

I counted around thirty of them. Four helicopters hovered over the area with a fifth surveying at a higher altitude. Then I could see plumes of white and black smoke rising from behind and between the buildings near the roundabout, apparently from the burning tents of the protesters.

An hour later I saw another huge column of black smoke billowing up. What I couldn't see were the Bahraini and Saudi forces attacking the protesters (killing two and injuring many more) and burning their tents.

...

Here is how they justify it: Bahrain will not follow the path of Tunisia and Egypt. The opposition has missed an historic opportunity for peaceful reform by refusing the crown prince''s offer to negotiate. Instead, it has illegally occupied public space, intimidated ordinary citizens, and done grievous harm to the Bahraini economy. The intervention of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) forces on the invitation of the government is perfectly legal under a collective security treaty. The loss of life is regrettable, but the crackdown was necessary to prevent ongoing chaos which Iran would exploit. With the "saboteurs" crushed, things will now return to normal.

...

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/03/201132111471720661.html

That article's 3 days old but I'm throwing it in here since I had it up.

[thewiseguy]

8. The violence is not anywhere near to what we are seeing in Libya

And you know it.

[Catherina]

9. I do? You do? How sad n/t

[Fuzz]

10. Not to mention the Wahhabi form of Islam and most of the terrorists

on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. But..but..then we'd have to shoot down the planes we sold them! K&R

[Faryn Balyncd]

11. (Perhaps, if & when a democratic revolution successfully replaces the regime, we will)

[Catherina]

12. Mordant humor. Maybe I need more of that. +1 in a sad way n/t