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"What I do not understand is why the US is the military for wealthy countries like Saudi Arabia." Could it be as simple as we are basically protecting OPEC in

by mr337 11y ago

"What I do not understand is why the US is the military for wealthy countries like Saudi Arabia." Could it be as simple as we are basically protecting OPEC in exchange so they can sell oil to us? I can't find any other reason.

tim333 11y ago
I think there's a worry about some Al Queda / ISIS types taking over and causing havoc with the Saudi trillions. The Saudis may be undemocratic but at least they don't cause too much trouble.
- lotsofmangos 11y ago
  They exported and funded their errant knights using those trillions. The main reason the Saudi government has been left alone by the more extreme elements in Saudi Arabia is that they are the main conduit for creating petrodollars, so if they were disrupted, the money hose might stop.
- patrickk 11y ago
  But Saudi Arabia funded/funds Al-Qaeda and ISIS, they are Sunni terror groups, despite the fact that in theory, Saudi Arabia is a US ally. These groups attack Shias and other minority groups, not other Sunnis like the Saudis. Remember, a lot of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, and a lot of the funding came from Saudi Arabia. The US is funding its enemies by its strong links to Saudi Arabia. You can read this article, or google around for better ones: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabism-islam-terrorism_b_6501916.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabis... It's a very complicated relationship, I think the best long term outcome for the region and the world is a massive reduction in the importance of oil and the Middle East ceases to be important strategically.
pluma 11y ago
Saudi Arabia is hostile towards Iran and friendly towards the US (and therefore at least neutral towards Israel). We like to maintain countries that are hostile towards countries that are hostile towards Israel for obvious reasons (enemy of my enemy, etc), especially if they are good trade partners. The Saudis sell oil to us, we sell weapons to the Saudis, everybody benefits. Well, except for the poor sods who have to live in an abusive theocracy, but we don't care about brown people, especially if they live far away from us.

by mr337 11y ago

tim333 11y ago

I think there's a worry about some Al Queda / ISIS types taking over and causing havoc with the Saudi trillions. The Saudis may be undemocratic but at least they don't cause too much trouble.

lotsofmangos 11y ago
They exported and funded their errant knights using those trillions. The main reason the Saudi government has been left alone by the more extreme elements in Saudi Arabia is that they are the main conduit for creating petrodollars, so if they were disrupted, the money hose might stop.
patrickk 11y ago
But Saudi Arabia funded/funds Al-Qaeda and ISIS, they are Sunni terror groups, despite the fact that in theory, Saudi Arabia is a US ally. These groups attack Shias and other minority groups, not other Sunnis like the Saudis. Remember, a lot of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, and a lot of the funding came from Saudi Arabia. The US is funding its enemies by its strong links to Saudi Arabia. You can read this article, or google around for better ones: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabism-islam-terrorism_b_6501916.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabis... It's a very complicated relationship, I think the best long term outcome for the region and the world is a massive reduction in the importance of oil and the Middle East ceases to be important strategically.

pluma 11y ago

Saudi Arabia is hostile towards Iran and friendly towards the US (and therefore at least neutral towards Israel). We like to maintain countries that are hostile towards countries that are hostile towards Israel for obvious reasons (enemy of my enemy, etc), especially if they are good trade partners. The Saudis sell oil to us, we sell weapons to the Saudis, everybody benefits. Well, except for the poor sods who have to live in an abusive theocracy, but we don't care about brown people, especially if they live far away from us.