Saudis And Iran Agree To Renew Ties

 

In a significant about-face for Saudi Arabia, Iranian media is reporting that the Saudi Arabian regime has agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties with Iran, its supposed mortal enemy in the Middle East. 

Led by corrupt and murderous Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman, the Saudis have been edging away from the U.S. ever since their friends, the Malignant Loser, and his son-in-law Jared "Mr. Ivanka Trump" Kushner left the White House in disgrace. Before the 2022 mid-term elections, the Saudis refused to boost oil production as requested by the U.S. and its allies to compensate for the reduction in Russian oil supplies. It was seen as a clear attempt to keep gas prices high and to influence the election in favor of Republicans. Additionally, Iran has become a de facto ally of Putin in his war of territorial expansion in Ukraine, supplying drones and other weapons. According to the linked report:

"The state-run news agency IRNA said that Ali Shamkhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, met his Saudi counterpart Mosaed bin Mohammad Al-Aiban in China, where the agreement was made.

Saudi Arabia have not yet issued a statement.

Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital following the execution of a Shi’ite cleric in Saudi Arabia.

Oil facilities in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have come under attack in recent years by actors believed to be backed by Iran, including Yemen’s Houthi rebels."

Bone Saw's pro-authoritarian geopolitics should prompt a response from Washington, perhaps in curtailing the weapons we supply to the regime, which justified them by pointing to a hostile Iran. Patriot missile batteries are positioned in Saudi Arabia and would be better used in Ukraine to defend against Russian missile attacks on civilian infrastructure. It's time to put the brakes on military support for the Saudi regime.

 

Saudis Accused Of Sabotaging Climate Summit

With the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow winding down this weekend, officials from some 200 countries are grappling with finalizing "next steps" in limiting the use of fossil fuels and other measures aimed at curbing climate change. A consensus may be hard to arrive at, given the dichotomies between industrialized and undeveloped countries, wealthy and poor, and an array of political systems from democracies to dictatorships. 

One nation, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, has no stake in eliminating fossil fuels, despite instituting some carbon-reducing measures at home. Their only game economically is oil, and they'll supply it as long as demand is there, and they want demand to continue. Unsurprisingly, then, their team at the conference, led by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, has been working behind the scenes to soften any step that would reduce the world's demand for oil:

"Saudi Arabia’s team in Glasgow has introduced proposals ranging from a call to quit negotiations — they often stretch into early morning hours — at 6 p.m. every day to what climate negotiation veterans allege are complex efforts to play country factions against one another with the aim of blocking agreement on tough steps to wrench the world away from coal, gas and oil.

That is the “Saudis’ proposal, by the way. They’re like, ‘Let’s just not work at nights and just accept that this is not going to be ambitious’” when it comes to fast cuts in fossil fuel pollution that is wrecking the climate, said Jennifer Tollmann, an analyst at E3G, a European climate think tank."  (our emphasis)

Inviting the Saudis, who have every incentive to block meaningful climate change measures, is like inviting an arsonist to a fire fighters' conference. Whether they're using misinformation or threats against other countries to maintain the world's addiction to oil, it's undermining global health and security in exchange for enormous wealth.

(photo: Prince Abdulaziz / Sky News)

Saudis Still Agitating For War With Iran

Time's a- wastin'!  Need to get that war with Iran started while the compromised, easily manipulated dolt is still in the White House!

Saudi Arabia has called for urgent meetings of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions in the region, the kingdom’s official news agency said on Saturday.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said King Salman had invited Gulf leaders and Arab states to two emergency summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss recent “aggressions and their consequences” in the region.

John Bolton and Mike Pompeo just felt thrills up their chickenhawk spines.

A pretext for the Saudis is the recent attack on four ships in the Persian Gulf, two of them Saudi tankers, none of which were significantly damaged.  Some experts took note of how this looked =cough= suspicious, especially in light of our allies saying they saw "no increased threat" from Iran or its proxies: 

TANKER ATTACKS: This imagery fm UAE news shows a small IED was placed underwater on stern of this anchored vessel & way above rudder/Screws & far fm oil & Fuel tanks. Not enough bang to do real damage to steerage, just the hull. It’s all wrong. Just big enough for TV. pic.twitter.com/7eLYPJiGBn

— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) May 13, 2019

Note the source in the embedded news story below for another actor keen to get the United States into another quagmire in the Middle East:

Reports of “sabotage” of oil tankers off Fujairah UAE by waterline IED is confusing. Iran hasn’t used this type of attack since 1988 & we savaged their Navy. Why now & why use crude throwback tactics? It suddenly proves Trump’s narrative? It makes no sense at all. Need more intel https://t.co/tHva1T6fXZ

— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) May 13, 2019

Our simpleton "president" may think he's in control, but he's in way over his head versus the bonesaw crowd and the chickenhawks in his cabinet.

Lying Sawdis (UPDATED)

If you believe this, we have a Nigerian prince who wants to talk to you:

The missing Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Saudi Arabia admitted in a dead-of-night statement from a prosecutor early Saturday. 

Saudi authorities released results from what they claimed was an initial investigation, saying that Khashoggi was killed after a discussion turned into a fight during his visit to the consulate.  (our emphasis)

We've lost track.  Is this the limited hangout, or the modified limited hangout version?

If they ever find the body and find that the fingers had been sawed off, what will be the modified modified limited hangout version?

UPDATE: Khashoggi's editor at the Washington Post responds --

And we are supposed to believe, that Mohammed Bin Salman had no knowledge of this, even though his right hand man has been implicated, and a team of 15 men flew in on private planes entered a consulate on foreign soil to carry this out? #Khashoggi

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

#Khashoggi was a 60 year old man. What sort of equal “fight" would he have had against 15 other men? And who brings a bone saw to a “discussion”?!

The stupidity of the Saudi explanation is mind boggling….

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

UPDATE II:  Britain's MI-6 isn't buying the Sawdi cover story, either.

BONUS:

Maybe we shouldn’t give $100 billion in weapons to people who think we’re this stupid.

— Matt Ford (@fordm) October 19, 2018

Pic Of The Day - The Mysterious Glowing Orb

Nothing to see here, move along, move along (click on image to enlarge for full creepy effect):

(Egyptian President el-Sisi, Saudi King Salman and Trump pledge fealty to The Glowing Orb)

Alternate captions:

"We're now Blood and Oil Brothers! Bwahahahaha!"

"You have some warm balls, King!"

"I see impeachment in your future!"

"Does this make my hands look bigger?"

A Meeting With Terrorist Appeasers

Well, look who's arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet with some folks with terrorist links.

And expect a smackdown from the Saudis when the Decider begs for increased oil production to bring prices down.

Spreadin' Freedom, Dumbya-Style

"If I give you a little squeeze, will you sell us yer oil fer $50 a barrel, King?"

Unfortunately, Dumbya's charm doesn't seem to have turned their opinion of him around. From an article in today's WaPo:

"One reason for greater Saudi independence. . .is that the Saudis have begun to doubt American competence and are looking to forge their own relations with rising powers such as China and regional rivals including Iran. . . while publicly polite, the Saudi king and other leading figures also see the incumbent U.S. president as a disappointment. . .former officials and others close to the royal family say Saudi royals believe Bush has handled issues such as Iran, Iraq and Middle East peace ineptly." [Emphasis added]

Are We Going Steady Now?

Next week's Middle East conference in Annapolis likely won't bring any meaningful change to the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Condi "Minute" Rice is not highly regarded in that region for her diplomatic skills, and most realize that this is an attempt by lame duck Dumbya to create something of a legacy, after 7 miserable years of foreign policy debacles. The conferees will go through the motions, issue bland statements, and adjourn with little accomplished beyond burning a lot of jet fuel.

Interestingly, the Saudis were nearly the last to accept an invitation to the conference. The royal Saudi foreign minister has also vowed not to shake the hand of any Israelis. Maybe Dumbya can act as an intermediary, since he's held so many Saudi royals' hands in the past.

Whaa?

In simple terms, the forces dividing Iraq have two major regional clients: the Sunnis have Saudi Arabia, and the Shiia have Iran. The current Iraqi government is majority Shiia. In its stunning wisdom, the Bush Assministration has chosen to arm the "former" Sunni insurgents in Iraq, as the current Shiia-dominated government (Prime Minister Maliki, ostensibly supported by Dumbya) rejects the Sunnis' demands for political redress. Expected outcome? Intensified sectarian violence, with Saudi Arabia and Iran as the drivers.
It's clear that the Bush Assministration has been listening closely to the "counsel" of the Saudi Government/"Bandar Bush" of late, especially with the looming $30 billion arms deal in the works with the Saudis. Bidness, Texas-style. National security, Saudi-style.

Knowing Your Enemy, Part 2

It's nice to know that Dumbya has such good relations with the Saudi royal family. The entire Bush family has long been unusually cozy with the House of Saud, so maybe he could get them to, you know, try harder to shut off the flow of suicide bombers into Iraq: some 45% of the suicide bombers have originated from Saudi Arabia.

They've got some 'splainin to do.

(photo: Commander Codpiece holds hands with his date, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah; did Codpiece get to first base?)

Bindar Bin On The Take

A news report in the WaPo this morning indicates that Saudi Prince Bindar bin Sultan collected an estimated $2 billion in secret payments over 10 years, as part of a $80 billion arms deal between arms conglomerate BAE and the Saudi government. The oily prince is a close personal friend of the Bush family, and was instrumental in shepherding the bin Laden family out of the U.S. immediately after 9/11, despite all aircraft being grounded. Would anyone really be surprised if some of the payoff eventually found its way into Bush or Rethuglican coffers? Or supporting Islamist madrassas around the globe?

So Saudi

It looks like whatever support Bush had for his war in the "moderate" Arab world is dissipating. Reuters is reporting that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, in an address before Arab leaders in Riyadh, referred to the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq as contributing to sectarian violence. Meanwhile, an April 17 gala in Washington put on by the Bush Assministration to honor Abdullah was abruptly cancelled by the Saudi monarch, leaving the Bushies with falafel on their face.