F L A M E : Saudi Arabia: Is it racism? Does it support America's interests in the area?

Saudi Arabia:
Does it support America's interests in the area?

Since the fall of the Shah and the great upheaval in Iran, we seem to have designated Saudi Arabia as our "ally," a country whose policies and goals are supposedly in accord with ours and that can be expected to promote our interests and policies in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf area. And Saudi Arabia is generally referred to as a "moderate Arab" nation.

What are the facts?

In the 1920's, American exploration firms discovered the world's largest oil fields under the eastern Saudi desert. As a result, the Saudis and their small neighbors became the richest nations in the world, far surpassing in per-capita product and income long established industrial nations. Not content with this enormous wealth, the Saudis spearheaded the creation of OPEC. It is a price-fixing cartel, which would be totally illegal under U.S. anti-trust laws. This cartel has managed to increase the price of oil by more than tenfold. In doing so, the members of OPEC — primarily Saudi Arabia — were able to amass almost unimaginable riches. At the same time, they caused grave economic dislocation to the western industrial nations and brought ruin and famine to many of the so-called third world countries.

What do the Saudis do with all this wealth? Much of it goes to the maintenance of the most extravagant lifestyle of the Saudi "royal" house and hundreds of "princes" and their hangers-on. Some of it goes for ostentatious public projects. But much of it goes to bankrolling terrorists and troublemakers in the Middle East and in the rest of the world. For example, Saudi Arabia is the main support of the terrorist PLO, which would financially collapse were it not for Saudi Arabian aid. Saudi Arabia finances Syria to the tune of $750 million per year. Syria is a close ally of the Soviet Union, a state based on terror, and a sworn enemy of the U.S.

The Saudis have participated in every one of the Arab wars against Israel, since Israel's founding in 1948. They are totally committed to continued warfare until what they hope will be the destruction of Israel and "recovery" of Jerusalem. Saudi Arabia has systematically thwarted any peace initiatives to resolve the Arab-Israel conflict, continues to maintain a state of war with Israel, refused to recognize Israel's right to exist, and perpetuates, through the Arab League boycott, an international economic warfare intended to strangle Israel.

The Saudis clamor constantly for more and more sophisticated weapons from the U.S. They claim to need these weapons in order to protect their kingdom, their oil installations, and the Gulf shipping lanes from the Iranians. They have purchased $2.9 billion of war materials from the U.S. and vast additional quantities from Western Europe. But now that this arsenal is available and could be engaged, do they use it? Of course not! They call on the U.S. for help.

Because of their unwillingness to assist in their own defense during the Gulf war, we had to put over thirty war ships and much other material in the area and thousands of U.S. sailors, whose lives were at risk and quite a few of whom were lost. Why, then, if they refuse to defend their own country, do the Saudis need all this expensive and deadly hardware? To quote the Saudi defense minister: "It is focused on Israel." And he was echoing King Khaled, who said, "When we build our military power, we have no designs on anybody except those who took away our land and holy places in Jerusalem, and we know who they are!" The way things seem to be planned by the Saudis, it may not be too long before their F-15's will join to fight Israel's F-15's in another devastating Middle East conflagration.

Are the Saudis grateful to the U.S. for being so generous with protection? Despite the fact that the U.S. Navy was and still is in the Gulf for their protection, the Saudis have steadfastly refused to put any of their installations and bases at the disposal of the U.S. The cost to the U.S. taxpayer is a minimum of $200 million so far. Will the Saudis pick up any of that tab? Of course not! When the Iraqi fighter plane attacked the "Stark" and killed 36 American sailors, the U.S. urged the Saudis to pursue the Iraqi plane and to bring it down if necessary. What did the Saudis do? They flatly refused!

Saudi Arabia is not "moderate." It bankrolls Syria -- the Soviet Union's ally and client state — and is the paymaster of the terrorist PLO. Its arsenal is not destined to the defense of its territory against Iran, but for the next "jihad"— what they hope will be the final war of extermination against Israel. They are no friends of America or of the West. They do not cooperate with us in the defense of our strategic interests — they single-mindedly pursue their own agenda. As to the "oil weapon," they wield it ruthlessly to amass the riches of the world and to disrupt the economies of the West.

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Facts and Logic About the Middle East
P.O. Box 590359
San Francisco, CA 94159

Gerardo Joffe, President

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