This should frighten you...

[mapsedge]

The Saudi's are not friends of the US, or, I believe, any other country for that matter.

Today I saw this news story:  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,367208,00.html.  The gist is that Saudi Arabia is planning to up oil production by 200,000 barrels a day in order to ease strain on the price of oil.

Two lines in the article stood out to me.

Saudi Arabia is concerned that sustained high oil prices will eventually slacken the world's appetite for oil, affecting the kingdom in the long run.

Well, no shit.  I've been waiting for that one: "Hmm...if our product becomes too expensive, countries will start looking for other sources of energy.  I KNOW!!! Let's reduce production and drive the prices even higher!"

The real scary bit is this:

"The king believes that the current oil prices are abnormally high, and he is ready to restore prices to their appropriate levels," SPA quoted Ban as telling reporters in Jiddah. [Emphasis mine]

The degree of arrogance and the power that fosters it is astonishing.  Never, ever forget that there is no country in the Middle East that loves the United States and wants to see us prosper.  We are only "friends" as long as we continue to pay.

Comments

[iarraidh.livejournal.com]

I know it's a bit radical, but since the area has been nothing but a source of inter-tribal warfare for thousands of years, and the future holds nothing more than that for its future...

I once thought the best thing to do for world peace is nuke the whole area then use diamond-tipped drills to get through the glass.

Like I said - a tad too extreeme for most people :)

[ladyniniane.livejournal.com]

I suppose that it should please me that someone else read between the lines.

And yes, it worries me a bit; I have had the feeling for some time that the modern form of the Apocalypse will most likely involve war over the Middle East oil reserves and the nations that control them.

[aerie13.livejournal.com]

I used to be really into reading about Armageddon and the creepy thing is that the Plain of Megiddo is a favorite for the location.

[the-themiscyran.livejournal.com]

They did this before. At the end of the 1970s oil crisis that no one who has purchased an SUV since then seems to remember. And for exactly the same reason - so that we would keep buying their oil instead of seeking alternatives. They trade on the fact that we're a nation of sheep, easily herded to the easiest answer. I include our current administration - the ones who count the Saudis as "good friends" and hold considerable interest in oil - in the "they".

aww, now...

[themadblonde]

SURELY we can consider them friends? After all, they run our ports, right? (& WHO thought that was a good idea?)