
No One Is Safe: How Saudi Arabia Makes Dissidents Disappear - johnny313
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/how-saudi-arabia-makes-dissidents-disappear
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Ididntdothis
The fact that the West is supporting Saudi Arabia pretty much destroys any
kind of credibility in the Middle East right away. I still remember how 15 of
the 9/11 attackers came from Saudi Arabia but somehow major efforts were
undertaken to pin it on Iraq.

At a minimum we should keep Saudi Arabia at a distance and stop selling
weapons to them. I know there are a we billion dollars profit in that but I
think the long term cost of this hypocrisy is enormous.

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RankingMember
I couldn't agree more. What they did to Khashoggi is just the tip of the
iceberg. I have to imagine the only reason we retain that relationship is
because we're afraid to lose face or admit we've made a mistake- that money is
a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.

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lostlogin
It seems more like self interest than any broader concern about saving face.
If government and private enterprise were actually separated then motives
would be clearer.

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Symmetry
Saudi Arabia's Freedom House[1] score is 7/100\. There are a few places that
do worse but the only ones you've probably heard of are North Korea and the
Sudans. Places that are significantly more free include Venezuela, Russia,
China, and Iran.

[1][https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-
world-...](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2018)

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Animats
US imports of Saudi oil are way down.[1] About a quarter of peak. Between
fracking, wind power, and solar, the US is in a very strong position with
regard to the OPEC countries. It's time to pull the plug on the Middle East
and let them sink back into the sand.

[1]
[https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=M...](https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUSSA2&f=M)

[2]
[https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37253](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37253)

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maskedinvader
I suspect its the European Allies that still depend on Saudi Oil that keep the
US still supporting the regime.

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Animats
So let _them_ suck up to the Saudis.

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Ididntdothis
I suspect that there is a substantial group of lobbyists and other politically
connected people that are paid a lot of money to influence US policy. The
Saudis seem to be pretty smart that way.

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Animats
That was more the Bushes, who were involved in the oil industry. Less so
today.

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MagnumOpus
Quote from the current US president about the Saudis: "They buy apartments
from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I
like them very much."

Another quote from the current US president about the Saudis: "I make a lot of
money from them. They buy all sorts of my stuff. All kinds of toys from Trump.
They pay me millions and hundreds of millions".

More so today.

