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Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands keeps oil in the family

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Foreign Affairs
Posted on Mon Aug 01, 2005 at 01:32:52 AM EST
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post by Last Night in Little Rock

Saudi Arabia's King Fahd died during the night, U.S. time.

CNN notes that his "close ties with the United States stirred the passions of Islamic militants"; like the 9/11 hijackers.

Did cuddling up to Crown Prince Abdullah, holding hands, no less, only inflame Islamic militants even more? What clearer message to the world that the U.S. depends on Saudi oil? As Ross Perot would say, "that sucking sound is your cash going overseas to pay for oil which effects the price of everything in the world."

Don't trust the U.S. media for accurate news about his death and the political and socioeconomic fallout, which there inevitably will be. By far the best obit is on BBCNews. Al Jazeera reminds us Faud's allegiance to the U.S. Dollar brought "a violent al-Qaida campaign to end seven decades of the royal family's rule in Saudi Arabia, home to two of Islam's holiest places of worship."

And the war to "protect" Iraq's oil and Halliburton ability to protect it and extract it has cost 1795 American lives.

< NYT: Pentagon Tried to 'Fix' Military Tribunals | President Makes John Bolton Recess Appointment >

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    • Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands keeps oil in the family | 17 comments (17 topical)
    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#1)
    by swingvote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:48 PM EST
    I'm no fan of the Saudis, but the premise here is weak to say the least. The U.S. imports a lower percentage of its oil from the middle east than does Europe. Why then is not Europe the main target of islamist propaganda and hate? It isn't oil, but our open support for an autocratic, dictatorial regime that persecutes its own people that is the problem, and the Saudis practice of exporting terrorism is our punishment.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#2)
    by desertswine on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:48 PM EST
    Well, my condolences to George Bush and the rest of the Bush family.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#3)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:48 PM EST
    Oh good news that old terrorists is dead at last, Now if bush would only go away, that would be great news. I would like to say more but i don't want the cops to come and shot me down like at waco, becuase I have a 21 year old cat that wants to live-a-little-longer, and bush is all about money/power/evil, and he is owned by the big boys of this business world and would do anything to make you into a real slave of his non ideas. but let's all face facts this is a non nation that is hold by the oligarchies and the boys have order outsourcing and pension removal and bush will do what he is order to do. If God is real I know where bush is going.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:48 PM EST
    Speaking of international relations, President Bush as expected made a recess appointment of John Bolton to the post of UN ambassador for the United States. This, despite Bolton's inability to get Senate approval, his lie regarding his testimony in the Plame affair, and the possibility of his own involvement in a White House orchestrated smear campaign against the Wilsons. Bush's move, though, may be less about his famed loyalty or legendary intransigence, and more a diversion designed to distract attention from his scandal-plagued White House. Call it chaos theory or simply a smoke-screen. By whatever name, the President is banking we'll be discussing John Bolton and not Karl Rove. And there's nothing we can do about, not at least, til the mid-term elections of 2006. For the full story, see: "Chaos Theory: Bush & the Bolton Diversion"

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#5)
    by Wile ECoyote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:48 PM EST
    TL: I gotta ask. Do you think the Islamic Militants are more cheesed off that two guys are holding hands or that the people are Bush and Abdullah? Do you favor opening Anwar for drilling to lessen our dependence on ME oil? Justpaul is correct in that Europe and Japan imports a much greater percentage of ME oil than we do.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#6)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:48 PM EST
    Wile, Get another cup. Anwar will not be drilled for us, but to sell to Asia at reduced prices while we continue to get "drilled" at the pumps. The mainland US will never see a drop of oil from Anwar. And it won't even produce til 2015 anyway.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    Actually whats amazing is that all Middle Eastern Oil could be phased out easily with already availible technology for cars, and a combination of raising CAFE standards. Moreover, the amount PER DAY of what ANWR can produce is not enough to actually affect the price of crude or render us free of foreign crude. The simple fact is, short of finding a Saudi size field (like Gwahar) which has over a 100 billion barrels or something like that, oil prices aren't going to change that much. Facts tend to be inconvenient like that.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#8)
    by Wile ECoyote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    Che: If it will not produce until 2015, why not get started now? Sitting around wringing out hands will not help out.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#9)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    What happenned to Alaska? Doesnt it have a lot of oil? Why dont we drill there? There's nobody there to harm, upset, or anoy. I mean come on, it's Alaska (tongue-in-cheek).

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#10)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    Che - I think the way it works is that if we provide a barrel of oil to Japan at X dollars we are provided a barrel from another source for the same price. I.e. They buy a barrel of oil for us from, say Mexico. Reduces shipping distance, etc. TheGreat.... writes
    Actually whats amazing is that all Middle Eastern Oil could be phased out easily with already availible technology for cars, and a combination of raising CAFE standards.
    Uh, you can raise CAFE standards all you want, but you must first have that technology you are speaking of. So far the technology isn't there. The current hybrids are an improvement, but they are small and underpowered, and are not acceptable in the US market for the majority of drivers. If you want to reduce foreign oil dependence, start back to using coal for electric generation, make nuclear power plants a priority, and increase the emphasis on wind and solar power. And, more domestic drilling. That includes the Gulf, California coast and Anwar. BTW – we don’t know how much oil is in Anwar. Historically reserves have been drastically underestimated. You can replace your current incandescent light bulbs with florescence bulbs. They cut consumption drastically. E.g. A 60 watt bulb is replaced with a 13 watt, but gives the same amount of light. There is no single simple solution. On another front, Scrappleface provides a novel theor on extensiion of existing known reserves.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#11)
    by soccerdad on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    The current hybrids are an improvement, but they are small and underpowered, and are not acceptable in the US market for the majority of drivers.
    God forbid the US changes any of its wasteful habits. They will when gas hits 4/gallon. Most evidence points to "peak oil" as either already here or here in the next couple of years. Production in the North Sea is trending down as is the production in SA. There are few major reserves coming online. With demand in Asia skyrocketing supply and demand will collide resulting in much higher prices. Further denial about this and more energy bills like the one just passed which does not address these issues in a real way will just make the consequences worse. Imperialism is not a good energy policy

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#12)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    I think that we are in for some exciting times, a bit too exciting for me though. With the new Iranian Pres and their alignment w/Iraq (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GH02Ak01.html), and now the very unstable Saudi Government whose young grandprinces are less fond of American policy (Bush) then me, which is saying a lot, we are sure to have some fireworks. Since we have Bolton to represent us, just in case there are a few who have not yet been alienated by our puffery, WW111 swwms around the corner. For more info on the Saudi's here are a few links: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1122863986822 Pre death, although he was on his deathbed: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GG29Ak02.html And this frightening piece: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GG07Df05.html

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#13)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    I just figured out how to link (by reading the instructions). here are the links to the above post: linked text linked text linked text

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#14)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:49 PM EST
    oops! here is the first link: new Iranian Pres

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#15)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:50 PM EST
    et al - Just picked this up on the news... A judge in Italy is holding out on returning the terrorist to England that is wanted in conjunction with the bombings. Yep. The criminal justice approach works so fine. Maybe we can send 13 CIA agents and bring him out. In the meantime the Moslem population of southern Europe continues to increase. I wonder what the Moderate Moslems of Italy are saying this morning?

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#16)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:50 PM EST
    Sorry - The above should have been on the open link. TL - Please remove.

    Re: Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands kee (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:51 PM EST
    Uh, you can raise CAFE standards all you want, but you must first have that technology you are speaking of. So far the technology isn't there. The current hybrids are an improvement, but they are small and underpowered, and are not acceptable in the US market for the majority of drivers.
    Actually it is there. Most if not all of the same technologies that can be used for fuel efficiency can be ARE being used to increase power in cars. The car companies have simply made the choice to increase power at the expense of gas mileage. That's why european models of the same cars get far better gas mileage. So check your facts before you say it "doesn't exist" (unless of course, Europe is some sort of fairyland which no serious person takes credibly).
    If you want to reduce foreign oil dependence, start back to using coal for electric generation, make nuclear power plants a priority, and increase the emphasis on wind and solar power. And, more domestic drilling. That includes the Gulf, California coast and Anwar. BTW – we don’t know how much oil is in Anwar. Historically reserves have been drastically underestimated.
    Actually coal IS used for a good chunk of energy generation. Let's check the facts over at the EIA's website, at their Annual Coal Report 2003. We consume 1,094.7 million short tons of coal, of which 92% is used for electricity generation. Sounds to me like coal is being used. In fact, coal makes up 2 million thousand MwH of electricity generation, from nearly 4 million thousand MwH of electricity generated period. That's HALF of all electricity. If thats not using it, I don't know what it is. Historically, reserves have been drastically OVERSTATED. Why is this? Because no energy company wants to list on its books the fact that the field its going after may or may not be piddly nothing. At max ANWR may contain 16.8 billion barrels of oil. There are no elephant fields left, on the 250 something billion barrels like Gwahar and Iran's fields. They geologically CAN'T exist. Why? Because fields take up space, and to miss a field of that size is impossible considering how potmarked the earth has been from energy exploration. Again, facts tend to be inconvenient like that.

    Saudi King Fahd died; Bush's holding hands keeps oil in the family | 17 comments (17 topical)