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Offline Nate

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70 years ago
« on: February 18, 2015, 11:53:13 AM »
Feb. 14 marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the US alliance with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On Feb. 14, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with King Abdul-Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud in Egypt and the two forged a partnership that has endured despite occasional severe strains for the last 70 years. It faces a rocky future ahead.

PRESIDENT ROOSVELT and KING IBN SAUD

THE MEETING:  The meeting was a closely held secret for security reasons. Only a handful on each side knew it was coming. FDR and Ibn Saud met on the USS Quincy, a cruiser, in the Great Bitter Lake along the Suez Canal, as World War II was coming to an end. FDR arrived from the Yalta summit with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Roosevelt’s health was very poor; he had only weeks to live. Ibn Saud had come from Jeddah on an American destroyer, the USS Murphy, with an entourage of bodyguards, cooks, slaves, an astrologer, a fortune-teller and other retainers and some sheep. The king only reluctantly agreed to leave his wives behind in Jeddah. It was his first trip outside the Arabian Peninsula aside from a brief visit to Basra in Iraq.
COMMENT:  The meeting on the Quincy 70 years ago illustrated the fundamental problem. Saudi Arabia and the United States have few values in common.
-The kingdom is an absolute monarchy named after the ruling family;
-the United States is a vibrant democracy.
-Absent a bedrock of shared values, the alliance has always been defined primarily by shared threats and enemies.

OUTCOME OF THE MEETING:  The two agreed to work together to ensure stability in the post-war Middle East.
-The United States would ensure security for the kingdom, and
-the Saudis would ensure access to their oil fields. The United States acquired use of Dhahran air base for operations in the Middle East. US oil companies were already operating in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia declared war on Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan two weeks later, securing a seat in the United Nations.
COMMENT:  Ever since 9/11 the relationship has been more controversial than in the past.  Lingering questions about Saudi ties to al-Qaeda in the 1990s and early 2000s, concerns about how the Wahhabi puritanical faith provides a breeding ground for radical Islam and questions about human rights and gender equality have become much more frequent and stark in the last decade. Respected journals have raised doubts about the wisdom of the partnership. The Economist on Jan. 31 called it “an unholy pact” and said “the West’s relationship with the Al Sauds must change.” The article said that “Wahhabism is feeding anti-Western radicals.”
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: 70 years ago
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2015, 12:01:54 PM »
Ever heard of ARAMCO? it is the largest oil company in the world. That company formed shortly after the meeting between the Saudi king and the US. It stands for Arabian-America oil company

Follow the money...Always follow the money for in it lies the truth
« Last Edit: February 18, 2015, 12:03:12 PM by Flyin6 »
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: 70 years ago
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2015, 09:59:19 PM »
Kids today don't know how easy they have it. When I was young, I had to walk 9 feet through shag carpet to change the TV channel.

Joshua 6:20-24

Offline Flyin6

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Re: 70 years ago
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2015, 10:21:57 AM »
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