NEWS: House Votes to Block Aid to Saudi Arabia

The House voted 217-191 to remove provisions in a foreign aid bill granting millions of dollars of discounts in military and security equipment and training to Saudi Arabia - against the administrations wishes - on Thursday.

I agree. The House of Saud is on shaky ground. The fact that most of the 911 hijackers wer Saudi's seems to have lost its appeal amongst the mainstream but really should be brought up more. An unhappy people coupled to the Royal families excesses, coupled with Whabbism, has the making of another Iran circa 1979....

The question is do we pull our support and allow the current regime to collapse?



[edit on 16-7-2004 by FredT]

tough question. ideally, we should learn from our mistakes, but the thing with saudi arabia is that to the best of my knowledge there is no viable, popular middle ground we could could support (ie, a mossadegh).

i could be wrong about this though, if anyone knows more about saudi politics and the current domestic players there i'd love to know more.

it seems that we've made our bed with the house of saud some time ago, and now we have to sleep in it, despite the consequences.

-koji K.

Originally posted by koji_K
it seems that we've made our bed with the house of saud some time ago, and now we have to sleep in it, despite the consequences.

Kind of Funny Koji, we were just talking about Operation Ajax and the CIA coup that brought in the Shaw. We made our bed with him as well. That lesson did not seem to take The similarities are errie

What the heck is up with "Bush, saying that this "No Vote" had hurt the the counterterrorism cooperation between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Bush needs to take off his sun-shades. What I had seen/heard so far, the Saudis haven't done much of crap,...... Americans and others from different Countries have been murdered by those butchering heathens/terrorist , right under Saudi Arabia's leaders/prince's nose.

Bush,....rrrrrrrrrrrrr, when you think the man has done all that he can to p_ss-off people, he does/says something else stupid just to p_ss a person off even more .

GOD, please help us get rid of this Idiot-acting-as-President of the United States, before he completely destroys American !!!!!!!!!!!

US may stop supplying Saudi with aid, but you bet they will find another country that very happily will sell them all the equipment they need and all the ammo too.:shk:

Originally posted by marg6043
US may stop supplying Saudi with aid, but you bet they will find another country that very happily will sell them all the equipment they need and all the ammo too.:shk:

Without US suport, the house of Saud will fall. Then what happens? We may be looking at a version og Saudi Storm, or GWIII

US is still supplying them with other aids, remember we need their oil, so US still have to keep them happy.

As if they don't have enough money already, those poor, starving Saudis. This is another airing of this elusive American wit, surely! Another attempt to look like they are doing somethin, this time to look like thay are responding to Farenheit/911.

Or am i wrong?

[edit on 16/7/2004 by Corinthas]

I think congress is just sending a message to Saudi Arabia with this vote, look at the dollars were talking here $25,000 is really nothing in today's world, it really means nada in the overall scheme of things.

Before Congress starts shutting off the big money they need to do what is right and pass an energy bill that weans the US off of middle east oil dependency. To hit the Saudi's hard right now would have serious effects on the supply of oil hence we would be paying out the whazzoo for gas, $2.00- $3.00 a gallon I can handle, but we're talking $5.00-$7.00 gal and this is a lowball figure.

Once we can produce our own oil or a viable alternative we won't be hamstrung by the middle east oil companies.

In addition, this oil problem affects thousands of jobs in the US from gas stations, to public & private transport, auto workers, airlines etc. The effects could be astronomical.

I think we need to ditch the House of Saud but first our representatives in congress need to get our House in order first.

Corinthas, you are right they don't need aid, but US is dependant on their oil, when the south american markets starts to hold their crude, guess who is there to ease the needs for crude in US? Saudi Arabia.

Originally posted by Corinthas
As if they don't have enough money already, those poor, starving Saudis. Next read the report: 25'000 removed from 19.4 BILLION, is peanuts!! This is another airing of this elusive American wit, surely! Another attempt to look like they are doing somethin, this time to look like thay are responding to Farenheit/911.

Or am i wrong?

I think there's more to it than just the $25,000. The cut also includes millions in discounts, making the saudis pay full price for their police gear. However, I think this doesn't really do much except let the Saudi's know that their friend Bush doesn't have the full support of the House. Like Marg6043 said, the Saudi's can certainly afford to buy their stuff elsewhere. In truth, the House could have voted to cut every cent given to Saudi Arabia, and it wouldn't have made too much of a difference, since most of our aid to that country is made through the private commercial sector. THAT's the stuff they really depend on- the training and the hardware itself, not cash handouts from us. and of course the security our military bases in saudi provide.

I say sanctions or even an embargo. It'll never happen, but I'd love to see the looks on the royal family's faces if we did it.

-koji K.

[edit on 16-7-2004 by koji_K]

[edit on 16-7-2004 by koji_K]

It was the second Wednesday of September 2001. Terrorist attacks had grounded all commercial and private aviation throughout the entire United States for the first time in history. Former vice-president Al Gore was stranded in Austria because his flight to the United States was cancelled. Former president Bill Clinton was stuck in Australia. Major League Baseball games were postponed. American skies were nearly as empty as they had been when the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk. America was paralysed by terror, and for 48 hours, virtually no one could fly.

No one, that is, except for the Saudis. [In Washington] Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, was orchestrating the exodus of more than 140 Saudis scattered throughout the country. They included members of two families: One was the royal House of Saud, the family that ruled the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and which, thanks to the country's vast oil reserves, was without question the richest family in the world. The other family was the Sauds' close friends and allies, the Bin Ladens, who in addition to owning a multibillion-dollar construction conglomerate had spawned the notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden.
news.independent.co.uk...

Its no surprise that the bush administration would not want assistance to the house of saud blocked. They have been good buddies for years and they are still good buddies.
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