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The US – Saudi Relationship Starts To Fray
We taste the spices of Arabia, yet never feel the scorching sun which brings them forth.
-Inscribed around the rotunda of the Jefferson Reading Room in the US Library Congress, above the figure of Commerce
The long-overdue release of the classified 28 pages of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks represents the fullest public accounting of evidence that certain Saudi nationals potentially assisted some of the hijackers. Any evidence, however, that the Saudi government may have knowingly provided assistance at this point remains circumstantial and unproven, a perspective shared by a 2005 FBI-CIA memo, which was released the same day as the 28 pages. Former Senator Bob Graham, who was a member of the congressional inquiry, along with Terry Strada, the national chairwoman for 9/11 Families United for Justice Against Terrorism, have riposted that the matter of Saudi involvement is long from concluded and that more classified information needs to be issued.
While the 28 pages may provide little closure on how the largest terrorist attack on US soil transpired, its publication is yet another indication that the primacy of Saudi Arabia as irreproachable Middle East ally is in question. The declassification of the 28 pages comes on the heels of other developments that have undermined the carefully manicured image of Saudi Arabia as stalwart and stable ally, such as: the signing of a nuclear accord with Iran in 2015- raising the prospect of increased cooperation with the kingdom’s chief rival; the distribution of a cache of Saudi foreign cables discussing internal matters, which includes monitoring its citizens and attempts to combat critical voices in the media abroad; the unverified court testimony of Zacharias Moussaoui (the “20th hijacker”) detailing potential Saudi governmental involvement in 9/11; a war in Yemen that has caused thousands of civilian deaths and led to a humanitarian crisis, and international concern over the execution of 47 individuals on terrorism charges.
One consequence of these developments is the introduction of bipartisan legislation by members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee to curtail American arms support to Saudi Arabia for use in its Yemen campaign. In another case, the U.S. House of Representatives only narrowly passed a bill allowing the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, evidence that lawmakers are beginning to approach this issue with greater care. Further, the U.S. Senate recently passed a bill that would allow the Saudi Arabian government to be held legally liable for any potential role in the 9/11 attacks, though a last-minute loophole in the bill will likely diminish its impact. Ongoing concerns continue to be expressed over the country’s funding of extremist groups and mosques worldwide. Following the massacre at an Orlando nightclub last month, for example, Hillary Clinton declared that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are apathetic toward their citizens’ financial support of violent extremism- not the first time the presumptive Democratic nominee singled out Saudi Arabia on the campaign trail in such a manner.
Elsewhere relations with Saudi Arabia are undergoing a similar reappraisal. Last year Sweden decided not to renew a Saudi arms agreement maintained since 2005, largely from concern over the country’s human rights record. The United Kingdom withdrew a £5.9m bid for a prisons contract, after criticism of human rights abuses by both Tory and Labour officials. Belgium and the Netherlands have taken steps to end or limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia, while the EU passed a non-binding resolution for member countries to halt arm sales. The Canadian government proceeded with a controversial $15-billion arms deal (signed by the current government’s predecessor) only amidst a public outcry to annul it and a lawsuit arguing that the deal contravenes federal laws over prohibiting such sales to countries suspected of use against civilians or having a record of repeated human rights violations. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, even while taking responsibility for pushing through the arms deal, recognized the public concern by noting that the matter of selling arms to Saudi Arabia may be a question best left to the electorate.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Adel al Jubeir may be correct in noting that “the surprise in the 28 pages is that there is no surprise,” but he would be hard-pressed to exhibit a similar lack of concern about the increased public scrutiny and shifting perceptions of Saudi Arabia’s role in the world. The Saudis instead have responded to the above developments with direct actions, threatened reprisals, and a spirited public relations campaign. The Saudi ambassador to Sweden was briefly recalled. The U.S. has been threatened with the selling of $750 billion worth of Saudi investments in this country, over the Senate’s 9/11 legal liability bill. In response to the Canadian arms deal imbroglio, Saudi Arabia defended its judicial system as one that “calls for preserving and protecting human rights,” even though Freedom House ranks it worst in all categories of its freedom index. Current Saudi state officials and ambassadors and former advisors have increasingly sought forcefully to defend their country’s actions and image to the public, referencing Saudi Arabia’s key role in combating international terrorism in alliance with the United States and United Nations. They seek to justify Saudi Arabia’s “Operation Decisive Storm” in Yemen as an effort to restore “legitimate order” and “combat a militia influenced by Iran.” This public relations campaign has been abetted by other attempts to promote a counter-narrative to voices critical of Saudi Arabia, including the use of PR firms to charm American policy-makers and journalists and the attempted censoring of voices critical of the country’s human rights record. In March 2016, the Saudi American Public Relations Affairs Committee (SAPRAC) was established, the first US-based lobbying group with the expressed task of working toward strengthening US-Saudi ties and highlighting opportunities for investment. “Vision 2030,” the plan promoted as an effort to diversify and modernize the Saudi economy that includes the partial privatization of the state-owned oil company Aramco, may reasonably be seen as part of this charm offensive, as bankers worldwide eye a piece of the prize.
Answers about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11 may prove elusive and forever unknown. But more than ever, questions are being raised and subsequent actions are being taken in relation to Saudi Arabia, extending far beyond what’s contained in the 28 pages of fourteen years ago and portending a new realignment of the US and other western countries’ long-standing relationship with this Middle East power.
Kevin Schwartz via Counterpunch.org
11 Comments on "The US – Saudi Relationship Starts To Fray"
Mohammad on Sat, 23rd Jul 2016 6:53 pm
First of all I would like to introduce myself and I am Bangladeshi Citizen not Arab and Muslim followers of Mohammad sal-lal-lahu alaihey was salam but not followers of Wahabism ( Saudi Royal Family), Terror group of Islam or other so called group of Islam. By faith, I am Muslim and ny profession, I am a small business.
The day it happened (September 11) I made my personal comments to my friend circle that ” This is a Creation of Saudi Royal Family” and no other human being dare to execute such a smart and horror job which world never seen before except the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia no matter they can use Bin Laden etc but the game maker is Royal Family. It is such a matter which do not need any Investigation Report if you have common sense but your High Skilled Investigation Team (CIA+FBI) took long period to investigate and your powerful Government spend 14 years to tell your people that your Close Friend / Alley is responsible for that, it is another shameful story of the world which clearly indicates that they (your government) is also not honest, some how or any how they are also involved in any kinds of crime, otherwise why they Target Wrong Destination and destroy more people then Twine Tower of Afghanistan, Iraq etc when main guilty is Saudi Arabia. This stupid game create big trouble for whole world and we the poorest country (Bangladesh) is also suffering a worst consequence which we need to stop for the peace of Muslim, Christa, Others all otherwise this world will be a part of Hell.
Regards
Mohammad
Apneaman on Sat, 23rd Jul 2016 7:11 pm
Mohammad, if you’re in America be careful. Many mericans are not too bright or too fussy when it comes to terrorists. Just being brown is enough sometimes.
The Trouble With Wearing Turbans in America
A new campaign is promoting awareness about Sikhs, trying to distance the religious group from an association with “terrorism.” But is that good for American pluralism?
“What does a terrorist look like in the American imagination? For most, it’s probably not a white man, like Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, or Paul Ciancia, who opened fire in the Los Angeles International Airport in 2013, killing one TSA officer and injuring seven other agents and travelers. It’s probably not an environmental or animal-rights activist, whose attacks on property are often considered acts of terrorism by the FBI.
No. The stereotypical image is of a person with brown skin, maybe wearing clothing perceived as foreign: the suicide bomber in a burka; the long, concealing beard; and, perhaps most powerfully, the turban. These are the physical markers people often associate with Islam, which in turn is often associated with radicalism or extremism.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/01/the-trouble-with-wearing-turbans-in-america/384832/
Hindu Man Mistaken for Muslim Refused Service by JetBlue
http://gawker.com/hindu-man-mistaken-for-muslim-refused-service-by-jetblu-1188573629
Indian man mistaken as Muslim, beaten outside restaurant
http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/news/id_12603/Indian-man-mistaken-as-Muslim,-beaten-outside-restaurant.html
God bless merica for providing me with more material to work with than all the other countries in the world combined. I’d be lost with out y’all.
Anonymous on Sat, 23rd Jul 2016 8:16 pm
Mohammed, the uS Deep State, if you are familiar with the term, works hand-in-glove with the House of Saud in support of Amerikas War of Terror. Not to ‘fight’ it, or stop it, but to promote and spread ‘terrorism’ as far and wide as possible.
There was no evidence to support the story that someone called ‘Osama Bin Laden’ planned and carried out the so-called ‘9-11’ event, and there is even less to suggest the House of ‘saud’ acted independently to carry it out either. Did they facilitate that false flag attack? Likely they assisted in whatever capacity Mossad and their uS counterparts required of them.
Did they conceive and carry it out themselves? LoL, no…
Boat on Sat, 23rd Jul 2016 8:27 pm
anonymous,
I thought our own panel of racists had determined Jews to be in control of the deep state. Please direct all geopolitical questions to them.
GregT on Sat, 23rd Jul 2016 9:39 pm
Not your panel Boat, not racists, and the Jews have been in control of the deep state for at least hundreds of years.
Anonymous gets it, you do not, and you likely never will. You’re too fucking stupid.
joe on Sun, 24th Jul 2016 7:58 am
Keep it up America. Multiculturalism seems to be going down the toilet everywhere else in the world. India is starkly divided between hindu and muslims, then there is muslim v jew, then there is christian v muslims in europe (few, except muslims are aware of that one yet), global jihad is about to jump up and bite us all. The death cult of wahabbism which says armageddon is happening now will one day go nuclear. Its spread too far now to put the genie back. People done wanna hear Trump but if he was a French politican, he would be president tomorrow. Watch now as madness spreads like a virus. Isis or al qaeda whatever you call it, its all the same. Its modern Islam. Turkeys biggest enemy Gulen is a man who preaches that science and progress is true islam, f**k erdogan and his false flag coup bullshit, hes a muslim brotherhood member. Next on their list is the Christians of Egypt, there are no christians left in Turkey, Iraq, few in syria, lebanon. All the muslim posters on earth wont change the fact that the core belief of Islam is to destroy all other religions either by breeding, conversion or war, and jihad is expressed on all these fronts simply by applying the rules laid out in the koran, and western politicans are scared of looking bad by saying negative things but war is coming to them whether they like it or not. Jihad is one of the pillars of Islam. Thats why isis talks of knives and blunt weapons, because its in the koran that in the battle of amargeddon there wont be any technology. Western media is lying to the western people because they know they wont win unless the act like the nazis did and they would rather lose than do that. But tell that to your kids who will have to live with the consequences. People are starting to learn finally what some people have been warning about for decades, that immigration will not lead to integration.
Sissyfuss on Sun, 24th Jul 2016 9:39 am
Joe, you paint such a ominous and foreboding picture of the future for mankind. Well done!
Sissyfuss on Sun, 24th Jul 2016 9:47 am
Mohammad, why doesn’t your holy book teach that breeding like fleas in Bangladesh will eventually destroy all that sustains you? Perhaps the picture less one when producing it via epileptic
seizures in a cave expurgated that part along with the Satanic Verses. It would have been hard to stay on message with a nine year old wife.
malahmadi on Sun, 24th Jul 2016 11:29 am
I hope that the world did not forget how they described ISIS when it made its first victory in IRAQ.
The world described ISIS as group with Al-Qaeda fighting spirit and Hezob-allah planning and administration capability.
Al-Qaeda historically is very poor planner and only with help of Iran they could had successful attacks.
Even for 9/11 case, just think where the hijackers got their training on large aircrafts and link that to the hijackers (to take pilots role) visit to Iran early 2001 as revealed by German intelligence.
As for ISIS everyone knows that their creation was in Syria in 2003 by Syrian and Iranian intelligence to fight the US forces in Iraq in order to prevent potential US attack on Syria. ISIS was very aggressive in trying to hire young Saudis because that will remove the suspicion of Iranian involvement.
The ISIS growth story is well known but it would not be succeeded without a major backing in every aspect including new media utilization techniques, psychologists and sociologists beside intelligence and finance.
The western intelligence probably aware of the above but due to the nuclear deal with Iran they are having other calculations.
Rick Bronson on Sun, 24th Jul 2016 3:45 pm
Well written Mohammed.
Yes everyone knows that it was the handwork of Saudis when 15 of the 19 hijackers and the mastermind(Osama BL) was a Saudi.
But Saudi’s would have threatened the fragile US economy with oil price increase which should have made any US leader nervous.
Even after 15 years of 9/11, USA could not categorically show that Saudi’s are the real culprits as Saudis still control the Oil market.
Hope we should be able to do something in 2030 at least.
George Haider on Sun, 24th Jul 2016 3:53 pm
There is no division between Hindus and Muslims in India.
In fact, there are 3 national holidays for Christian festivals, 3 national holidays for Muslim festivals in India.
All religious organizations are operating with full freedom.
This site has missed out Jan-1 New Year which is a Christian religious festival.
http://duac.org/site_content/attachments/Central%20Government-holidays%20english%202016.pdf