A big problem emerging in the Middle East was met with an almost comic American response.
The Daily Mail reports the Saudis plan to cut back on diplomatic relations with the U.S. as Saudi Arabia is concerned about signs of a nascent reconciliation between Washington and Tehran, their religious enemy.
Saudi Arabia's current intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan is vowing that the kingdom will make a 'major shift' in relations with the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria's civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday. Trouble has been brewing since the U.S. had failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain when it crushed an anti-government revolt in 2011.
'Prince Bandar told diplomats that he plans to limit interaction with the U.S.,' the source said.
Saudi Arabia signaled its displeasure over Obama's foreign policy last week when it rejected a coveted two-year term on the U.N. Security Council in a display of anger over the failure of the international community to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues. Their disrespect for the U.N. aside, the Security Chair is a plum.
In Washington another senior Saudi prince --and the former intelligence chief--criticized Obama's Middle East policies, accusing him of 'dithering' on Syria and Israeli-Palestinian peace.
"The current charade of international control over Bashar's chemical arsenal would be funny if it were not so blatantly perfidious. And designed not only to give Mr. Obama an opportunity to back down (from military strikes), but also to help Assad to butcher his people," said Prince Turki, a member of the Saudi royal family and former director of Saudi intelligence.
The Mail's "source" said the changes in relations between the two countries would include "arms purchases and oil sales." Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, invests much of its earnings back into U.S. assets. Most of the Saudi central bank's net foreign assets of $690 billion are thought to be denominated in dollars, much of them in U.S. Treasury bonds.
This difficulty involving complex Sunni-Shi'ite conflicts, oil, international commerce (remember the oil embargo of the '70s?) in the Middle East hotbed was met with a typical American laser response: Representative Chris Van Hollen, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives' Democratic leadership and a man close to Obama on domestic issues, told Reuters, "And the Saudis should start by stopping their funding of the al Qaeda-related groups in Syria. In addition to the fact that it's a country that doesn't allow women to drive."
Doesn't allow women to drive?
The Daily Mail reports the Saudis plan to cut back on diplomatic relations with the U.S. as Saudi Arabia is concerned about signs of a nascent reconciliation between Washington and Tehran, their religious enemy.
Saudi Arabia's current intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan is vowing that the kingdom will make a 'major shift' in relations with the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria's civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday. Trouble has been brewing since the U.S. had failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain when it crushed an anti-government revolt in 2011.
'Prince Bandar told diplomats that he plans to limit interaction with the U.S.,' the source said.
Saudi Arabia signaled its displeasure over Obama's foreign policy last week when it rejected a coveted two-year term on the U.N. Security Council in a display of anger over the failure of the international community to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues. Their disrespect for the U.N. aside, the Security Chair is a plum.
In Washington another senior Saudi prince --and the former intelligence chief--criticized Obama's Middle East policies, accusing him of 'dithering' on Syria and Israeli-Palestinian peace.
"The current charade of international control over Bashar's chemical arsenal would be funny if it were not so blatantly perfidious. And designed not only to give Mr. Obama an opportunity to back down (from military strikes), but also to help Assad to butcher his people," said Prince Turki, a member of the Saudi royal family and former director of Saudi intelligence.
The Mail's "source" said the changes in relations between the two countries would include "arms purchases and oil sales." Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, invests much of its earnings back into U.S. assets. Most of the Saudi central bank's net foreign assets of $690 billion are thought to be denominated in dollars, much of them in U.S. Treasury bonds.
This difficulty involving complex Sunni-Shi'ite conflicts, oil, international commerce (remember the oil embargo of the '70s?) in the Middle East hotbed was met with a typical American laser response: Representative Chris Van Hollen, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives' Democratic leadership and a man close to Obama on domestic issues, told Reuters, "And the Saudis should start by stopping their funding of the al Qaeda-related groups in Syria. In addition to the fact that it's a country that doesn't allow women to drive."
Doesn't allow women to drive?
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