US to pull out of Saudi

[newswatcher]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2984547.stm

[L J R]

A look at AL Udeid on Globalsecurity.org is worth a peek.

Interesting military base being built there.

One suspects that the 5K people from Saudi will go there instead, as per the newspaper story.

Not sure that US and UK have 'stopped' flying in the Gulf for the short term at least. I seem to recall US Defence sec stating that they will continue to 'patrol'. He did not elaborate on exactly what they will do however.

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[Fox3snapshot]

The boys are still flying....lots! Overshadowed by the Iraq conflict, Afghanistan is not finished yet and the big boys are still throwing iron around there on an hourly basis.....actually you can almost set your watch by it! Those swinging Bones are still hard at work.......



:cool:

[saudipc-9]

This has been on the cards for quite some time. The Saudi's only keep a tenuous crasp of control on this country. The royal family wants the US here but the average knucklehead in the street does not.
It quite amazing the attitudes of the locals and to see how absolutley back stabbing and two faced they are. Well the next few years should be very interesting for the KSA. I wouldn't at all be surprized to be sitting at home looking on the telly and seeing Riyadh looking like Beruit did a few years ago.

[rivetjoint]

America said they didn't feel it was a safe place for their troops to be anymore because of threats from terrorism etc. How must this make the BAe employees down there feel right now?

[BlueWolf]

saudipc-9, well said. You couldn't be more right. The Saudis are going to get what's long overdue coming to them, and to hell with them. For decades we've been sold the line that they were friendly towards the West; now the truth is going to come out.

I think 15 out of 19 hijackers on 9/11 being Saudi nationals says it all, especially to the great unwashed who haven't already known it for years.

[solotk]

This should have happened long ago. My only concern, would be for the safety of Ex-patriates living in country. I have 2 Uncles who have worked in KSA for BAe at different times.

The sooner the Kingdom of Hypocrisy goes to hell in a handbasket, the better. Sorry, but I still seethe, when we go into Iraq on the most flimsy of reasons, when the US administration tries to link 9/11 with Iraq, when most of the hijackers and murderers and funding was from Saudi.

The Saudi regime, indirectly supports and proliferates terrorism, and it's time it went, 2 faced backstabbing bastards.

[soddim]

I'm not at all sure that the Saudi support for terrorism is indirect. The fact that the religious wallers preach their squalid and hateful prejudices several times a day with impunity has the inevitable result of brainwashing the masses (if they have brains to wash). The net result is that Islam has been turned into the fastest growing source of hatred in the World.

Our leaders in the West and people like Prince Charles should wake up to the threat of Islam - a good religion that has been hijacked.

We should also stop pandering to the Saudis and find a way to drive the oil prices to the bottom of the barrel. I would like to see how their attitude to us would change when they realised that they could no longer live well off oil but had to go out to work instead. Maybe in the real world they would learn to behave and the importance of religious tolerance.

BAE and other defence companies should get out of Saudi now and we should stop all arms exports.

[saudipc-9]

BAE will stay until the bitter end I think. They make too much money here not to stay. However, there are many of us who don't have to read tea leaves to realize that "the end is near".
It's a pitty really because living here was very pleasant once you got used to a few things. Now you spend alot of time looking over your shoulder at the traffic lights and wondering who has a rifle/handgun. Time to go!!

[Tigs2]

Do you think the writing is on the wall now for the US to pull out of Germany and move to Poland? Ouch! That would hurt the local German economy.

[soddim]

I thought the US had already announced a scaling down of forces in Germany - intending to use the bases as "lily pads" I believe. Hope they don't get wet feet.

[Captain Sand Dune]

My pet theory is much the same. The US blames Saudi Arabia for 9/11, and this is how they will exact their revenge. Invade Iraq, secure their huge oil reserves and cut all links with Saudi Arabia and watch it all turn to ka-ka without a shot being fired.
However where once I thought that things in Saudi Arabia would go bad gradually, I now think that when it happens it will happen very quickly. Wouldn't want to be a white boy in Riyadh when it happens. Take care people! (expat people that is!:cool: )

[SASless]

We do invasions nicely......have to leave in order to return you know. Come to think of it....we left France in the 60's ! We could road march the troops and equipment to the eastern Med via Syria.....land in the south of France.....and road march to Germany.....and wind up at our new bases in Poland.

[soddim]

Might be the only way forward for the magic kingdom. They could, of course, have a civil war but who would get the contract?

[Ignition Override]

Solotk: I can understand your and others' frustrations. But when a nation has a place like Mecca, which is the center of a religion, with probably numerous other things in Saudi Arabia which are "looked up to", besides oil, there does not seem to be any realistic solution.

A bit of irony here- don't about 15% of US petroleum imports come from Venezuela?

And isn't Nigeria the number six petroleum exporter, when things are "running" there?

And how much more oil might be shipped from Iraq (I guess that Siberian oil is too far from any ports)? Maybe much more form there might help bring the barrel price down, whether Lagos and Caracas have stable govts or not? :suspect:

[saudipc-9]

Yes Mecca is the birth place of Islam. A religion that "apparently" deplores the killing of the innocent.
Well I guess these Saudi's forgot to read that part of the Koran !

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=25991

When are these people going to get their country and religion back from the nutcases?
It really is a shame because some of the locals I work with are very nice people , but they do come out with some rubbish that you cannot believe they would actually say in public.:hmm:

[Fox3snapshot]

Unfortunately Islam did not start in Saudi Arabia by any means, in fact the prophet that kicked of the whole program started down in Yemen, moved up to Saudi and then was booted, and most of his translations were made in Iran. The last "briefing" he gave was in Madinah, hence the historical value of that area, Jeddah was another dune that he managed to throw out a few ideas to the masses.

This is where the complications are, and especially with Iraq as the Sunni verses the Shiite comes back to the Saudi verses Iran Prophet thing, and hence Iran's distinct interest in the area.
As an aside Saudi aircraft do not fly through Iran, in fact they make a major detour to ensure this is the case, why you ask, they are all "brothers"....well no they are not and this is why we are at where we are now. The long and the short of it, it is a total shambles and Joe or Jill Punter will never understand....even the Koran will not give you the answers, perhaps the Financial Times will......

:suspect:

Sorry need to qualify the birthplace of Islam, yes arguably (and the Iranians will) Saudi was where the headlines were printed, however, Yemen and Iran are big players too and this article should also help shed some light on things...

The Spread of Islam


From the oasis cities of Makkah and Madinah in the Arabian desert, the message of Islam went forth with electrifying speed. Within half a century of the Prophet's death, Islam had spread to three continents. Islam is not, as some imagine in the West, a religion of the sword nor did it spread primarily by means of war. It was only within Arabia, where a crude form of idolatry was rampant, that Islam was propagated by warring against those tribes which did not accept the message of God--whereas Christians and Jews were not forced to convert. Outside of Arabia also the vast lands conquered by the Arab armies in a short period became Muslim not by force of the sword but by the appeal of the new religion. It was faith in One God and emphasis upon His Mercy that brought vast numbers of people into the fold of Islam. The new religion did not coerce people to convert. Many continued to remain Jews and Christians and to this day important communities of the followers of these faiths are found in Muslim lands.

Moreover, the spread of Islam was not limited to its miraculous early expansion outside of Arabia. During later centuries the Turks embraced Islam peacefully as did a large number of the people of the Indian subcontinent and the Malay-speaking world. In Africa also, Islam has spread during the past two centuries even under the mighty power of European colonial rulers. Today Islam continues to grow not only in Africa but also in Europe and America where Muslims now comprise a notable minority.

[mutt]

Fox3snapshot

As an aside Saudi aircraft do not fly through Iran, in fact they make a major detour to ensure this is the case

Not presently true..... sorry....



Mutt.

[Ignition Override]

Very interesting and enlightening-thanks. But I still wonder about the ancient reports that the Moors reached Tours, France, where Charles Martel/the Hammer, beat them (in 732?). Were the Moors therefore a warrior culture, different than most of the other Arab cultures ?

On the subject of petroleum, how much of Europe's comes from Saudi, and what % of the US imports are from there?

As for Iraq, if they had the equipment and trained personnel, could they theoretically double the exports compared to a year ago etc? How would this affect the wholesale price per barrel, and possibly affect Jet A prices here in "the Colonies"?

I just want to get all of the furloughed employees back, and soon.:ugh:

[Fox3snapshot]

I can assure you in the 6 years on the turf I am working, no Saudi registered aircraft is transitting/has transitted the Iranian airpspace adjacent to at least 3 major FIR's and take an alternate route through the OOMM FIR and the Karachi FIR to the North, they are not the only country to do so. Unless on a dip task or similar they take the long way home......If you go to the Saudi Arabian Airlines web site you will not find any Iranian destinations.

:cool: