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Now Obama Has Fucked Up U.S. Relations With Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia severs diplomatic ties with US over response to conflict in Syria?

UPDATED AT BOTTOM OF POST

The article does not actually say diplomatic relations are severed, but indicates that is the direction the Royal Family is taking.

Part of me says, "Who gives a shit?"

However, taking into consideration the chart below which shows that Obama allows no permits for oil or gas drilling, this new move to destroy a relationship with an important ally, and source of oil, looks almost purposeful, doesn't it?

From the Daily Mail:

In unusually blunt public remarks, Prince Turki al-Faisal called Obama's policies in Syria 'lamentable' and ridiculed a U.S.-Russian deal to eliminate Assad's chemical weapons. He suggested it was a ruse to let Obama avoid military action in Syria.

'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 United States and Saudi Arabia have been allies since the kingdom was declared in 1932, giving Riyadh a powerful military protector and Washington secure oil supplies. The Saudi criticism came days after the 40th anniversary of the October 1973 Arab oil embargo imposed to punish the West for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur war.

That was one of the low points in U.S.-Saudi ties, which were also badly shaken by the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

Saudi Arabia gave a clear sign of 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.

Prince Turki indicated that Saudi Arabia will not reverse that decision, which he said was a result of the Security Council's failure to stop Assad and implement its own decision on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

There is nothing whimsical about the decision to forego membership of the Security Council. It is based on the ineffectual experience of that body,' he said in a speech to the Washington-based National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

In London, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he discussed Riyadh's concerns when he met Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal in Paris on Monday. Kerry said he told the Saudi minister no deal with Iran was better than a bad deal.

'I have great confidence that the United States and Saudi Arabia will continue to be the close and important friends and allies that we have been,' Kerry told reporters. Prince Bandar is seen as a foreign policy hawk, especially on Iran.

The Sunni Muslim kingdom's rivalry with Shi'ite Iran, an ally of Syria, has amplified sectarian tensions across the Middle East. A son of the late defense minister and crown prince, Prince Sultan, and a protégé of the late King Fahd, he fell from favor with King Abdullah after clashing on foreign policy in 2005. But he was called in from the cold last year with a mandate to bring down Assad, diplomats in the Gulf say.

Over the past year, he has led Saudi efforts to bring arms and other aid to Syrian rebels. 'Prince Bandar told diplomats that he plans to limit interaction with the U.S.,' the source close to Saudi policy said. This happens after the U.S. failed to take any effective action on Syria and Palestine.

Relations with the U.S. have been deteriorating for a while, as Saudi feels that the U.S. is growing closer with Iran and the U.S. also failed to support Saudi during the Bahrain uprising," the source said.

The source declined to provide more details of Bandar's talks with the diplomats, which took place in the past few days. But he suggested that the planned change in ties between the energy superpower and the United States would have wide-ranging consequences, including on arms purchases and oil sales.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, ploughs 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.

'All options are on the table now, and for sure there will be some impact,' the Saudi source said.

UPDATE - From Nico:

My take on this when I read the news was that, seeing the recent reports about Saudis getting their panties in a twist about fracking, Saudis are looking for a blackmailing style situation where they throw a tantrum over something they don't really care about (Syria) so the US would come, with their tail between their legs, to want to negotiate with Saudi Arabia.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if negotiations didn't ended up with "more guaranteed oil imports from Saudi Arabia and more weaponry delivered to Saudi Arabia". On top of that, I also wouldn't be surprised if more pressure was put on oil companies to stop fracking.

I find it curious that all of this is aligned with the 40th anniversary of the 1973 blackmail pulled by OPEC. Back then they had power and sway because of their oil reserves, now they don't. Talal thought so clearly in his letter to the princes.

Let us also not forget that Turki-al Faisal is the son of King Faisal whose decision it was to place the oil embargo during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

All of this on the heels of not only the anniversary but the reports that since September 2013 the US is the largest oil supplier in the world and will be for quite some time. Also reports about how OPEC embargoes won't have much of an effect anymore.

This time it may not have been Obama who has effed things up but just the Saudis throwing a tantrum because, probably, they know that Obama will be willing to eff things up for the US, given the opportunity.

After a very long time, I think, Saudi Arabia feels weak and if left ignored (which is what SHOULD happen) they will throw a lot more tantrums and show a lot more of their desperation in the coming months.

(If this was truly over US actions against or for a Saudi ally, the Saudis would be a LOT MORE pissed off about the US supporting Muslim Brotherhood, you know, the folks who actually want to overthrow the Saud family, along with all the other royal families in the middle east...)

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