I think they'll be discussing the tampon shortage. MBS has relayed to Biden that he will accommodate an airlift of excess Saudi tampons to cover the American shortage since women in Saudi Arabia are prohibited from using them and must menstruate in a cave somewhere for a week each month until they are clean and worthy again to go from the cave to the bedroom and/or kitchen.
Oh, my! Tim Kaine says the big issue is "authoritarians?" And Chris Murphy is wringing his hands over "repression" while he pushes social media to censor anything that's counter-narrative?
Conspicuously absent in all those media comments is any mention of Yemen. Khashoggi was bad but what Saudi is doing with our support in Yemen is far, far worse.
Exactly. In fact, if you're a Yemeni and you are reading the article, you must feel your suffering at the hands of the American-backed Saudis is marginalized because America has done so much worse.
An important question is, how come Putin and Lavrov aren't hammering on Yemen and the Saudi-American alliance in that ongoing genocide and yes, that actually IS a genocide? I'll tell you why. Putin is a cowardly puss like all the rest and he won't criticize Saudi Arabia about Yemen because he not only respects what MBS is doing to Yemen, but also he doesn't want Saudi Arabia to finally agree to Western sanctions against Russia and he doesn't want SA to increase production.
Absolutely. China is allied with Russia currently, or so it says, but as resources further deplete, China will have Russia in twenty to twenty five years when it must have food and water and energy for its billions.
Maybe it's the fact that the genocide in Ukraine is happening right next to his border, it happens to ethnic Russians (it's the country he is the President of), and his country has to host over a million refugees since 2014? Not to mention those mysterious US bio labs in Ukraine collecting DNA of "white Russians"?
Just stop, silly. If you want to know what genocide is, look up the Katyn Massacre. The Soviets, in union with the Nazis per their pact where amongst other things they agreed to invade Poland together and eliminate its culture and divide the territory, committed genocide against the Poles in WWII and then Stalin the coward blamed it on the Nazis when it was him who gave the orders and the Soviets even clamored for the Massacre to be included in the list of charges against the Nazis as part of the Nuremberg trial. It was the Soviets who did it and it is unequivocally proven. When will Putin apologize to Poland and the Polish rather than antagonizing them and threatening them?
How convenient when Nazi Bandera crimes are blamed on Russians. Those same Bandera followers who keep committing genocide to this day... It was probably a mistake though it was covered up by the Soviets who did not want to "stir Russian-Ukrainian divide"
The Nazis had their fair share of atrocities in Poland, no doubt about it. The Katyn Massacre was not one of them — it was the handiwork of the genocidal Russians. It proved that Stalin and Hitler truly were genocidal birds of a feather so to speak.
You want to be reminded about the genocide of MILLIONS of Russians that took place at that time? (neither Stalin nor his accomplice Beriya were Russian, by the way).
It's clear that Biden has zero intention of fulfilling any campaign promises. A five to ten minute look into his performance record clearly shows that Biden was not fit to be President. It was easy to not vote for Biden. But because he keeps saying "Trump is bad", millions of Americans keep falling for him, allowing him and the Democrats to continuously, and falsely, blame Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin for all of their failures.
That was why Hillary Clinton put Trump up to running against her in the first place: to create such TDS in the voters that they would be stampeded towards her. And even then, it didn't work.
However, it has worked for the Democrats ever since, their only domestic policy is "I'm Not Him."
They certainly have gotten their money's worth from him.
Only one reason for the visit by Biden to Saudi. Just one.
OIL
Biden will now go out of his way to expand on the relationship with Saudi, their own MBS a murderer by any standard you can measure.
When you are dealing with a customer low on oil in 2022 with very, very small reserves lasting only 11 years, as a big oil supplier you can get away with murder, you can kill hundreds of thousands in Yemen, decapitate hundreds every year and generally give the finger to humane practices. You can also be on speaking terms with unrespected apartheid states like Israel. An Arab country? How's that for progress.
But be quick. Biden wants to tie up his country's future in oil supplies and Saudi has the inside running.
Yes. That will mean allowing them to get away with every criminal activity you can imagine and to ensure that the staggering arms sales from the US to Saudi continue, the biggest purchases of US weaponry ever. What a great deal. The US gets unlimited supplies of oil, and makes a fortune at the same time from ongoing death and destruction.
That's the USA, folks. Their interest in stealing oil from Syria every day, attacks on Iraq (oil producer), through their controllers in Israel allowing nuclear weapons in Israel to point at Iran(oil producer), their aims in South American oil with the biggest reserves in Venezuela (oil producer) and on. There is always a reason, commercial or strategic, or both. They are "exceptional" you see.
The really sad outcome of the US objectives is that naive countries like the naive QUADdies, the AUKUS players and the expanding NATO stooges all think that such groupings will protect their countries from future evils through their alliances with the USA. Check your history books (or if short of time, just Ukraine) and you will find that the US has no real friends.
Nor does it deserve any either.
It is just a user. No one is safe from their Machiavellian thinking.
The best example of this will be coming to a (war) theatre near you, if you are in and anywhere around the Pacific.
Don't underestimate weapons sales. Saudi Arabia buys weapons by the warehouse load, weapons they don't even know how to use, because MIC will do their bidding to keep Congress, POTUS, and SCOUS all in alignment.
Yes and Russia also sells weapons, but with fewer strings attached and at a cheaper price. Going their performance in the current conflict, they also appear to perform better. So, better weapons lower price. Tough choice, right?
Did you get my point about putting them in the warehouse, and not knowing how to use them? The point isn't the effectiveness at killing, they hire the USA military when they really want someone dead (ala Sadam Hussein). The point is to buy US MIC lobbying in Washington, so that a few old farts can keep a lid on their fellow Sunni and Shiite Saudi hoi polloi , and on Iran, Iraq, Egypt, etc. That Saudi Arabia is buying Russian weapons again is not because they are cheap and effective, as they will not use them, but to have Russia as a counter to a no longer so trustworthy Pentagon based military mercenary outfit. Even the war in Yemen is done by mercenaries, as they have only about 5 or 6000 Saudis who the "royal" family would dare trust with weapons, and they will not risk a single one of them in real combat, they are needed at home as extended body guards.
I got your point, but I'd hazard a guess that when missiles arrive from Yemen and start hitting key infrastructure *someone* is going to be using them, and that someone would probably prefer that they work:)
Depends on where those warehouse weapons are pointed, and by whom. The main thing with the Russian weapons is that the infantry level systems would be well known to the rudimentary mercenaries that Saudi Arabia has been using against Yemen, the downside is they are well known to the rudimentary mercenaries working out of Saudi Arabia against Yemen, so the restraint on their numbers is that they have to be defended against. Up til now Saudi Arabia has been depending on USA being on stand-by. That cost is starting to become more transparent, in both in terms of reliability and NED like interference. That 5-6000 number puts a cap on what Saudi Arabia dare employ against Yemen, lest it turn North. I suspect they hope to get Russia in so they can employ a much larger Mercenary army to finish Yemen, while also talking to Iran.
"Only one reason for the visit by Biden to Saudi. Just one."
Yep, and any suggestion given by Biden's handlers that any other topic for discussion matters to them at this point is pure and utter BS.
Unlike the oil, the lies just never stop flowing. I guess what gets me most about this one is not its magnitude or subject, but just that it is so blatant. Even the most uninformed USer knows that there is exactly one reason for this trip and what it is--provided said USer ever uses a gas pump.
That is an apt description, and you could also say, two vultures of a feather (apologies to vultures that perform a valuable function, unlike these two misfits) sullying each other's nests.
Please continue to do what you do. No one describes the most tyrannical regime on the planet as effectively and accurately as you do. Would that more people could come to understand this. Propaganda is so painfully effective.
I love the spectacle of groveling for oil. After the President bends the knee to the crowned prince and places his hand on the glowing orb, I can't wait to see him join the sword dance.
Maybe Biden can watch a demonstration on how to properly use a state of the art bone saw to dismember a dissident. He can then later use it on Trump and the Proud Boys.
Shouldn't that crowd include everyone? If he is NOT part of the "human rights crowd", does that mean he doesn't believe in human rights? (Both questions are rhetorical.)
This is a great point. Chomsky once noted that there seems to be an obsession with Israeli crimes, which are horrible, but to the exclusion of even worse US crimes.
Neo-feudalism is supported and exported by US government’s true ‘owners’, the undemocratically self-appointed: “masters of the universe” (re, Pepe Escobar). Monarchy = Feudalism. Kings & Queens are still fashionable… speaks volumes for the successful PR (Berneys) narrative forming popular opinions.
SA keeps their oil reserve numbers a state secret, but they've made no secret of their intention to diversify their economy since the new guy took charge. One form that takes is tourism, believe it or not. Consider: how many Muslims are there in the world? Lots, right? And if they're doing better economically (no thanks to NATO, USA or Israel) then more of them will make the Haj, correct? The Haj is an obligation for anyone able to afford it, so that's a no-brainer. Likewise, SA employs a lot of foreigners, and if they diversify their economy then more foreign workers means more remittances to home countries which means more Hajis. Full circle.
Forget western portrayals of Saudi Arabia. There's more going on than than meets the eye.
Having an unreliable bodyguard ala Pentagon could be a large impediment, that they never quite trusted them in the first place is why they kept tight control over both Haj and overseas slave labour, too easy for NED to play games.
Since 2016 doubt has been raised by industry analysts whether SA can actually increase production by any significant amount. But assuming they could, why would they? If you had something people want that you also need yourself, how does selling more of it for less money make any sense?
By the same token, how does sanctioning Russian oil hurt Russia if they can sell half as much at twice the price? Even at a discount to current world prices, Russia is earning more than twice as much as before the sanctions. Their 2022 national budget is based on a price of $40/bbl - a price that we'll probably never see again. Truth is, Russia is awash in foreign income, so much so that their main issue is not how to ration it, but where to invest it.
In effect, Russia's military operations are being financed by western oil and gas purchases. As for Saudi Arabia, my guess is they're currently reviewing their position in the global petro-dollar nexus. After all, if Saudi security is based solely on selling their oil in dollars, why would they continue that relationship when they can buy demonstrably superior Russian arms at a lower price than what the US is selling? Who's going to threaten them when their country is ringed by S-400 AA systems, which unlike the Patriot, can actually intercept Iranian missiles?
Finally, for all the butt-hurt Putin haters, how does having Putin living rent free in your head in any way change the outcome? Trust me, his removal would be your worst nightmare as there are far more strident elements within Russia's government, or would you prefer dealing directly with Lavrov, Shoigu or Medvedev?
Senile man begs dictator man to pump more oil in exchange for missiles, while they discuss hot air. News at 11.
I think they'll be discussing the tampon shortage. MBS has relayed to Biden that he will accommodate an airlift of excess Saudi tampons to cover the American shortage since women in Saudi Arabia are prohibited from using them and must menstruate in a cave somewhere for a week each month until they are clean and worthy again to go from the cave to the bedroom and/or kitchen.
Okay, that was good. Thanks.
Anyone who can count knows that Biden and Obama murdered a LOT more people than Saudi has in the last 100 years.
This century Shrub is leading the pack, though.
Wait, Biden plans on enlisting the 4 horsemen.
Oh, my! Tim Kaine says the big issue is "authoritarians?" And Chris Murphy is wringing his hands over "repression" while he pushes social media to censor anything that's counter-narrative?
Great headline. Really grabbed me.
Conspicuously absent in all those media comments is any mention of Yemen. Khashoggi was bad but what Saudi is doing with our support in Yemen is far, far worse.
Can’t talk about that.
I just saw the headline and LOLed.
Exactly. In fact, if you're a Yemeni and you are reading the article, you must feel your suffering at the hands of the American-backed Saudis is marginalized because America has done so much worse.
An important question is, how come Putin and Lavrov aren't hammering on Yemen and the Saudi-American alliance in that ongoing genocide and yes, that actually IS a genocide? I'll tell you why. Putin is a cowardly puss like all the rest and he won't criticize Saudi Arabia about Yemen because he not only respects what MBS is doing to Yemen, but also he doesn't want Saudi Arabia to finally agree to Western sanctions against Russia and he doesn't want SA to increase production.
Putin and the West are in a major struggle, even to the death.
This gives guys like MBS the opportunity to make incredible fortunes playing in the middle.
Absolutely. China is allied with Russia currently, or so it says, but as resources further deplete, China will have Russia in twenty to twenty five years when it must have food and water and energy for its billions.
Maybe it's the fact that the genocide in Ukraine is happening right next to his border, it happens to ethnic Russians (it's the country he is the President of), and his country has to host over a million refugees since 2014? Not to mention those mysterious US bio labs in Ukraine collecting DNA of "white Russians"?
Just stop, silly. If you want to know what genocide is, look up the Katyn Massacre. The Soviets, in union with the Nazis per their pact where amongst other things they agreed to invade Poland together and eliminate its culture and divide the territory, committed genocide against the Poles in WWII and then Stalin the coward blamed it on the Nazis when it was him who gave the orders and the Soviets even clamored for the Massacre to be included in the list of charges against the Nazis as part of the Nuremberg trial. It was the Soviets who did it and it is unequivocally proven. When will Putin apologize to Poland and the Polish rather than antagonizing them and threatening them?
How convenient when Nazi Bandera crimes are blamed on Russians. Those same Bandera followers who keep committing genocide to this day... It was probably a mistake though it was covered up by the Soviets who did not want to "stir Russian-Ukrainian divide"
The Nazis had their fair share of atrocities in Poland, no doubt about it. The Katyn Massacre was not one of them — it was the handiwork of the genocidal Russians. It proved that Stalin and Hitler truly were genocidal birds of a feather so to speak.
You want to be reminded about the genocide of MILLIONS of Russians that took place at that time? (neither Stalin nor his accomplice Beriya were Russian, by the way).
It's clear that Biden has zero intention of fulfilling any campaign promises. A five to ten minute look into his performance record clearly shows that Biden was not fit to be President. It was easy to not vote for Biden. But because he keeps saying "Trump is bad", millions of Americans keep falling for him, allowing him and the Democrats to continuously, and falsely, blame Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin for all of their failures.
That was why Hillary Clinton put Trump up to running against her in the first place: to create such TDS in the voters that they would be stampeded towards her. And even then, it didn't work.
However, it has worked for the Democrats ever since, their only domestic policy is "I'm Not Him."
They certainly have gotten their money's worth from him.
Only one reason for the visit by Biden to Saudi. Just one.
OIL
Biden will now go out of his way to expand on the relationship with Saudi, their own MBS a murderer by any standard you can measure.
When you are dealing with a customer low on oil in 2022 with very, very small reserves lasting only 11 years, as a big oil supplier you can get away with murder, you can kill hundreds of thousands in Yemen, decapitate hundreds every year and generally give the finger to humane practices. You can also be on speaking terms with unrespected apartheid states like Israel. An Arab country? How's that for progress.
But be quick. Biden wants to tie up his country's future in oil supplies and Saudi has the inside running.
Yes. That will mean allowing them to get away with every criminal activity you can imagine and to ensure that the staggering arms sales from the US to Saudi continue, the biggest purchases of US weaponry ever. What a great deal. The US gets unlimited supplies of oil, and makes a fortune at the same time from ongoing death and destruction.
That's the USA, folks. Their interest in stealing oil from Syria every day, attacks on Iraq (oil producer), through their controllers in Israel allowing nuclear weapons in Israel to point at Iran(oil producer), their aims in South American oil with the biggest reserves in Venezuela (oil producer) and on. There is always a reason, commercial or strategic, or both. They are "exceptional" you see.
The really sad outcome of the US objectives is that naive countries like the naive QUADdies, the AUKUS players and the expanding NATO stooges all think that such groupings will protect their countries from future evils through their alliances with the USA. Check your history books (or if short of time, just Ukraine) and you will find that the US has no real friends.
Nor does it deserve any either.
It is just a user. No one is safe from their Machiavellian thinking.
The best example of this will be coming to a (war) theatre near you, if you are in and anywhere around the Pacific.
Don't underestimate weapons sales. Saudi Arabia buys weapons by the warehouse load, weapons they don't even know how to use, because MIC will do their bidding to keep Congress, POTUS, and SCOUS all in alignment.
Yes and Russia also sells weapons, but with fewer strings attached and at a cheaper price. Going their performance in the current conflict, they also appear to perform better. So, better weapons lower price. Tough choice, right?
Did you get my point about putting them in the warehouse, and not knowing how to use them? The point isn't the effectiveness at killing, they hire the USA military when they really want someone dead (ala Sadam Hussein). The point is to buy US MIC lobbying in Washington, so that a few old farts can keep a lid on their fellow Sunni and Shiite Saudi hoi polloi , and on Iran, Iraq, Egypt, etc. That Saudi Arabia is buying Russian weapons again is not because they are cheap and effective, as they will not use them, but to have Russia as a counter to a no longer so trustworthy Pentagon based military mercenary outfit. Even the war in Yemen is done by mercenaries, as they have only about 5 or 6000 Saudis who the "royal" family would dare trust with weapons, and they will not risk a single one of them in real combat, they are needed at home as extended body guards.
I got your point, but I'd hazard a guess that when missiles arrive from Yemen and start hitting key infrastructure *someone* is going to be using them, and that someone would probably prefer that they work:)
Depends on where those warehouse weapons are pointed, and by whom. The main thing with the Russian weapons is that the infantry level systems would be well known to the rudimentary mercenaries that Saudi Arabia has been using against Yemen, the downside is they are well known to the rudimentary mercenaries working out of Saudi Arabia against Yemen, so the restraint on their numbers is that they have to be defended against. Up til now Saudi Arabia has been depending on USA being on stand-by. That cost is starting to become more transparent, in both in terms of reliability and NED like interference. That 5-6000 number puts a cap on what Saudi Arabia dare employ against Yemen, lest it turn North. I suspect they hope to get Russia in so they can employ a much larger Mercenary army to finish Yemen, while also talking to Iran.
The flip side of the oil coin.
"Only one reason for the visit by Biden to Saudi. Just one."
Yep, and any suggestion given by Biden's handlers that any other topic for discussion matters to them at this point is pure and utter BS.
Unlike the oil, the lies just never stop flowing. I guess what gets me most about this one is not its magnitude or subject, but just that it is so blatant. Even the most uninformed USer knows that there is exactly one reason for this trip and what it is--provided said USer ever uses a gas pump.
That is an apt description, and you could also say, two vultures of a feather (apologies to vultures that perform a valuable function, unlike these two misfits) sullying each other's nests.
Please continue to do what you do. No one describes the most tyrannical regime on the planet as effectively and accurately as you do. Would that more people could come to understand this. Propaganda is so painfully effective.
Thank you for being the only journalist who openly recognizes that the US practices authoritarianism and starvation (austerity) at home: paragraph 13.
I love the spectacle of groveling for oil. After the President bends the knee to the crowned prince and places his hand on the glowing orb, I can't wait to see him join the sword dance.
He's planning to do the dance of the veils. Kamala has been coaching him on how to be on the other end of the massage and hair sniffing.
Maybe Biden can watch a demonstration on how to properly use a state of the art bone saw to dismember a dissident. He can then later use it on Trump and the Proud Boys.
DORE ’24 has a nice ring to it !!
"The human rights crowd", Gergen calls us.
Shouldn't that crowd include everyone? If he is NOT part of the "human rights crowd", does that mean he doesn't believe in human rights? (Both questions are rhetorical.)
This is a great point. Chomsky once noted that there seems to be an obsession with Israeli crimes, which are horrible, but to the exclusion of even worse US crimes.
Neo-feudalism is supported and exported by US government’s true ‘owners’, the undemocratically self-appointed: “masters of the universe” (re, Pepe Escobar). Monarchy = Feudalism. Kings & Queens are still fashionable… speaks volumes for the successful PR (Berneys) narrative forming popular opinions.
SA keeps their oil reserve numbers a state secret, but they've made no secret of their intention to diversify their economy since the new guy took charge. One form that takes is tourism, believe it or not. Consider: how many Muslims are there in the world? Lots, right? And if they're doing better economically (no thanks to NATO, USA or Israel) then more of them will make the Haj, correct? The Haj is an obligation for anyone able to afford it, so that's a no-brainer. Likewise, SA employs a lot of foreigners, and if they diversify their economy then more foreign workers means more remittances to home countries which means more Hajis. Full circle.
Forget western portrayals of Saudi Arabia. There's more going on than than meets the eye.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjwTGFz4tgM
Having an unreliable bodyguard ala Pentagon could be a large impediment, that they never quite trusted them in the first place is why they kept tight control over both Haj and overseas slave labour, too easy for NED to play games.
Since 2016 doubt has been raised by industry analysts whether SA can actually increase production by any significant amount. But assuming they could, why would they? If you had something people want that you also need yourself, how does selling more of it for less money make any sense?
By the same token, how does sanctioning Russian oil hurt Russia if they can sell half as much at twice the price? Even at a discount to current world prices, Russia is earning more than twice as much as before the sanctions. Their 2022 national budget is based on a price of $40/bbl - a price that we'll probably never see again. Truth is, Russia is awash in foreign income, so much so that their main issue is not how to ration it, but where to invest it.
In effect, Russia's military operations are being financed by western oil and gas purchases. As for Saudi Arabia, my guess is they're currently reviewing their position in the global petro-dollar nexus. After all, if Saudi security is based solely on selling their oil in dollars, why would they continue that relationship when they can buy demonstrably superior Russian arms at a lower price than what the US is selling? Who's going to threaten them when their country is ringed by S-400 AA systems, which unlike the Patriot, can actually intercept Iranian missiles?
Finally, for all the butt-hurt Putin haters, how does having Putin living rent free in your head in any way change the outcome? Trust me, his removal would be your worst nightmare as there are far more strident elements within Russia's government, or would you prefer dealing directly with Lavrov, Shoigu or Medvedev?