The Saudi regime is no friend of the US in on-face terms. Rather it's more of a crony, a regime established and protected by the US to gain access to its plentiful deposits of black gold. The House of Saud is right to insist that without US protection its regime will fall to regimes <em>more</em> extremist then they. It's no democracy in any sense of the word. In fact it can be said to be the opposite, demanding nothing of its citzens in exchange for nothing but oppression.
The sad truth is that the US has no use for Saudi Arabia other than to use them as a spigot to keep up our state-sponsored economy of the gas pump. The moment oil ceases to be Saudi Arabia's dominant export is the moment when then Saudi government loses its lifeblood. It's at that moment that true civic stability can begin to emerge.
by Brian Radzinsky on April 25, 2005 at 8:46 PM