Saudi Disad
***Uniqueness*** UQ – US-Saudi relations Low
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***Uniqueness***UQ – US-Saudi relations LowRelations on the brink because of SQ democracy promotion Washington Post 2011 (7-14, "The Saudi Threat", LEXIS, SRM) Prince Turki is not now in the government. Yet he is a member of the Saudi royal family and was once the kingdom's intelligence chief and its former ambassador to both London and Washington. The man is solidly credentialed. He is also angry as hell, and he lets America have it. He starts by citing what he calls President Obama's "controversial speech last month, admonishing Arab governments to embrace democracy and provide freedom to their populations." Saudi Arabia, he wrote, heard what Obama said and took it "seriously," and he noted, of course, that Obama had not demanded the same rights for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Point taken. But the same kingdom that has taken Obama "seriously" is an absolute monarchy that, among other things, bans women from driving cars. It is also a country that offers no freedom of religion but offers, for the occasional criminal, a public beheading. Given that Turki has spent a good deal of time in the West, it's not possible that he was unaware that commentators like me would be picky about the lack of basic freedoms. He doesn't care. Indeed, that was the point. Turki - and by implication all of Saudi Arabia - has had it with the United States. The kingdom will not be lectured to. It is sick and tired of American favoritism to Israel - the exuberant congressional reception for Binyamin Netanyahu, for example - and the administration's decision to oppose any effort in the United Nations to create a Palestinian state. In this matter, America is doing what Israel wants. Relations on the brink Financial Times 2011 (June 16, "Arab spring tests US-Saudi relationship" http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4082dc70-984d-11e0-ae45-00144feab49a.html#axzz1SlOYMHrW, SRM) Indeed, the two remain in sync on many issues – ensuring stability in Yemen, combating al-Qaeda and containing Iran. And the military co-operation remains close. The Saudis are pressing ahead with a $60bn deal to buy arms and F-15 fighter jets, while the US is training a “facilities security force” to protect the kingdom’s vital oil infrastructure. “It’s a fraught but critical relationship,” said David Rothkopf, a foreign policy analyst and former Clinton administration official. “My sense is that they’re trying to manage it because of what they used to call during the Thatcher era the ‘Tina’ phenomenon – There Is No Alternative.” Relations rocky Jerusalem Post, 2010 ("Saudi prince blasts US for not 'curbing' Israel" LEXIS, SRM) Two days after the United States unveiled an arms deal with Saudi Arabia estimated at $60 billion, one of Riyadh's leading figures blasted the US for not living up to its commitments in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and not doing more to rein in Israel. "It has failed to curb the brutal Israeli policy of collective punishment, arbitrary arrests and killings," charged Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador to the US and ex-director of Saudi intelligence. He also criticized American officials for not standing up to Israel, maintaining, "It is these officials who propose that the Netanyahu government should be rewarded for its intransigence rather than sanctioned." He said that Riyadh and other Arab countries had agreed to back the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations "under the United States-negotiated partial colony freeze" - whereby America had pushed Israel to impose a settlement freeze before talks started. That freeze expired on September 26, and Palestinians with the support of the Arab League have been unwilling to continue talks until the freeze is resumed. "The United States failed to stick to its assurances, and to add insult to injury, offered the Netanyahu government more money, arms, protection from UN sanctions and, shamefully, the stationing of Israeli troops on Palestinian territory as if the territory were part of American sovereign lands," Turki said of reported US proposals to get Israel to renew the freeze. Speaking to the annual conference of the National Council for US-Arab Relations, Turki also lambasted the Israel lobby, saying that "There has grown over the years a web of very tight and strong strings that bind the US to her client state, Israel." He led off his address, which followed a presentation on how Sesame Street uses muppets in children's television across the Middle East to foster tolerance and respect, by saying that puppets don't only appear on TV screens. "There are live human muppets in Washington here who are run by AIPAC, and unfortunately what they bring is war and suffering," he said. He also noted at the beginning of his remarks that some friends who had seen his speech suggested he be "princely," but that he had opted to go with "genuineness." In a talk dedicated to US-Saudi relations, he did praise America at times for its pursuit of peace and the good relations it has enjoyed with Riyadh. "Saudi Arabia's will and determination to continue its strong and fruitful relations with the United States [comes] not only because it is America which has shown the capability to bring Israeli craven ambitions to heel," he said, "but also because the United States has been a beacon of goodwill and progress to the rest of humanity and will continue to be so." Relations UQ – No one Trusts AnyoneNo one trusts anyone Bhalla, July 2011 (Reva, journalist for STRATFOR; Geopolitical Weekly: "The U.S.-Saudi Dilemma: Iran's Reshaping of Persian Gulf Politics", http://www.rightsidenews.com/2011071914093/world/geopolitics/the-us-saudi-dilemma-irans-reshaping-of-persian-gulf-politics.html; SRM) The threat of a double-cross is a real one for all sides to this conflict. Iran cannot trust that the United States, once freed up, will not engage in military action against Iran down the line. The Americans cannot trust that the Iranians will not make a bid for Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth (though the military logistics required for such a move are likely beyond Iran’s capabilities at this point). Finally, the Saudis can’t trust that the United States will defend it in a time of need, especially if the United States is preoccupied with other matters and/or has developed a relationship with Iran that it feels the need to maintain. Download 196.65 Kb. 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