Saudi Arabia - should we do business with them?
Poll: Saudi Arabia - should we do business with them?
Total Members Polled: 573
Discussion
Anyone remember a minor incident a few years ago where a few planes crashed into some big buildings in the states? You know, the one where all but two of the hijackers were Saudi? Still, never mind. Bygones and all that. Business as usual everyone and heads back in the sand! Go to bed everyone, your government is in control!Go back to bed everyone, you are free to do as you are told! Think of the money!
Sam All said:
Weary of internet morons said:
Breaking news, Tony Blair has just called on the UN to invade North Korea. He's eyeing up a role as Far East Peace Envoy next year. Kerrching...
He could sell sand to the Saudis. Whenever the BBC have a debate about Saudi Arabia they always invite on Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski who is effectively a Saudi mouthpiece. Today he was defending their great judicial system. Ironically as someone who sleeps with men Kawczynski would be thrown in prison and whipped a few hundred times if he actually lived in the lovely Kingdom - he is defending a regime who see people like him as scum.
Daniel Kawczynski has accepted over £15,000 from Saudis since he was elected. On Tuesday, he criticised the government’s decision to cancel a £5.9 million contract to advise Saudi prisons.
Daniel Kawczynski has accepted over £15,000 from Saudis since he was elected. On Tuesday, he criticised the government’s decision to cancel a £5.9 million contract to advise Saudi prisons.
Edited by BlackLabel on Thursday 7th January 18:37
BlackLabel said:
Whenever the BBC have a debate about Saudi Arabia they always invite on Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski who is effectively a Saudi mouthpiece. Today he was defending their great judicial system. Ironically as someone who sleeps with men Kawczynski would be thrown in prison and whipped a few hundred times if he actually lived in the lovely Kingdom - he is defending a regime who see people like him as scum.
Daniel Kawczynski has accepted over £15,000 from Saudis since he was elected. On Tuesday, he criticised the government’s decision to cancel a £5.9 million contract to advise Saudi prisons.
Kawczynski is doing his usual Saudi stooge act on channel 4 news now, he is a vile individual.Daniel Kawczynski has accepted over £15,000 from Saudis since he was elected. On Tuesday, he criticised the government’s decision to cancel a £5.9 million contract to advise Saudi prisons.
Edited by BlackLabel on Thursday 7th January 18:37
greygoose said:
BlackLabel said:
Whenever the BBC have a debate about Saudi Arabia they always invite on Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski who is effectively a Saudi mouthpiece. Today he was defending their great judicial system. Ironically as someone who sleeps with men Kawczynski would be thrown in prison and whipped a few hundred times if he actually lived in the lovely Kingdom - he is defending a regime who see people like him as scum.
Daniel Kawczynski has accepted over £15,000 from Saudis since he was elected. On Tuesday, he criticised the government’s decision to cancel a £5.9 million contract to advise Saudi prisons.
Kawczynski is doing his usual Saudi stooge act on channel 4 news now, he is a vile individual.Daniel Kawczynski has accepted over £15,000 from Saudis since he was elected. On Tuesday, he criticised the government’s decision to cancel a £5.9 million contract to advise Saudi prisons.
Edited by BlackLabel on Thursday 7th January 18:37
Weary of internet morons said:
It took something special to make me cringe even more than Abbott and Livingstone today, but Konyouski took the award. Scumbag of a rare order.
He was on Andrew Neil's show earlier in the day on the BBC stunning the audience there with his ability to excuse anything.
greygoose said:
Weary of internet morons said:
It took something special to make me cringe even more than Abbott and Livingstone today, but Konyouski took the award. Scumbag of a rare order.
He was on Andrew Neil's show earlier in the day on the BBC stunning the audience there with his ability to excuse anything.Smiler. said:
greygoose said:
Weary of internet morons said:
It took something special to make me cringe even more than Abbott and Livingstone today, but Konyouski took the award. Scumbag of a rare order.
He was on Andrew Neil's show earlier in the day on the BBC stunning the audience there with his ability to excuse anything.greygoose said:
I was amazed to find out he was gay, how can he spout that crap about the Saudi regime when they can kill homosexuals. It is difficult to be disgusted by politicians these days but he really takes the biscuit.
I saw his interview on c4 news earlier and the man is an awful apologist. Like him the Saudis would have about 6 different counts to execute me if I went there.Whether we should do business or cut them off is a tricky one. They are quite stable for the region, which is usually achieved by massive internal oppression of dissident ideas and minorities. Replacing tyrants has not exactly worked all that well in this part of the world, I can think of at least 3 examples.
I do find it odd that America happily does business with them and China yet will have embargoes against Iran and Cuba who are guilty of similar crimes. If we had to choose to either support Iran or Saudi, I would go for Iran, the food is better.
Rostfritt said:
Whether we should do business or cut them off is a tricky one. They are quite stable for the region, which is usually achieved by massive internal oppression of dissident ideas and minorities. Replacing tyrants has not exactly worked all that well in this part of the world, I can think of at least 3 examples.
I do sometimes wonder if the perpetual chaos of the region is really the end goal of Western and Eastern policies. A peaceful, democratic region of Sunni-lands and Shia lands could be pretty powerful trading block ala the EU. Knocking over their dictators and funding/arming opposing sides in the resulting conflicts allows us to buy their oil whilst keeping their civilizations from competing with our own.Interesting piece from the Independent re doing business with Saudi Arabia and the implications this had for Belgium.
Brussels attacks: How Saudi Arabia's influence and a deal to get oil contracts sowed seeds of radicalism in Belgium
Brussels attacks: How Saudi Arabia's influence and a deal to get oil contracts sowed seeds of radicalism in Belgium
article said:
There are many reasons why Belgium has become a hotbed of radical Islamism. Some of the answers may lie in the implanting of Saudi Salafist preachers in the country from the 1960s.
Keen to secure oil contracts, Belgium’s King Baudouin made an offer to Saudi King Faisal, who had visited Brussels in 1967: Belgium would set up a mosque in the capital, and hire Gulf-trained clerics.
At the time, Belgium was encouraging Moroccan and Turkish workers to come into the country as cheap labour. The deal between the two Kings would make the mosque their main place of worship.
Keen to secure oil contracts, Belgium’s King Baudouin made an offer to Saudi King Faisal, who had visited Brussels in 1967: Belgium would set up a mosque in the capital, and hire Gulf-trained clerics.
At the time, Belgium was encouraging Moroccan and Turkish workers to come into the country as cheap labour. The deal between the two Kings would make the mosque their main place of worship.
article said:
Mr Dallemagne says the Salafist clerics have tried to undermine attempts by Moroccan immigrants to integrate into Belgium. “We like to think Saudi Arabia is an ally and friend, but the Saudis are always engaged in double-talk: they want an alliance with the West when it comes to fighting Shias in Iran, but nonetheless have a conquering ideology when it comes to their religion in the rest of the world,” he said.
Mr Dallemagne has sponsored many resolutions in the Belgian parliament aimed at loosening ties with Saudi Arabia, and reducing the Salafist influence in Belgium. “We can’t have a dialogue with countries that want to destabilise us,” he says. “The problem is that it is only recently that authorities are finally opening their eyes to this.”
Mr Dallemagne has sponsored many resolutions in the Belgian parliament aimed at loosening ties with Saudi Arabia, and reducing the Salafist influence in Belgium. “We can’t have a dialogue with countries that want to destabilise us,” he says. “The problem is that it is only recently that authorities are finally opening their eyes to this.”
article said:
But the mosque remains a concern for the Belgian government: in August, a WikiLeaks cable revealed that a staff member of the Saudi embassy in Belgium was expelled years ago over his active role in spreading the extreme so-called Takfiri dogma. The cable – between the Saudi King and his Home Minister – referred to Belgian demands that the ICC’s Saudi director, Khalid Alabri, should leave the country, saying that his messages were far too extreme, and that his status as director meant he should not be preaching anyway.
Saudi Arabia: "expose our role in 9/11 and we will be really really angry".
Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill
Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill
article said:
WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bill’s passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon. The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation.
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdom’s message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.
The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bill’s passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon. The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation.
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdom’s message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.
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