Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Wins Petulant Child Award

Saudi Arabia Continues Tantrum Over Syria
By: DSWright – 23 October, 2013

After throwing a literally royal tantrum at the United Nations, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has put the United States on notice that there will be further consequences for not following orders and bombing the Assad government in Syria. The Sunni-based Saudis wanted US assistance in helping them dominate the Middle East over their sectarian rivals the Shiite-based Iranians. The US public was disinterested as was a sizable portion of the the US military industrial complex.

Now the Saudis are retaliating by telling anyone who will listen that they are through with the US.

“Upset at President Barack Obama’s policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years.

Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief is vowing that the kingdom will make a ‘major shift’ in relations with the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria’s civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan, often called “Bandar Bush”, is hopping mad and went on a tirade against the US to a group of European diplomats.

“Prince Bandar bin Sultan told European diplomats that the United States had failed to act effectively against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was growing closer to Tehran, and had failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain when it crushed an anti-government revolt in 2011, the source said.

Failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain? That’s odd, because I can’t recall President Obama or any US official saying anything when the Saudi backed Sunni government of Bahrain gunned down protesters from the Shiite-majority population. Not a peep.

I, for one, welcome any Saudi commitments to stay clear of US politics, if for no other reason than that special relationship led to 9/11 – an attack carried out by a majority of Saudi nationals and organized by one of the elite of Saudi society, Osama Bin Laden.

The US-relationship with Saudi Arabia is predicated on the American interest in securing oil sources and markets for arms shipments – both of which the Saudi royal family was happy to oblige the US with. Now America produces immense energy domestically and has no good reason to even have such a large arms industry let alone exchange arms for favors with the gulf states.

Keep your friendship Prince Bandar.

…source