RIYADH, 4 May 2008 — The United States threatened to use force against Saudi Arabia in 1973 after King Faisal, along with other Arab leaders, imposed an oil embargo on countries that supported Israel during the October War, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington, said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday.

In the interview, that appeared ahead of a scientific seminar on King Faisal to be opened by Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman on Tuesday, Prince Turki shed light on important events that took place during his father’s rule.

Prince Turki, who was an adviser at the Royal Court in 1973 when King Faisal took the oil-embargo decision, said the king was not shaken by the US threat and stood firm.

He added that the oil embargo was instrumental in encouraging the US to find a quick and just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. “King Faisal and other Arab leaders were forced to take the decision as a result of America’s unprecedented support for Israel during the war,” the prince said. He added that American officials talked about the possibility of attacking Saudi oil fields, something that was leaked in US newspapers. Some of these statements came from the then US State Secretary Henry Kissinger.

Prince Turki said King Faisal, who was in Jeddah at the time, received a telegram from Kissinger warning that if the Kingdom did not lift the embargo, the US would take all measures to protect its interests.

“The message was not specific about the measures they were going to take, but it appeared that they would use force. A CIA representative gave me the unsigned message, telling me it was from Kissinger... I went to the king and conveyed its contents. He received the message, read it and said: ‘Kheir insha Allah (Good, God willing).’

“It was very clear that it had come from the American government... The king was very relaxed, cheerful, humorous and was in good spirits despite the threat... This reflected his high quality and determination. He was giving the message that the Kingdom would not bow down to a threat, as a result of a decision it had taken with other Arab countries. It was a great reply,” said Prince Turki. [more]

Please click here to read the whole article from Arab News.

A Short Film About King Faisal

The Saudis play a two faced game, wanting their cake and eat it too.
1.Desire for U.S. technology, consumer goods and assured hegemony in their region
2.Walking a fine line to save face in the OPEC community and with their Islamic brethren.

Since the Saudi Cash Laundering deal clinched a continuous supply of oil for the U.S. (no more shortages as in the '70's) and was extraordinarily lucrative for the powers that be and Halliburton et al, wouldn't these powers that be go to any length to placate and mollify the Saudis and cater to any whim or caprice to keep the deal in place?

A SCENARIO:

THE SAUDIS SAY:
As you well know, we must fund and support fundamental Jihadists to maintain status in the Moslem World. However, in today's political climate and with the common perception that we are in bed with the Capitalist Satan, lip service to conservative religious values is not enough.
We need you to SANCTION an event we would enact on U.S. SOVEREIGN SOIL that would result in MINIMAL COLLATERAL DAMAGE to you, but would MAXIMIZE PR VALUES FOR US. This is a small favor to ask an esteemed business partner in order to insure our mutual favorable future relations.
The event would categorically state that the Saudis are NOT WIMPING OUT.
We would be able to reply to our critics and react in the same manner as Papa Bush's creative implementation of the MONROE DOCTRINE in the public flogging of Norieaga and the invasion of Panama or the chastisement of Saddam in the Gulf War. He truly sent a message to the world.

THE REPLY:
We will do our utmost to accommodate you in this matter.
We have a couple of obsolete office buildings in Manhattan that will fit the bill perfectly for a son et lumiere show. We can insure these buildings to the hilt in order to hedge our losses and may be able to put a spin on the spectacle that will also work to our advantage. To assure success and augment the total impact, we could possibly stage an ancillary concurrent side show at the Capitol . If there is any negative fallout we can tighten the screws and contain it. As the old saying goes,

"A nation of sheep, ruled by wolves can't talk Baaaak."

To avoid any unfortunate consequences from a possible backlash, we strongly advise flying the Bin Laden family out of the country on our nickel, prior to the event. As we helped our colleague in arms, Osama, in the Chechen conflict, we always take care of family first. What are friends for? Always great doing business with you.

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From: The Memo Writer
Topic: Hillary Clinton's Sudden Concern for High Fuel Prices

Abstract: News reports today indicate that Hillary Clinton has issued a recommendation that the government release fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for ease rising prices. Management has noticed that, as usual, this cynical gesture has generated an epidemic of warm fuzzy feelings and a plague of giddy "aws" from staff with short memories. Staff members with longer memories but suffering from Chronic Political Gullibility Syndrome are experiencing anxious feelings they can't identify. To alleviate these problems, management requires all USA staff to read the following:

Item 1: Hillary's suggestion is pure political posturing. Hillary, and others like her, have always maintained that Americans pay too little for fuel.

Item 2: Liberal Democrats are notorious for waxing poetic about the "$5 to $7 per gallon" that Europeans pay during price run-ups.

Item 3: Any Liberals objection to the present run-up is because none of the run-up is the result of the heavy additional taxation they recommend during period of low fuel prices.

Item 4: The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, born in a fit of crisis-induced political posturing, is for emergencies. Emergencies are understood to be disruptions in fuel supply that would immobilize the military and law enforcement, disrupt shipments of food or medicine, or that shut off the heat and lights in January. Your vacation to Maui will never qualify as an emergency no matter how big of a fit you throw.

Item 5: The reserve isn't as big as you think. As of November 8, 2007, the SPR has 694.7 million barrels of crude oil stored. Management knows that number sounds big, but if withdrawn at the maximum possible rate, the reserve would be exhausted in 57 days. Just in case you're a registered Democrat, that's less than two months.

Item Six: Presently, the United States imports about 12 million barrels of oil per day—that's per day! The SPR only has the capacity to withdraw 4.4 million barrels per day. A total disruption of our imported supply would result in a fuel deficit of approximately 8 million barrels a day—per day! For those of you who weren't alive in the 1970s, or were too young to remember, let the voice of experience tell you that a smaller deficit sucked more than you can possibly imagine.

Item Seven: A politically motivated release of fuel from the SPR will do nothing to make the situation better, it will only make you feel better, just like all previous politically motivated releases.

Item Eight: By now you've probably asked: If all of this is true, then why does Hillary want to do it? The reason is that most of you think short term while Hillary, for all of her other faults, thinks long term. Hillary wants to be president. Why? Because it is the ultimate position in the world for engaging in social engineering, which has always been Hillary's goal in life. To be president, she has to get elected, at least for now. She doesn't want to face an election with a populace paying $5 or more per gallon for gasoline. Especially not against an opponent on record as advocating increasing domestic fuel supplies and refining capacity.

Item Nine: Hillary, just like Bill, doesn't give a damn about you and never will. After she is safely ensconced in office, she will be perfectly content to let all of you, even you loyal Democrats in the Rust Belt, freeze to death in the dark. It will be a small price to pay to realize Hillary's Utopian vision for the world.

Item Ten: Most of the crude oil held in the SPR is highly polluting "sour" crude. So, at least for a little while, you'll have to choose between cleaner air and luxuries like electricity and transportation.

Item Eleven: As long as the Champagne is chilled and the engines on Air Force One are singing happily, you will only matter for one day in November every four years.

Management recommends you study and remember these items as there will be a test given on November 4, 2008.