Saudi Arabia

Bush's Hypocrisy, OPEC's Arrogance, The Oil Mess We Are Living

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 03.07.2008 | Business

Read More: Dollar, Saudi Arabia, Exxon Mobil, Sam Bodman, Strategic Petrolem Reserve, Department of Energy, Center of Strategic and International Studies, Opec, Nytimes, Chakib Kheli OPEC President, Tillerson, Al Naimi, Aramco, Aramco, Aramco, Business News
Raymond J. Learsy

The New York Times article informs us that we, and our dollar, are primarily to blame for the current vertiginous oil prices.

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Human Rights Hypocrisy: Hidden In Plain Sight

Robert Weissman | Posted 02.29.2008 | Business

Read More: Castro, Sanctions, Human Rights, Bush, Saudi Arabia, China, Cuba, Business News
Robert Weissman

There was a time, not so long ago, when U.S. governmental hypocrisy on human rights and corporate interests was at least acknowledged. But now it se...

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Middle East Inflation Agitates Lower Classes

New York Times | Robert F. Worth | Posted 02.25.2008 | Business

Read More: Jordan, Domino Effect, Gas Prices, Persian Gulf, Middle East, Arabs, Saudi Arabia, Gasoline Prices, Gasoline, Fuel Subsidies, Oil, Petroleum, Business News

Even as it enriches Arab rulers, the recent oil-price boom is helping to fuel an extraordinary rise in the cost of food and other basic goods that is ...

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Saudi Arabia Arrests 57 Men For Flirting, Dancing At Mall

MSNBC | Posted 02.23.2008 | Home

Read More: Saudi Arabia Flirting, Saudi Arabia Dancing, Saudi Arabia Men, Saudi Arabia, Home News

Saudi Arabia began interrogating 57 men Saturday who were arrested for flirting with women in front of a shopping mall in the holy city of Mecca, a lo...

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Saudis to Execute a Woman for Witchcraft

AP | DONNA ABU-NASR | Posted 02.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Witchcraft, Saudi Arabia Executions, Withcraft Executions, Woman Withcraft Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch, King Abdullah, Politics News

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A leading human rights group appealed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Thursday to stop the execution of a woman accused of ...

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No Roses: Love Songs From Punk to Pashtun

RJ Eskow | Posted 02.14.2008 | Living

Read More: Brian Wilson, Tammy Wynette, Sam & Dave, Yoko Ono, Wilson Pickett, Bobby Womack, Sam Cooke, Dead Milkmen, Bob Dylan, Ann Peebles, Otis Redding, Ivory Joe Hunter, Percy Sledge, John Lennon, Eddie Hinton, Saudi Arabia, David Allan Coe, Don Williams, George Jones, Afghanistan, Beach Boys, Zarsanga, Ronettes, Living News
RJ Eskow

It's Valentine's Day again. I can't grow flowers or weave baskets, but I can make a pretty fair music playlist.

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Saudi Woman Arrested For Sitting With Man In Starbucks

CBS News | Posted 02.07.2008 | Business

Read More: Riyadh, Starbucks, Saudi Arabia, Business News

An American businesswoman was carted off to jail by religious police in Saudi Arabia for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks in Riyadh, the T...

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Exxon Rakes in Record $11.6 Billion Quarterly Earnings While Cheering OPEC's Readiness to Cut Production

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 02.04.2008 | Business

Read More: Army Navy Air Force Budget, Exxon, Secretary Bodman, Saudi Arabia, New York Times, Willie Sutton, Opec, President Bush, Barack Obama, Business News
Raymond J. Learsy

Without the OPEC cartel rigging the market Exxon's windfall would not have been possible.

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Of Turkish Spies and Other Moles...

Larisa Alexandrovna | Posted 01.22.2008 | Politics

Read More: Doug Feith, Turkey, American Turkish Council, Saudi Arabia, Marc Grossman, Sibel Edmonds, Israel, Richard Perle, Espionage, Pakistani ISI, Politics News
Larisa Alexandrovna

My good friend Phil Giraldi has written a piece for the American Conservative about the Sibel Edmonds case. Below are some of the snips from his story...

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Why Does Rupert Define This as News Only in Britain?

Harry Shearer | Posted 01.21.2008 | Media

Read More: Rupert Murdoch, Fbi, News Corp, US Nuclear Secrets, Nuclear Weapons, Saudi Arabia, Sibel Edmonds, Media News
Harry Shearer

The theft of US nuclear secrets, the diverting of them to Pakistan and possibly Saudi Arabia, the involvement of Israel in the scheme -- all of these would justify as jaw-droppingly newsworthy in a rational journalistic universe.

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Questions Congress Needs to Ask Before Authorizing Bush's 'See, Hear, Speak No Evil' Saudi Arms Deal

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 01.21.2008 | Business

Read More: Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arms Deal, Sam Bodman, Imf, King Abdullah, Qatif Girl, Congress, Iraq, President Bush, Opec, Saudi Weapons, Oil, Business News
Raymond J. Learsy

Before authorizing the sale of some of our most sophisticated military hardware to a fair weather friend at best, a number of questions should be asked and answered.

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Foreigners Buying Stakes In The US At A Record Pace

New York Times | PETER S. GOODMAN and LOUISE STORY | Posted 01.19.2008 | Business

Read More: France, Foreign Economies, Foreign Investors, US Economy, Foreign Investors US, Saudi Arabia, Business News

Last May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich....

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President Bush Shouldn't Play With Sharp Objects

Bob Cesca | Posted 01.17.2008 | Politics

Read More: Burma Human Rights, Execution, Human Rights, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Stock Market, Bush Saudi Arabia, George W. Bush, 2008 Election, Bush Mideast Trip, Recession, Citigroup, Politics News
Bob Cesca

2008-01-18-bush_sharp_saudi_222.jpgThe implicit hazard of Bush waving a sharpened blade fails to underscore the true danger and indignity of the event.

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That Saudi Funded West Wing??

Amb. Marc Ginsberg | Posted 01.16.2008 | Politics

Read More: George Bush, Iran, Persian Gulf, Presidential Library, Gulf States, Presidential Campaign, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Oil, Israel, Iraq, Politics News
Amb. Marc Ginsberg

Bush's trip to the Middle East had less to do with the serious business of Iran and more to do with the future post-POTUS construction costs of the Bush presidential library.

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Another Desperate Addict: "Bush Asks Saudi King to Open Oil Spigots"

Joseph Romm | Posted 01.16.2008 | Politics

Read More: Addiction, Energy, Oil Prices, Saudi Arabia, Bush, Bush Oil, Bush Saudi Arabia, Bush Mideast Trip, Politics News
Joseph Romm

The president who said "America is addicted to oil" now begs the Saudis for another fix, prostrate before his top foreign "dealer," begging for more, even at the risk of public humiliation.

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Shadow Play in the Middle East

Barry Lando | Posted 01.15.2008 | Politics

Read More: Persian Gulf, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Middle East Politics, Oil Prices, Oil, King Abdullah, Abu Dhabi, Bush Mideast Trip, Al Qaeda, Uae, United Arab Emirates, Politics News
Barry Lando

Much of the reporting of President Bush's trip to the Middle East is shadow play, an incredible con game. The suckers are the American public.

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US Announces Arms Sale To Saudi Arabia

Associated Press | MATTHEW LEE and ANNE FLAHERTY | Posted 01.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: Saudi Arabia Al-Qaida, Warwire, War on Terror, Saudi Arabia, George W. Bush, Bush Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia Arms Sale, Tom Lantos, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Politics News

The Democratic-led Congress is unlikely to block U.S. plans to sell $123 million worth of sophisticated precision-guided bomb technology to Saudi Arab...

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Bush Seals Deal To Sell Saudis $20 Billion In Arms

AP | ANNE GEARAN | Posted 01.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: Bush and Saudi Arms Sale, Bush to Sell Weapons to Saudis, Saudi Arabia, Bush in Saudia Arabia, Politics News

Mideast peace and democracy in the region topped the agenda for President Bush during talks Monday with ally Saudi Arabia. Bush's first visit to the ...

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"I Have a Mirage!" Bush Declares to the Arab World

Amb. Marc Ginsberg | Posted 01.13.2008 | Politics

Read More: Jordan, Egypt, White House, The Middle East, Morocco, Condoleeza Rice, King Abdullah, Bush, United Arab Emirates, Primaries, Presidential Campaign, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Ayman Nour, Rice, Mubarak, Bush Freedom Agenda, Bush Saudi Arabia, Bush Mideast Trip, Politics News
Amb. Marc Ginsberg

It's taken a terribly long time for Rice -- no Mid-East expert either before, during, or after her 7th year in this administration -- to understand that "elections" do not constitute "democracy."

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Was Bush's Team Making Fun of Saudi King's Night Habits on the Eve of the Bush-Abdullah Meeting?

Steve Clemons | Posted 01.13.2008 | Politics

Read More: George Bush, King Abdullah, Stephen Hadley, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Politics News
Steve Clemons

This was strange exchange between a "senior administration official" traveling with President Bush in the Middle East and a journalist today in the ...

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Arab Bloggers Under Pressure as Bush Visits the Middle East

Joel Campagna | Posted 01.11.2008 | Media

Read More: Fouad Al-Farhan, Blogosphere, Arabic Media, Saudi Blogger Jailed, Arab Blogosphere, Saudi Arabia, Media News
Joel Campagna

Despite the risks of speaking out, Arab bloggers remain outspoken about the jailings of Farhan and Suleiman. Bush can do the same by forcefully urging their release.

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President Bush in Saudi Land: Questions to Ask While Holding King Abdullah's Hand

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 01.11.2008 | Business

Read More: King Abdullah, Energy Department, President Bush, Bush Administration, Matt Simmons, Opec, Minister Ali-Naimi, Saudi Arabia, Oil, Oil Prices, Saudis, Bush Saudi Arabia, Business News
Raymond J. Learsy

Here's a list of questions, some pragmatic, some visceral, that the president might ask while strolling with King Abdullah.

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Who Are The Ten Saudis Just Released From Guantánamo?

Andy Worthington | Posted 01.08.2008 | Politics

Read More: War on Terror, Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo Torture, Guantanamo, 9/11, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Detainees, Torture, Politics News
Andy Worthington

With hundreds of detainees now released the administration's initial claim that the prison housed the "worst of the worst" grows ever more hollow.

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Saudi Arabia Confirms Detention Of Blogger

AP | Posted 01.01.2008 | Media

Read More: Detention of Bloggers in Saudi Arabia, Bloggers, Saudi Arabia, Media News

Saudi authorities have detained a popular blogger for violating the kingdom's laws, a senior Interior Ministry official said Tuesday. It was the first...

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Jason Linkins

The Gift That Keeps On Giving: Memories of Frenemies

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 12.19.2007 | Politics

Read More: White House Press Secretary, Violence Against Women, Saudi Arabia Human Rights, Saudi Arabia, White House Press Briefings, Dana Perino, White House Press Corps, Politics News

"Western" feminist organizations are frequently criticized for keeping mum on the issue of women's rights in Islamic countries. "How hypocritical of ...

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