Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperUberBob
We've been giving Saudi Arabia a pass for their human rights abuses for nearly 20 years. That's part of the quid pro quo. They take care of Yemen and we look the other way when they oppress their people.
I don't think that has the Yemen part right. They want Yemen taken care of a lot more than we do. It's oil and arms sales we want, but we don't look the other way.
The US and UK set up banana republics in the ME. As rich as the few Saudis and Kuwaitis ever got there still less money kept in their countries than if they control the resources. In 1953 we overthrew the elected government in Iran because they wanted to nationalize oil companies. In 1991 we destroyed Iraq's military because they threatened the oil of a banana republic. In the Gulf we have maintained either direct control of every country or propped up fundamentalist totalitarian monarchies since before WW1.
It's hard to characterize this as giving anyone a pass. It's our system. Exploitation and the required repression are features, not bugs.