February 1, 2016: Mideast politics suggests Saudi won't cut production despite recent reports that Russia/Saudi were talking about cooperating on cuts.
August 23, 2015: WSJ sits down with Saudi general.
July 30, 2015: Saudi Arabia to buy 600 Patriot missiles from the US; $5 billion -- The Weekly Standard.
April 18, 2015: US arms sales to the Mideast, especially Saudi Arabia -- NYT
January 23, 2015: 90-year-old Saudi king dies; 80-year-old brother assumes throne;
December 22, 2014: more clarity -- CLR, Hamm, Forbes, Saudi, Iran, Russia.
We start off with: is President Obama organizing communities in the Mideast?
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Six Dots To Connect
Six Dots To Connect
Six dots to connect:
- is President Obama getting ready to throw Israel under the bus? (same link as above)
- is the GCC set to unravel President Obama's Arab Spring initiatives? (first unmistakable sign -- court's reversal of Mubarak's conviction)
- Saudi's close relationship with US/Bush/Cheney does not exist with US/Obama/Hillary/Kerry
- ISIS, al-Qaeda threaten to topple Libya, Syria, Kurdistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia
- does Saudi see Russia's hand in Syria-Iran-Isis-al-Qaeda?
- protecting their market share: Russia-China hegemony; threat of North American energy revolution; Canadian oil sands
- follow the money
- ask the question, "Why now?"
- google it
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The Six Dots
Is President Obama getting ready to throw Israel under the bus?
- sanctions on Israel being discussed by the Obama administration -- Christian Science Monitor, December 8, 2014
- little downside risk: Obama no longer up for re-election; already lost House, Senate (not much more to lose, except veto-proof majority in Senate -- unlikely)
- Obama needs major legacy initiative
- presidents are change agents
- most of his initiatives will die within next ten years (global warming, ObamaCare); needs a legacy
- throwing Israel under the bus changes the dynamics in the Mideast
- Saudi has thrown Obama administration under the bus; tit-for-tat
- the answer seems pretty obvious
- with Obama creating a vacuum in the Mideast, will Saudi's alliance with Israel become move transparent?
- slump in prices, feeling the pain: Venezuela, Iran, Russia, off-shore oil, Canadian oil sands, US shale -- pretty much in that order
I saw this idea and can't reject it.
ReplyDeleteIf GCC and Israel plan to nuke Iran, would they flood market with oil first to ease shortage and fear when they do it?
Hmm
Anon 1
Thank you. That's why I enjoy connecting dots.
DeleteYou must have read my mind. Earlier I sent this short e-mail to a reader but did not post it. (At least I don't think I did; if I did, it explains you note.)
"Saudi Arabia has one weapon: oil.
Iran has one weapon (for now): blocking the straits. Pundits say that would be hard to do; I'm not so sure."
Seeing Christiane Amanpour reporting from somewhere in the Mideast will be the last dot to connect.
Delete