Covering for our "oil buddies"

December 20, 2001 7:06 PM

Covering for our "oil buddies" It seems there were some choice statements about Saudi support for Osama's terrorism that were removed from last week's "party tape". Wouldn't want to mess with Bush/Cheney's oil pals, now would we?
posted by owillis (27 comments total)

between bush connections with enron, cheney's refusal to comply with GAO requests for info regarding high level energy policy meetings with industry leaders and now this, it does kinda makes you wonder.
posted by kliuless at 7:24 PM on December 20, 2001

Whoaaa little willy...calm down. I don't think it was so much oil interests as it was political interests. If you read this story and other stories, it looks like it was to protect Saudi Arabia and the Royal Family. It is obvious that the Royal Family is losing its powerbase in the country and they may go the route of the Shah.
posted by Oxydude at 7:33 PM on December 20, 2001

There's a war on, fer chrissakes . Cozying up to the oil industry, pandering to big businesses, ignoring the plight of the common people, suspension of civil liberties, and manipulating information for our own purposes is ok because we're at war.

Didn't you know that?

Of course, America brought all this so-called "terrorism" on itself by cozying up to big oil producing companies/nations, pandering to big businesses, ignoring the plight of the common people and civil liberties around the world, and by manipulating information for our own purposes.

But so what? What America does is moral and ethical by definition.

Didn't you know that?
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 7:41 PM on December 20, 2001

If only the election would not have been stolen from President Gore; then we could return to those golden Clinton days, when the USA would never stand for the lying duplicious Saudi backstabbers, the evil racist Israelies, or any other nonsense from our so called friends. Bill Clinton and Al Gore brought honesty and integrity to our government, and it's all gone to hell in less than a year.
posted by Mack Twain at 7:42 PM on December 20, 2001

Whoaaa little willy

What the fuck is that supposed to mean, anonymousdude?
posted by jpoulos at 7:43 PM on December 20, 2001

Wow. I can't wait until this guy is impeached. I'm going to throw a huge party in the Rainbow Room and all New York MeFi'ers will be invited.
posted by UrbanFigaro at 7:48 PM on December 20, 2001

Yo, jpoulos, cool it.

Really.
posted by ook at 7:48 PM on December 20, 2001

It might not have been in record time, but this thread has gone to shit. Delete it soon, Matt, before it becomes a pissing match for the likes of a MeFi "veteran" and a guy who chose to not post his name in his bio.
posted by KLAX at 7:53 PM on December 20, 2001

jpoulos.. take your pettiness to metatalk
posted by Real9 at 7:54 PM on December 20, 2001

I think that the current administrations potential involvements and imbroglios stink a whole lot worse than yesterday's jizz stain on a blue dress, but I also think that the current congress doesn't have the stomach for an impeachment proceeding. Our best hope is for Afganistan to end quickly so that by the time Guilliani runs against the incumbent the Republicans can be far too fractionated to be reelected to the White House.
posted by shagoth at 8:06 PM on December 20, 2001

The motivations for not translating certain passages seem appropriate at the present time; just remember how disgusting the Saudis are.

By the way, are American politicians with oil interests any more odious than Americans with SUVs or anyone else who consumes oil gratuitously? Chill out.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:24 PM on December 20, 2001

oxydude, how exactly is protecting the Saudi Royal family any different from protecting our interest in their oil?
posted by chrismc at 8:30 PM on December 20, 2001

Remember: if we didn't need their oil (and we shouldn't by now), they wouldn't have our money, and they would be free to have their 12th Century religion, and only cause as much trouble as you can cause playing in that big sand box they live in.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:41 PM on December 20, 2001

Why don't we call for a boycott of saudi perhaps even all middle eastern oil.......??? cant we start riding our bikes a little more, car pooling, shopping in our neighborhoods....?? i'm sure the russians, venezuelans, norwegians etc... would be more than happy to make up for the difference....... is it just a rumor that most the oil being pumped out of and occasionally spilled in alaska is sold to japan???
posted by specialk420 at 8:45 PM on December 20, 2001

you can't selectively boycott one ation's oil. its all one big tank. But thanks for the naive hope.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:59 PM on December 20, 2001

Damn Nazis.

(There. Thread closed. NEXT!)
posted by tpoh.org at 11:15 PM on December 20, 2001

I spit upon your Godwin and his law!

Or at least in the general direction.

No one expects the Saudi Inquisition.
posted by nofundy at 5:53 AM on December 21, 2001

What else did they leave out? According to this report from alt.activism.progressive (said to be from The Great Speckled Bird, though I don't see it there), OBM describes how instructions were passed through cell members who worked for car rental offices, then he drops this bomb:

...Ali Mohammad... who pulled off the embassy bombings in Africa... Although he was a native of Egypt, we were able to get him into the American Army where he trained Special Forces troops. When he did the bombings, the Americans described him as a former U.S. Army sergeant. But like that other bomber, Timothy McVeigh, he was not a former member of the U.S. Army, he was a current member of their army working under cover. The Americans thought he was working for them spying on us, but all along he had been spying on them for us, and, in the end, he bombed them for us.

I don't know what to believe anymore.
posted by ferris at 6:19 AM on December 21, 2001

point taken. overreaction retracted.
posted by jpoulos at 6:27 AM on December 21, 2001

parisparamus...... speaking of naive.... are you forgetting the sanctions on iraqi oil....???



i actually enjoyed your first comment in this thread...
posted by specialk420 at 6:51 AM on December 21, 2001

parisparamus...... speaking of naive.... are you forgetting the sanctions on iraqi oil....???



Two answers. First, if you're proposing a military blockade of Saudi Arabia, that would work. Second answer: I'm not sure the Iraqi embargo is working.
posted by ParisParamus at 7:11 AM on December 21, 2001

im suggesting WE the gas guzzling public in america get our collective acts together and start acting when we pull up to the pump........... im betting most red necks, truckers, texans, SUV owners etc..... would be more than willing to pay an extra at the pump if the fuel did not contain a drop of saudi oil..... should more acts of violence with roots in saudi arabia happen - i suggest that a boycott of saudi oil by gas guzzling americans might just catch on...... a heck of a marketing angle as well.
posted by specialk420 at 7:48 AM on December 21, 2001

Unfortunately, although it has been suggested (predictably, by the some on the left), to my knowledge no one at a high level in our government has dared suggest that Americans consume less of anything. This is never considered.
posted by 4midori at 8:16 AM on December 21, 2001

If we consume less, then the terrorists win.
posted by themikeb at 9:19 AM on December 21, 2001

How many people just groaned?
posted by themikeb at 9:19 AM on December 21, 2001

ferris, you left out the part about the tape self-destructing.



There are actually very good reasons why parts of the tape might have been "left untranslated". There are rumors that the whole thing was a sting arranged by Saudi intelligence, which would be a notable act of assistance to us they'd rather not be publicized. I'm not happy with them right now, but that's an angle I'm willing to accept.
posted by dhartung at 9:43 AM on December 21, 2001

Of course, America brought all this so-called "terrorism" on itself by cozying up to big oil producing companies/nations, pandering to big businesses, ignoring the plight of the common people and civil liberties around the world, and by manipulating information for our own purposes.

You sound like Jerry Falwell's mirror image.
posted by cell divide at 10:16 AM on December 21, 2001