by Ousama Hanif
After the death of King Fahd, one could have expected the US to pressurizefor free and fair elections in Saudi Arabia in line with the rhetoric ofFreedom & democracy voiced by the Bush administration with regards to theMiddle East. Instead, the Bush administration, being a spectator, hassilently approved Prince Abdullah as the new King and accepted thecontinuation of the Monarchy. It clearly exposes the real intentions of thepolicy makers in Washington and shows that the US is clearly not interestedin empowering people. Washington knows it very well that if the opportunityfalls in the hands of ordinary Muslims, it would not lead to a seculardemocratic setup but a genuine Islamic System. The US policies have alwaysbeen driven by its corporate interests and its relation with Saudi Arabiathroughout the History is a proof of it.
The total amount of the American arms sale to Saudi Arabia over the pasthalf century approached 100 billion dollars with over a quarter of thecontracts signed in 1990s. These figures include weapons, equipment, spareparts, services and construction. However, they are purchased by the Saudisbut are used by the Americans. The initial entry of the American forces intothe Kingdom occurred at the end of Second World War when US build air Baseat Dehran near the Hasa Oil fields. All the while, the Saudis have tried tokeep the American military presence at a low profile being aware that it wasa provocation. However, similar arms sales to other Muslim countries was notwithout conditions and limitations. President Carter's sale of Advanced F-15fighter aircraft in 1978 was only on conditions that limited their range andoffensive power due to the fears that it could damage the regional balanceagainst Israel. Initially, President Reagan's sale of military equipment wasonly for Saudis to guard the attacks against the oil installations. Itincluded military aircraft, fueling tankers and Air-Air missiles. WhenIsrael raised objections to the sale, the packages were scaled down andspecial restrictions placed on the use of the Aircraft.
The ultimate pact of dependencies came in the 80s when under USinstructions; the Saudi signed the NPT effectively killing any nuclearambitions. US arms trade with Saudi Arabia grew dramatically in the 90s withover 14.4 billion dollar contract signed; 6.1 billion preceded the firstgulf war. American military presence also increased further. Before theLaunch of the gulf war, Cheney declared that after the danger is over, ourforces would go home but western forces remain in the Kingdom even withoutany formal agreement on their status instead they have establishedthemselves under the pretext of due containment of Iran and Iraqparticularly enforcement of No Fly zones. America had complete autonomyafter launching large air raids from Prince Sultan Airbase on Baghdadwithout even providing prior notice to the Saudi government. Since then,they have treated the bases and the territory as their own. Subsequentpackages of 10s of billions were designed to permit rapid deployment of USground forces from Saudi Arabia in the event of any Middle East hostilitiesthat threatened American interests. These large arms sale and the Gulf warshave also helped keep American defense contractors' production lines openand have been quite significant in US balance of trade.Nevertheless, the buying of huge arms has not changed the Kingdom'sdependence on US for its defense and security. During the 2003, start of theGulf war, Saudi Arabia secretly helped the United States allowing operationsfrom at east three airbases, permitting Special Forces to stage attacks fromSaudi soil and providing access to cheap fuel. Publicly, Saudi officials andUS have portrayed the American presence during the war as minimum andlimited to prince sultan airbase. In reality, the air command center was inSaudi Arabia.
Like most of the Muslim rulers, Saudis never had the interest of Muslims inmind, when not serving the needs of the west; their next most importantactivity is to rob Arabia of its resources. The Al-Saud Clan has lived inextreme luxury, they own at least 12 Royal palaces ranging from the2.5Billion dollar Al-Yamima palace complex in Riyadh to a cottage fourtimesthe size of the White house in Spain. They own several jets in the officeincluding one-priced 60 million dollars all with Gold Bathrooms and a fleetof Rolls Royce's and Mercedes. In the meantime, the income of the averageSaudi has fell from 14600 dollars per annum in 1982 to 6800 dollars andunemployment among those who already have left school hovers around 25%. Thegap between the tiny ruling minority and the people is Huge. While one Saudiprincess' dress flies from Europe first class and pays 5000 dollars per cut,In Hufar Al Wateen, 50 Km from the Kuwaiti Border, 60,000 people are livingin Huts with no electricity, sewerage and minimal food.
Saudi Arabia, one of the richest countries in the world resources wise, nowhas foreign debts of 28 Billion dollars and domestic debt has increased to170 Billion Dollars. Over the last thirty years, more than 3 trilliondollars have been generated mainly from oil yet only one trillion dollar hasbeen reinvested into the country, the other two trillion dollars remainunaccounted for. Four thousand or so Saud Family princes get a basicallowance of around 1.5 million dollars per year. They supplement this withvast sums generated by sophisticated forms of theft which include (1) Saleof oil: King Fahd since 1967, has setup a system by which he and members ofhis family sold in the open market anywhere from 300,000 to 1 millionbarrels of oil a day at below market prices. Income from that oil wasdeposited in Swiss bank accounts. It is estimated that King Fahd's personalannual income varied between 3 to 5 billion dollar year selling oil outsidethe commercial channels and Oil Company concessions. (2) Real Estate: the Government owns Land in Saudi Arabia and the King controls the governmentwith no accountability to anyone. Since 1975, land has been given to princesand their families by the government only to be sold back to the governmentitself thus creating the easiest means by which to rob the government of itsresources. (3) Contract Fixing: Commissions on commercial and defensecontracts are the third method used by the House of Saud for Money. It isbelieved that every contract in Saudi Arabia has got some form ofcommission. Large contracts such as the Al-Yamama generated annualcommissions in access of 2 Billion dollars paid to only five people.
Like a giant parasite, the US administration has also assisted in exhaustingSaudi Arabia of its immense financial reserves totaling 121 billion dollars.All this in less than a decade and Saudis now have to resort to establishcredit lines with the US government. This Huge strain has been placed on theKingdom's Banking system due to the fact that 9000 members of the Royalfamilies use these funds as their personal bank accounts and most of theseloans still remain uncollected. The national commercial Bank remains drainedand one American official ironically called the unpaid loans "the biggestblack hole in Saudi Economy ". The caretakers of the Ummah wasted the wealthof the Muslims to finance worldwide CIA operations. As the New York Timesreport says "Washington relies on Riyadh for a host of favors, from discreetcajoling of its Arab neighbor to covert financing of CIA operations conducted through CIA or the pentagon." Financing more than a Billiondollars to CIA for its numerous operations around the world. AmericanMultinational corporations have also benefited from limitless spending ofthe Saudis. When America launched Saddam into Kuwait and destroyedinfrastructure of both countries, it left the job of reconstructing andcleaning up in the hands of Multinationals. For example, AT&T rebuilt thetelephone lines of Kuwait and is now monopolizing it. The Gulf war costAmerica nothing since the caretakers of the Haramain (Mecca and Medina)assumed most of the expense. The war cost Saudis 55 billion dollars.
With Abdullah assuming the Kingship last month, the tempo of reform toappease the west may accelerate but warm relations with the US wouldcontinue. This is the reality of the caretakers of the Muslims. While manyMuslims around the world regard Saudi Arabia an Islamic state, the truth isquite opposite. The Saudi clan, in fact, sided with British forces andhelped them in defeating the army of the Islamic state (Ottoman Caliphate)along with the other Arab tribes, which resulted in its destruction in 1924.Islam commands Muslims to regulate all of their affairs according to IslamicShari'ah (Jurisprudence) manifested in the institution of the Caliphate. Thecurrent scenario provides a perfect opportunity. America is becoming weakeveryday, which is clear from its situation in Iraq and Afghanistan; thevoices in the Muslim world of being ruled only by Islam are growing louderevery day. It is the right time to raise the voices and banners, demandingthe restoration of the Islamic Caliphate, which would use our resources forthe benefit of the Muslim Ummah. Only the Caliphate would serve as aplatform unifying the Muslims around the world under a single leadership andsolve our long-standing disputes and problems.
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