Saudi Arabia has a quarter of the world’s
oil reserves. The coastal strip from Kuwait to Qatar contains
forty percent of the oil reserves.
This enormous reserve capacity has
allowed the Saudis to control the price of oil, preventing it
from escalating.
The nation’s 4431 km land border and
2641 km shoreline are indefensible. Smugglers have a long
history of easy access.
Saudi Arabia has gone from being
medieval to modern in fifty years. Riyadh grew from a
population of 30,000 to 4 million in a few decades. The
population now doubles every thirty years and half the
population is under sixteen.
The Saudi regime is very harsh. The
nation has the world record for public beheadings.
The current government is
dysfunctional. The royal family is divided by
jealousy and palace intrigues are common.
The royal family is totally immoral.
Corruption is widespread and bribery is pervasive. They use
their political power to rob innocent people of homes and
business.
Oil wealth is used for the personal
benefit of the royal family. There are over 30,000 royal
princes, each receiving a large allowance. Their extravagant
lifestyle, with lavish palaces, yachts, private jets and
houses on the Rivera, contrasts dramatically with the poverty
of the rest of the population. Their number is growing so fast
that the country can no longer afford them.
Per capital income has halved in the
last two decades as the population has grown and oil income
has been reduced by falling prices.
An alliance between the Wahhabi clerics
and the House of Saud maintains them both in power. The Saudi
Royal family has financed the Wahhabis, in return for their
silence about their immorality. The Wahhabis have exported
revolution throughout the world.
When the Moslem brotherhood was
expelled from Egypt and Syria, they settled in Saudi Arabia.
They have become entrenched in the nation’s universities and
Marasahs.
Saudi youth are educated in the
Marasahs (Islamic schools). They have learned Islam, but have
no modern skills. Two out of three doctorates are in Islamic
studies. They are educated for a world that no longer exists.
Many are unemployed and have no hope. They have nothing better
to do than sit around the mosque or watch al-Jazeera. They are
a ripe breeding ground for radical Islam.
Saudi Arabia operates the world’s
most advanced welfare state, providing Saudi citizens with
free health care and interest-free loans. College education is
free within the kingdom and heavily subsidised for those who
study abroad. In one of the world’s driest spots, water is
almost free. Electricity, domestic air travel, petrol and
telephone services are all available at far below cost.
About a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s
population are foreign nationals, allowed into the kingdom to
do the dirty work in the oil fields or to be domestics, but
also to program computers and manager the refineries. Seven
out of ten jobs are filled by foreigners because Saudis choose
not do them.
The Saudi Shia live in the Eastern
Province where most of the oil is found. The majority of
workers in the Aramco, the Saudi Oil Company, are Shia. They
have been subject to Wahhabi persecution and often much of
their property has been seized.
Several terrorist
attacks have already occured in the capital Ridayh and an attack
caused damage to the Saudi oilfields.
American companies have sold enormous
volumes of armaments to Saudi Arabia. If the enormous
stockpiles of weapons got into the wrong hands, they could be
very dangerous. Islamic radicals have already infiltrated the
military and there are doubts about their loyalty.
American political organisations and
think tanks have received funding from Saudi Arabia. Many
American companies have paid commissions (bribes) to Saudi
princes to obtain business. Because they have sold out, these
groups remain silent about Saudi injustice and immorality.