Hacker News Reader

Comment by devoply | Hacker News Reader

America could initially freeze and then seize most of their assets in the US and even take control of most of them in Saudi Arabia as they did in Iraq. In fact it could probably claim a portion of those assets by accusing Saudis of causing 9/11 and sponsoring terrorism for which there is plenty of justification. It could further accuse them of violating human rights by killing people like Kashoghi. If America decides it no longer wants to support the Saudis, it will take a New York minute to covert them into enemy #1.

View on HN

Everything I have read says that Saudi Arabia is a major ally of the United States. There is at least one major US military base in Saudi Arabia, and I believe they have quite a lot of US or British military weapons.

In that context what you are saying makes no sense.

There are no major US military bases in Saudi Arabia. The US withdrew from all of them after 2003. The only current military installation is a Saudi owned one at Eskan Village that's used to assist the Kingdom with equipment purchased from the US.

Cuba also has a big US military base, the US simply refused to leave once their relationship went sour.

> as they did in Iraq

That turned out well don't you think? Iraq was a historical enemy whereas Saudi Arabia is a key ally of the United States. This alone should give you the feeling that there's something happening behind the curtains to justify such an alliance with a... controversial country.

"Iraq was a historical enemy..." um, no, it wasn't, it was an ally of the US in the 80s when it was fighting Iran.

Before that, in the 70s it was a Baathist secular dictatorship that was an oil exporter and thus reliant on the US dollar, while Iran was a Kingdom with a US puppet as Shah.

Sorry I wasn't clear enough. What I meant is that when the regime was finally changed the US wasn't at the first round of wars in the region. In the 10+ years leading to the Iraq War and the regime change they had the first Iraq War (now known as Gulf War) and several "Desert %" operations (bombing campaigns).

Going from ally straight to enemy and war is probably a big step even for the US.

All the companies that got the trillions of dollars in contracts sure think so.

Well the comment I was replying to mentioned terrorism and human rights. If we're talking enrichment then it should be stated more clearly :).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com