What's Saudi Arabia thinking?

In seriousness, Bush being so vocally oppossed to dictatorships and human rights violations, why is he so closely involved with Saudi Arabia?

I've been saying this for G-d only knows how long, and lets not forget about Pakistan.

This is why we need to develop other energy resources. No president has seriously challenged Saudi Arabia's human rights record with any vehemence. It is hypocritical, but unfortunately necessary. Nobody said politics is pretty or fair. It's hardball.

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lambaste me not

Then what is the war in Iraq based on exactly? Bush is venemently opossed to dictatorships only when he can be? Would he have been Saddam's best friend if he had been as compliant as the Saudis?

Powergrid, you seem to be saying that Bush is allied to them out of neccessity. What evidence is there that he actually cares at all?

Although I’d argue we already have developed alternative energy resources. Industrial giants just make it hard to convert.

Ousting Saddam.

That's politics.

You'll have to ask him about that.

I cannot speak to what he cares about. All I can say is that as a nation we are allied to them out of necessity. It is a fact of life that we must deal with until we can be in a position to not have to rely on them.

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lambaste me not

"That's politics."

Thats not an excuse, even if its the norm.

You have the luxury of that opinion, because the future of America is not at your fingertips. The decisions you make do not have the capacity to ruin our economy, so you have the luxury of standing simply on principle. The problem is that the political world is much more sticky than that. We have to deal with Saudi Arabia differently simply because they have the ability to ruin our country with a single decision. That is an ugly fact of life that we have to deal with. This is why we have to get off oil so that we can afford to make decisions based on ideals rather than survival.

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lambaste me not

Powergrid, i'm not talking about Bush pointing a gun at the Saudis and yelling at them, forcing reform on their butt.

The least he could do is hold a big Arab conference where he would discuss reform with them. Surely that could possibly help the situation. I highly doubt the Saudi's would get pissed at that. Heck, that would give his entire slogan of spreading "freedom and democracy" some credibility.

I agree. Some words should be said. And actually they have to some degree. Maybe Bush should be a bit firmer on the issue. His hands are basically tied though since this world is addicted to oil. I hear what you are saying though.

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lambaste me not