Why Do The Journos Keep Whining About The Saudis?

[ToraToraTora]

Yes we know they are barbaric mad mullahs but hello, you sometimes have to deal with bad guys to help the cause against the worse guys. No one will be happier than me when we reduce our reliance on oil and gas but for now we have to hold our noses and get on with it.

[archibaldy]

Crazy how we are in a situation where there are only bad options and worse options when it comes to where we get our energy from and I think journalists or anyone else is entitled to express displeasure at that.

[Peter Pedant]

// Why is a Saudi bomb on civilians more acceptable than a Russian bomb on civilians?//
erm.....
they sell us oil?

[archibaldy]

^^ And the civilians the Russians are bombing are a bit more like us.

[douglas9401]

Independence Day mankind's finest hour.

I may need a lie down.

[ichkeria]

Ukraine has killed 4 Russian generals (the latest in Mariupol ironically) and taken over 1000 Russian soldiers captive.
I wonder where they are putting them all

And that’s a lot of calls home to mummy

[Khandro]

The loss of four Generals is looking more like negligence than misfortune. Perhaps they are not militarily the 'right kind'; chosen for their allegiance to Tsar Putin rather than their nous.

[Peter Pedant]

when the troops falter, the generals / bigwigs are sent to lead them over the trenches
and get shot
also the generals secure telephones/mobiles arent - - I think

I reckon THAT is GCHQ but the media is told it is pointy headed Ukrainian hackers in caves

[ichkeria]

They’re losing generals because the higher ranks are having to get closer to the front line because of the chaos there.

Allegedly 40% of the original invasion hardware has been lost.
That is staggering if true

[ichkeria]

“ But what does that mean? How do they know that it is dirty money and if they do why have they done nothing about it?”

A very timely book has just been published: “Butler yo the World” by Oliver Bullough that explains how the UK became the money laundering capital of the world

[Ellipsis]

Here's a useful article that lists some of the main issues with Saudi Arabia in one place ...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-58930311

In no particular order ...

* Use of the death penalty
* Murder of a journalist by the state
* Treatment of women
* Treatment of intellectuals, clerics and reformists
* The devastating war in Yemen
* Treatment of same-sex relations

Given that lot, one might ask "If we're prepared to deal with Saudi Arabia, why won't we deal with Russia?"

[youngmafbog]

* Use of the death penalty
And? Other countries do. At least they dont let them out to do it again like we do.
* Murder of a journalist by the state
Agreed on that one
* Treatment of women
It's their country and their culture. Who is to say we (The West) are right?
* Treatment of intellectuals, clerics and reformists
Not entirely sure what you mean by this. If people obey the laws of thg land they most likely wont have a problem. The problem with some of these sorts mis they think they are right all the time even when they are not.
* The devastating war in Yemen
Yes, not good.
* Treatment of same-sex relations
Again, their country, their culture, their religion. Who do you think you are to force YOUR beliefs on them?

[Mozz71]

//Treatment of women
It's their country and their culture. Who is to say we (The West) are right?//

A slightly different take to the one generally expressed on AB when it's a Muslim country mistreating their women.

[youngmafbog]

I think you may well be confusing behaviour in other countries with their behaviour when they come to ours Moz. From what I have seen many Abers do object to them bringing it here but its only the right-on back them doing it here and objecting to them doing it there.

[ichkeria]

"Given that lot, one might ask "If we're prepared to deal with Saudi Arabia, why won't we deal with Russia?" 2

And given that question I'd be tempted to ask: "Have you not seen the news recently?"
Meaning, the action against Russia is in response to a particular event, it's not us deciding we are going to get tough all nasty regimes and we've missed one out

[THECORBYLOON]

TORATORATORA, "Independence Day" was not a documentary...

[Ellipsis]

> Not entirely sure what you mean by this.

From the article I linked to ...

Dozens of human rights defenders, intellectuals, academics, clerics and reformists have also been arrested since 2017, merely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, according to international human rights organisations.

Many have faced what Amnesty International has said were grossly unfair trials on vague terrorism and cybercrime charges, and received harsh sentences, including the death penalty.

Days before the Newcastle United takeover, a court upheld a 20-year prison sentence handed to Saudi-American aid worker Abdul Rahman al-Sadhan for writing satirical tweets criticising the authorities.

His sister, Areej, said he was "brutally tortured" before his conviction.

[Ellipsis]

> * Treatment of women It's their country and their culture. Who is to say we (The West) are right?

Wow. I don't think I'll bother arguing that one with you ...

[CrapAtCryptics]

Initially we only got 8% of our oil from the Russians, why dont we just reduce our mileage by an equal amount ie do larger shops so less visits. I`m sure you think up savings that suit your lifestyle.

[Khandro]

Ellipsis; //... one might ask "If we're prepared to deal with Saudi Arabia, why won't we deal with Russia?"//

Because there is a marked difference between the two equally disagreeable administrations.

The human rights issues in Saudi Arabia can be likened to a neighbour who is violently abusing his (or indeed her) own family within his own house, - what the police would term as "a domestic".

With Russia/Putin, it is as if that neighbour had broken into another neighbour's house, & engaged in a violent assault against the resident family, who had not in any way provoked him.

With the latter, I think the surrounding neighbours would be justified in entering and restraining him. With the former all that can be done is attempting to influence through dialogue.

[Ellipsis]

Yemen is Saudi Arabia's Ukraine. More than 100,000 dead in that war so far ...