Obama in Saudi Arabia:
Barrels of Oil, Buckets of Blood
April 25, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
"The interests, objectives, and grand designs of the imperialists are not our interests—they are not the interests of the great majority of people in the U.S. nor of the overwhelming majority of people in the world as a whole. And the difficulties the imperialists have gotten themselves into in pursuit of these interests must be seen, and responded to, not from the point of view of the imperialists and their interests, but from the point of view of the great majority of humanity and the basic and urgent need of humanity for a different and better world, for another way."
Bob Avakian, BAsics 3:8
On April 20, President Obama traveled to Saudi Arabia, for the fourth time in his presidency, to embrace King Salman and reaffirm America’s “historic friendship” with the Saudi kingdom.
Keeping this barbaric, Islamist tyranny intact, pumping, and firmly under U.S. imperialist control has demanded blood-letting and human suffering on an unimaginable scale. A few examples, out of 70 years of examples:
1991, Persian Gulf War. After Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia’s neighbor Kuwait, the U.S. invaded and then economically strangled Iraq with sanctions for a decade, in part to protect the kingdom and the other Gulf oil producers. Iraqi blood flowed freely: 100,000 to 200,000 were killed in the 1991 war. As for tears, the families of 500,000 children (along with perhaps a million other Iraqis) had to watch them waste away and die from starvation or preventable diseases like diarrhea thanks to the U.S. war and sanctions. Bill Clinton’s secretary of state assured the world this “price” was “worth it.”
2003-2011, Invasion and Occupation of Iraq: To strengthen the U.S. grip on the Middle East and world, including by securing clients like Saudi Arabia, the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq from 2003-2011. At least 120,000 Iraqis were killed directly, another 600,000 or more died as a consequence, 4.2 million more were wounded, and at least 4.5 million were driven from their homes.
Today: Bombs… U.S.-supplied bombs—dropped from U.S.-supplied aircraft, directed by U.S.-supplied intel—have killed thousands of Yemenis since the Saudis began bombing in March 2015. Blood-stained bodies have been recovered by grieving, tearful relatives, friends, and neighbors from amidst the rubble in markets, in hospitals, in their homes, in schools.
And Beheadings. The Saudi regime beheaded 151 people last year, and 47 this January alone, including religious dissidents, minority Shi’ite protesters, and migrant workers (who make up 80 percent of Saudi Arabia’s workforce). Saudi women are still suffocated under rigid religious-patriarchal strictures, including having to get permission from a male “guardian” to do most anything. One 19-year old woman was initially sentenced to 200 lashes after she was gang-raped.
Imperialist control of Middle East oil requires regional domination, and that domination requires endless wars and brutal repression. So for every barrel of oil extracted from Saudi Arabia by Western imperialism, buckets of blood have been spilled and gallons of tears have been shed by the masses of people.
So stop asking if the U.S.-Saudi alliance is “good for America.” This blood pact is a nightmare for the peoples of the Middle East, and it’s not in the interests of humanity—including people living in the United States. Our interests lie in the revolutionary overthrow of U.S. imperialism and all oppressive regimes and the emancipation of humanity.
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