A month
ago we gathered
some information to explain the sudden 180 degrees
hostile turn by the Western neoliberal status quo against the current
Saudi regime.
We
discovered that the US corporate dictatorship and the Wall Street
mafia heavily invested on the rapid neoliberalization of the Saudi
Arabian economy, with the privatization of the state-owned oil
company Aramco at the heart of this plan. Suddenly,
Mohammed bin Salman decided to step back from the deal.
It would
be worth to note that Aramco was standing at the top of the global
list of the largest oil and gas companies for 2017
with a revenue of 465.49 billion US dollars.
It seems
that the neoliberal regime didn't abort its plans concerning Saudi
Arabia and silently seeks to "replace" bin Salman with a
more faithful puppet, exploiting, of course, the assassination of
Jamal Khashoggi.
Digging
a little bit more, we found plenty of evidence in the Western
mainstream media, in recent years, showing that this theory is quite
plausible. Here are a few examples:
The
neoliberal apparatus couldn't hide its enthusiasm for the big news as
in July, 2016, Bloomberg
reported:
When
news broke in January that Saudi Arabia was considering an initial
public offering of its state-owned oil company, the first reaction on
Wall Street was shock. Then calls began pouring into Dubai — the
Middle East’s financial hub — from senior bankers in London and
New York. Investment banks around the world are clamoring to join
what promises to be a bonanza, and not just the IPO of Saudi Arabian
Oil Co., or Aramco, which could be valued at upward of $2 trillion.
The kingdom is planning to sell hundreds of state assets to bolster
its finances and reduce its dependence on oil. That includes as much
as $15 billion of bonds. Saudi Arabia looks even more promising with
investment banking in a global slump and Britain’s vote to exit the
European Union set to deter deal-making for months to come.
More
than a year later, in September, 2017, the Guardian wrote:
Saudi
Arabia is lining up a privatisation of state assets that dwarfs the
Thatcher “revolution” of the 1980s, and rivals the 1990s
dissolution of Soviet assets in scale and significance. It has hung a
“for sale” sign on virtually every sector of Saudi economic life:
oil, electricity, water, transport, retail, schools and healthcare.
Even the kingdom’s football clubs are due to be auctioned off. The
sell-off programme is the central part of the economic transformation
plan envisaged under the Vision 2030 strategy. With oil stuck around
the $50 mark, Saudi budgets are creaking and deficits are widening.
Around $75 is regarded as the break-even point for the national
finances. But in 13 years, if all goes to plan, the kingdom will be
financially stable, with a more dynamic economy and society, less
reliance on oil and government spending, and with a thriving private
sector that releases the pent-up entrepreneurial spirit of Saudi men
and (whisper it in the kingdom) Saudi women.
Less
than a year later, in August, 2018, the Saudi wet dream of the
neoliberal predators was about to be spoiled by King Salman. The big
agony of the neoliberal regime was expressed through Reuters:
The
king spoke, and a $2 trillion dream went up in smoke. For the past
two years, Saudi Arabia has prepared to place up to 5 percent of its
national oil company on the stock market. Officials talked up the
Saudi Aramco initial public offering (IPO) with international
exchanges, global banks and U.S. President Donald Trump. The planned
listing was to be the cornerstone of the kingdom’s promised
economic overhaul and, at a targeted $100 billion, the biggest IPO
ever. It was the brainchild of 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, heir apparent of the world’s largest oil exporter. But
after months of setbacks, the international and domestic legs of the
IPO were pulled. The reason: the prince’s father King Salman
stepped in to shelve it, three sources with ties to government
insiders told Reuters. The decision came after the king met with
family members, bankers, and senior oil executives, including a
former Aramco CEO, said one of the sources, who requested anonymity.
Those consultations took place during Ramadan, which ended in the
middle of June. The king’s interlocutors told him that the IPO, far
from helping the kingdom, would undermine it. Their main concern was
that an IPO would bring full public disclosure of Aramco’s
financial details, the sources said.
It is
possible that the more experienced King Salman understood that such a
brutal regime could not have a chance to survive without giving
benefits and public jobs to the population. The fall of the biggest
asset of the Saudi economy to the hands of the Western predators, as
well as the subsequent neoliberalization of the economy, would
deprive from the regime the advantage of giving benefits and keeping
the population quiet.
On the
other hand, we could not ignore the enormous hypocrisy of the Western
media concerning Saudi Arabia and the war in Yemen. They almost
buried the entire war and the war crimes by the Saudi coalition (in
which the US participates) as long as the big plan for the big banks
and corporations seemed to be going well.
At the
beginning of the summer, the ruthless hypocrites in the Western media
were even praising Mohammed bin Salman. In the midst of the war
crimes in Yemen they presented him as a 'big reformer' who could
bring some unprecedented liberties for the Saudi Arabian society,
like, for example, the right for the women to drive. The news were
circulated with the speed of light in all the major media outlets.
Yet, not a single word about the war crimes in Yemen and the
unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
But when
Mohammed bin Salman decided to step back from the deal, following his
father's decision, the war has started.
'Miraculously'
the well-paid corporate media pundits suddenly discovered the
atrocities in Yemen. However, it was a rather uncomfortable situation
because it was impossible not to mention that the US supports the
Saudi coalition in various ways.
So, the
Western mainstream media grabbed the opportunity and focused on the
assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. In the midst of continuing war
crimes in Yemen - with thousands still dying from famine and cholera
- the media turned all the lights to Khashoggi case for days, in
order to use it as a more convenient 'tool' against Mohammed bin
Salman. And they did it again. The story went viral.
Under these circumstances it would not surprise us if one day learn that Khashoggi's assassination was a CIA-type false flag operation.
Under these circumstances it would not surprise us if one day learn that Khashoggi's assassination was a CIA-type false flag operation.
In a
latest move towards regime change in Saudi Arabia, some corporate
puppets approved the advancement of a resolution to end the US
support to the Saudi coalition.
But it
seems that they exploited the sincere willing of some members, like
Bernie Sanders, to end the disaster in Yemen. They left
a loophole in the bill in order to permit any
further US intervention under a more faithful puppet in the Saudi
leadership. A successor of bin Salman who will revive the wet dream
of the neoliberal predators.
The
ringer tightens around Mohammed bin Salman. Lindsey Graham even
lambasted
him
as “crazy” and said he would find it difficult to vote for future
Saudi arms purchases. Graham had been an early critic of Trump, but
then seemed to fall into line behind the president, but he is now
bucking him on Saudi Arabia.
In the
end, do you get the whole picture? Do you understand how ruthless
these neoliberal predators are? It doesn't matter if you are their
worst enemy, or, their most faithful ally. It doesn't matter if you
are the most democratic government, or, the most brutal regime. Once
you stop following their plans, once you demonstrate the slightest
resistance, they will stab you in the back, they will turn the whole
world against you, and, sooner or later, they will loot your country.
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