Guardians Of
The Haramain-
The Reality
By Ousama Hanif
15 September, 2005
Countercurrents.org
After
the death of King Fahd, one could have expected the US to pressurize
for free and fair elections in Saudi Arabia in line with the rhetoric
of Freedom & democracy voiced by the Bush administration with regards
to the Middle East. Instead, the Bush administration being a spectator
has silently
approved Prince Abdullah as the new King and accepted the continuation
of the Monarchy. It clearly exposes the real intentions of the policy
makers in Washington and shows that The US is clearly not interested
in empowering people. Washington Knows it very well that if the opportunity
falls in hands
of ordinary Muslims, it would not lead to a secular democratic setup
rather a genuine Islamic System. The US policies have always been driven
by its corporate interests and its relation with Saudi Arabia throughout
the History is a proof of it.
The total amount
of the American arms sale to Saudi Arabia over the past half century
approaches 100 billion dollars with over a quarter of the contracts
signed in 1990s. These figures include weapons, equipment, spare parts,
services and construction. However they are purchased by the Saudis
but are used by Americans the initial entry of the American forces into
the Kingdom occurred at the end of Second World War when US build air
Base at Dehran near the Hasa Oil fields. All the while, the Saudis have
tried to keep the American military presence at a low profile aware
that it was a provocation. However the arms sales like to other Muslim
countries was not without conditions and limitations. President Carter's
sale of Advanced F-15 fighter aircrafts in 1978 was only on conditions
that limited their range and offensive power due to the fears that it
could damage the regional balance against Israel. Initially, President
Reagan's sale of military equipment was only for Saudis to guard the
attacks against the oil installations. It included military aircraft,
fueling tankers and Air-Air missiles. When Israel raised objections
to the sale, the packages were scaled down and special restrictions
placed on the use of the Aircraft.
The ultimate pact
of dependencies came in the 80s when under US instructions; the Saudi
signed the NPT effectively killing any nuclear ambitions. US arms trade
with Saudi Arabia grew dramatically in the 90s with over 14.4 billion
dollar contract signed; 6.1 billion preceded the first gulf war. American
military presence also increased further. Before the Launch of the gulf
war, Cheney declared that after the danger is over, our forces would
go home but western forces remain in the Kingdom even without
any formal agreement on their status instead they have established themselves
under the pretext of due containment of Iran and Iraq particularly enforcement
of No Fly zones. America had complete autonomy after launching large
air-raids from Prince Sultan Airbase on Baghdad without even providing
prior notice to the Saudi government. Since than, they have treated
the bases and the territory as their own. Subsequent packages of 10s
of billions were designed to permit rapid deployment of US ground forces
from Saudi Arabia in the event of any Middle East hostilities that threatened
American interests. These large arms sale and the Gulf wars have also
helped keep American defence contractors' production lines open and
have been quite significant in US balance of trade.
Nevertheless, the
buying of huge arms has not changed the Kingdom's dependence on US for
its defence and security. During the 2003, start of the Gulf war, Saudi
Arabia secretly helped the United States allowing operations from atleast
three airbases, permitting Special Forces to stage attacks from
Saudi soil and providing access to cheap fuel. Publicly, US and Saudi
officials have portrayed the American presence during the war as minimum
and limited to prince sultan airbase. In reality, the air command centre
was in Saudi Arabia.
Like most of the
Muslim rulers, Saudis never had the interest of Muslims in mind, when
not serving the needs of the west; their next most important activity
is to rob Arabia of its resources. The Al-Saud Clan has lived in extreme
luxury, they own atleast 12 Royal palaces ranging from the 2.5 Billion
dollar Al-Yamima palace complex in Riyadh to a cottage four times the
size of the White house in Spain. They own several jets in the office
including one priced 60 million dollars all with Gold Bathrooms and
a fleet of Rolls Royce's and Mercedes. In the mean time, the income
of the average Saudi has fell from 14600 dollars per annum in 1982 to
6800 dollars and unemployment among those who already have left school
hovers around 25%. The gap between the tiny ruling minority and the
people is Huge. While one Saudi princess' dress flies from Europe first
class and pays 5000 dollars per cut, In Hufar Al Wateen, 50 Km from
the Kuwaiti Border, 60,000 people are living in Huts with no electricity,
sewerage and minimal food.
Saudi Arabia, one
of the richest countries in the world resource wise, now has foreign
debts of 28 Billion dollars and domestic debt has increased to 170 Billion
Dollars. Over the last thirty years, more than 3 trillion dollars have
been generated mainly from oil yet only one trillion dollar has been
reinvested into the country, the other two trillion dollars remain unaccounted
for. Four thousand or so Saud Family princes get a basic allowance of
around 1.5 million dollars per year. They supplement this with vast
sums generated by sophisticated forms of theft which include (1) Sale
of oil: King Fahd since 1967, has setup a system by which he and members
of his family sold in the open market anywhere from 300,000 to 1 million
barrels of oil a day at below market prices. Income from that oil was
deposited in Swiss bank accounts. It is estimated that King Fahd's personal
annual income varied between 3 to 5 billion dollars year selling oil
outside the commercial channels and Oil company concessions. (2) Real
Estate: Land in Saudi Arabia is owned by the Government and the government
is controlled by the King with No accountability to anyone. Since 1975,
land has been given to princes and their families by the government
only to be sold back to the government itself thus creating the easiest
means by which to rob the government of its resources. (3) Contract
Fixing: Commissions on commercial and defence contracts are the third
method used by the House of Saud for Money. It is believed that every
contract in Saudi Arabia has got some form of commission. Large contracts
such as the Al-Yamama generated annual commissions in access of 2 Billion
dollars paid to only five people.
Like a giant parasite,
the US administration has also assisted in exhausting Saudi Arabia of
its immense financial reserves totaling 121 billion dollars. All this
in less than a decade and Saudis now have to resort to establish credit
lines with the US government. This Huge strain has been placed on the
Kingdom's Banking system due to the fact that 9000 members of the Royal
families use these funds as their personal bank accounts and most of
these loans still remain uncollected. The national commercial Bank remains
drained and one American official ironically called the unpaid loans
"the biggest black hole in Saudi Economy ". The care takers
of the Ummah wasted the wealth of the Muslims to finance world wide
CIA operations. As the New York Times report says "Washington relies
on Riyadh for a host of favors, from discreet cajoling of its Arab neighbor
to covert financing of CIA operations conducted through CIA or the pentagon"
Financing more than a Billion dollars to CIA for its numerous operations
around the world. Americas Multinational corporations have also benefited
from limitless spending of the Saudis. When America launched Saddam
into Kuwait and destroyed infrastructure of both countries, it left
the job of reconstructing and cleaning up in the hands of
Multinationals. AT&T e-g rebuilt the telephone lines of Kuwait and
is now monopolizing it. The Gulf war cost America nothing since the
caretakers of the Haramain assumed most of the expense. The war cost
Saudis 55 billion dollars.
With Abdullah assuming
the Kingship last month, the tempo of reform to appease the west may
accelerate but warm relations with the US would continue. This is the
reality of the care-takers of the Muslims. While many Muslims around
the world regard Saudi Arabia an Islamic state, the truth is
quite opposite. The Saudi clan infact sided with British forces and
helped them in defeating the army of the Islamic state (Ottoman Caliphate)
along with the other Arab tribes which resulted in its destruction in
1924. Islam commands Muslims to regulate all of their affairs according
to Islamic
Shari'ah, manifested in the institution of the Caliphate. The current
scenario provides a perfect opportunity. America is becoming weak everyday
which is clear from Its situation in Iraq and Afghanistan; the voices
in the Muslim world of being ruled only by Islam are growing louder
everyday. It is the right time to raise the voices and banners, demanding
the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate which would use our resources
for the benefit of the Muslim Ummah. Only the Caliphate would serve
as a platform unifying the Muslims around the world under a single leadership
and solve our long
standing disputes and problems.
Ousama Hanif is a Telecommunication Engineer by Profession. Currently
working as Radio Engineer in a renowned Cellular operator. A regular
contributor to the letters section of different newspapers in Pakistan.He
can be reached at House # 784-D Satellite Town Rawalpindi
or Via e-mail [email protected]