This affects growth rates in the world for demanding oil in the coming period and contributes to a negative impact on the march of development in our country...

Think of what would happen to the march of development in your country if American women weren't allowed to drive, you shameless mother ducker.

If you want to see where a lot of that oil money goes, then come to LA and watch the hookers march to the top floor of the Bel Air Hotel.

It's not discussed much, but my understanding (and this might be worth a column in itself), is that the Saudi government is completely dependent on oil revenues. The Saudi royal family consists of thousands of dependents who demand huge yearly stipends for their continued loyalty.

Not to mention the Wahhabi faction that runs the street in Saudi Arabia. On the evidence, and there's plenty, the sole reason the Saudi Royals were not overthrown by the Wahhabis long ago is the money the Royals give them to stay quiescent...and, of course, the power this sect of fanatics is given to run the country as they see fit... an oversimplification, yes, but true in its essence I think.

and, finally, many members of ordinary society are on government support paid for by oil revenues. If those revenues go down, even by a seemingly small percentage, the Saudi government is in *very* big trouble. Terminal trouble, you might say.

The only thing that bails them out is that as demand goes up, and supply tightens, the price goes up, so reduction in production is compensated for by price increases.

If this delicate balance were upset--for instance, purely hypothetical, some powerful alternative energy source were found that cut the first-world consumption of oil significantly--the Saudi government would probably fall overnight, and there would be bloody chaos in that country until the fanatics took over..

You can bet that the most powerful members of the Royal family in Saudi Arabia have jets ready and waiting at all times to take them to safe exile. I know I would, were I them.

The other reason there's been no revolution in Saudi Arabia: that other reason would be us. The Wahhabis know we'd make a move if they tried to take over the country.

So, a very delicate game, easily upset. It's an upset that could occur at any time now, for any number of reasons...attack on the oil ports or pipelines from the fields, or a sudden ongoing drop in production from Ghawar...a drop, by the way, that's been prevented only by extremely drastic measures. Measures that are not sustainable and could fail at any time.

If we were smart, we'd be making accomodation with radical Islam, not trying to destroy it. We'll never destroy it. That genie is long out of the bottle, and partly our doing. Radical Islam could end up ruling most of the Middle East oil because of our short-sighted stupidity, if we don't start acting more like adults, and less like drunken connecticut frat boys with Daddy issues, or vengeful fascist geeks from the intermountain West with masculinity issues.

We, and the Saudis, are both in a corner. I fear what'll happen when that corner gets too small to occupy.

I'm not exactly what you would call a supporter of America, and given all the disasters that have befallen countries around the world the destruction of the World Trade Centre, as tragic as it was, is not the biggest thing that has ever happened.

That said, Americans are right in vowing to never forget what happened to them. So any pity toward Saudi Arabia, where the bulk of the 9/11 terrorists actually came from, is laughable.

If America actually wants to begin clawing its way back to the point where what it says means anything then it should do everything possible to limit its consumption of Middle East oil. There's coal, nuclear and increasingly more affordable oil from Canada (the world's second largest reserves of oil). And of course, there's also the option of limiting ones consumption.

So the next time you see some jiggle-head step out of a big ass truck with a "Never Forget 9/11" shirt slap his (or her) fat head and remind them that their truck fed the terrorists.

It is saudi arabia which was the MAIN FINANCIAR of Taliban regime of Afghanistan before 9/11,

Its embassy served as interrogation centre for taliban ISI.

Its emabassy staff in pakistan are the only one who are allowed to travel to FATA region of Pakistan without fear and need for escort.

It continues to interfere in pakistan internal affairs as well as in Bangladesh and supports Muslim minorties in Philipines,thailand,SriLanka and ofcourse India the biggest Muslim umma is located in india

But then American ruling ELITE had special relationship with Saudies from the days of clark clifford, BCCI and ofcourse Texas oil lobby, cheney,haliburton and ofcourse Abramoff.

Literally the kingdom is the property of the 7000 princes of the al Aziz ibn Saud clan. It's important to keep this in mind. It's not a country per se as we are normally accustomed to. They outlawed most common forms of slavery in 1962 or 63.

Now having said that, they're not stupid. They've educated their elite for decades in the west fully understanding that an ignorant uneducated cradle to grave welfare state populace is the best way to maintain. And with these expensive western education they've managed to wrest a sort of plan for the future. Today the KSA's government budget is more than 60% of the total GDP. Most of their total revenue comes, obviously from oil. But they understand that that's not forever. So they've diversified. They for example own more than a quarter of Citigroup. They realize that in 30 years they'll have to live off their investments when the oil taps out. They can't build out their own labor force. Today barely 2.7 million Saudis even have jobs. Most are on the dole. The schools are in the dark ages and even if they wanted to build out a modern infrastructure they couldn't. In 30 years 75% of the population will be under the age of 18. Now don't expect them to evolve into the Mideast Hong Kong either since sharia banking places too many restrictions on how they can operate. No - they have to be straight investors, basically economic parasites off the financial engine of the rest of the world.