Saudi Arabia

[bfez1]

Definitely not!

[vbhoutex]

They are too busy trying to please all their supposed Muslim "friends" to be trusted IMO. I know thay have helped the US a lot, but I do not see it being enough to feel I can trust them completely.

[Skywatch_NC]

With these hostages and beheadings going on for ie: DEFINITELY NO TRUST!!

Eric

[Stephanie]

Okay, I'm the oddball - but you already knew that!

I think Saudi Arabia like Jordan is between a rock and a hard place. I think that they are one of the few that we can trust at all. They are a part of the Middle East and have to deal with Al Qaeda, etc. within their own borders on a daily basis. It's a fine dance that they have to do.

[Pburgh]

I agree, Stephanie, that they have to walk a fine in there own political games that's why I don't think that we can trust them

[Lindaloo]

A definite NO!

[j]

absolutely NOT!

[stormie_skies]

I will be the second oddball ....LOL. The Saudi royal family leaves MUCH to be desired, however, political Islamists see them as an enemy because of their dealings with the west (especially their tolerance of westerners in and around the holy cities of Mecca and Medina). An overthrow of the current Saudi government would be a hallmark achievement for fundie Islamic radicals: not only would they get their first solid victory, but it would give them control over the holiest land in Islam. No doubt this is one of their highest goals. The royals will fight these extremists for the same reason Mubarak essentially killed off a similar movement in Egypt - because thats what they need to do to maintain power.
Now that DOESN"T mean that there aren't factions within the Saudi government or military that sympathize with the extremists or would covertly aid them - after all, Saudi is the home of Wahhabi Islam, the violent fundamentalist movement that bin Laden claims to follow. But the official government stance will not change IMO.

[streetsoldier]

OK, let's look at this...

Whenever the Saudis get wind of a "terrorist" hideout, they KILL everyone inside; NO captures, no interrogations, no intel gathering. Sounds VERY strange to me.

Then, at the same time the Saudis SAY they are "going after the terrorists with the full power of the Saudi Government", their Crown Prince Abdullah is saying (at the same time) that "95% of these attacks are being perpetrated by ZIONISTS" (read: Israel). ????

I trust them about as far as I would trust Charles Manson for consideration as Secretary of Education.

[Rainband]

Nope

[Guest]

Nope.

[coriolis]

They're weasels, doing what they have to do to stay in power. But I suppose that weasels are better than fanatics. We are probably playing them as much as they are playing us. That's fine as long as we realize who we're dealing with and have no illusions about it.

[FWBHurricane]

We can trust England, Italy, Australia, and Poland...even Pakistan can be trusted over Saudi Arabia...Pakistan has done more for this war than Saudi Arabia ever did.

[stormchazer]

I will be the third oddball. The Royal Family leads much to be desired, but they have stabilized the flow of oil in Saudi Arabia and been at least under the radar, supportive of US action in the Middle East.

The other option is that the extremist in Saudi Arabia become the ruling class. I feel it woul be much like Iran was in '79. We would be forced to send in troops in my opinion, and that would be very messy.

[therock1811]

Nope.

[TexasStooge]

Not a chance.

[george_r_1961]

I trust them about as much as I would trust a pyromaniac to run a dynamite factory.