Saudi Arabia ‘summons’ Cheney

Dick Cheney was in Riyadh over the weekend, but the VP’s office, which is not exactly forthcoming on a regular basis, was unusually vague about this trip. According to what Cheney aides were willing to share, the Vice President traveled half-way around the world for a two-hour meeting with King Abdullah, then hoped on his plane and came home. A spokesperson for the VP’s office would only say that Cheney’s meeting covered a “wide range of issues.” Yeah, that’s helpful.

While the AP suggested that Cheney’s trip was part of a “U.S. diplomatic push to stem surging violence in Iraq,” the WaPo reported that that the push for the meeting came from the Saudis, not the other way around. (via Nico)

Saudi Arabia is so concerned about the damage that the conflict in Iraq is doing across the region that it basically summoned Vice President Cheney for talks over the weekend, according to U.S. officials and foreign diplomats.

Classic. No wonder Cheney and his aides wanted to keep this under wraps; it’s rather humiliating to have the Saudi Crown Prince “summon” our VP for a chat about how badly he’s screwing up the Middle East.

I’ve often wondered if there was any force on earth that could get Cheney to do something he doesn’t want to do. He’s not inclined to care about Congress, or follow U.S. law, or honor U.S. commitments, or negotiate, compromise, or cooperate with anyone.

But when “summoned” by King Abdullah, Cheney is on the plane. Good to know.

Wonder how Cheney kowtowing to the Saudi family would play in “red america?” (assuming this will get no real coverage on the teevee or in the papers, or called what it really is.)

  • Hell, how will Cheney on a plane to answer a Summons from the House of Saud going to play in Blue America?

    It just goes to show that the Bushites are nothing but the tools of the Texas Oil Mafia and their allies, the House of Saud.

  • Okay, who else had that scene from “The Empire Strikes Back” between Vader and the Emperor pop in their head after they read this?

  • What’s really sad and funny is that, well, shouldn’t conferring with foreign leaders on regional security be done by the Secretary of State, not the Vice President?

    This just shows that:

    a) Condi Rice is acknowledged on the world stage to be mere irrelevant windowdressing not worth consulting, and

    b) the Saudis know darn well who really pulls the strings in Washington, and it ain’t George Bush, and

    c) the Saudis must be genuinely terrified of what’s going on over there if they felt the need to pull such a transparent stunt.

    And if the Saudis are that scared, how scared should we over here be? 🙁

  • Is allowing the Royal House of Saud to shape US policy a step up from letting disgraced prince Osama do it? I too wondered about the brevity of the trip. Some how the phrase Wham, bam thank you ma’am came to mind…

    However, I would love to get a recording of that phone call:

    “Oi, wide boy, we’re being over run with refugees from your little shindig. Get your white ass out here so I can spank it red and blue!”

    “Bu-but your majesty, the Republican Base might think-”

    “Think? If those inbred pasty faced Bible humping jackals thought, you wouldn’t be getting ready to come out here and spit shine my shoes. Hop to it!” [click]

    [Cheney mutters a nasty comment. Phone rings]

    “That little comment about my mother is going to cost you pal.”

    “But. How -?”

    “My spying apparatus is much bigger than yours. Just ask Lynne. MOVE!”

  • “wide range of issues.”

    In two hours ?? Christ we can can’t even decide where to order office supplies from in s four hour meeting, yet the VP can discuss a wide range of issues in two hours with King Abdullah.

    The facts are so far off on this story. If I were a reporter I would dig, there is something there, I can smell it.

    And is Cheney so disconnected that he can’t bring himself to even stay the night. I guess he is homesick for his undesclosed location. Who flys for roughly 14 hours for a two meeting and flys back. This whole thing stinks of something innappropriate.

  • “Okay, who else had that scene from “The Empire Strikes Back” between Vader and the Emperor pop in their head after they read this? ”

    Dum Dum Dum Da Da Dum Da Da Dum…
    I did! I did! (Childish jumping up and down as the idiot Star Wars fanboy in the back waves his hand furiously)

    Although Cheney as Vader works until one realizes that Vader was very competent at what he did where as Cheney is more like the guy who designed the Death Star-big, awesome and powerful but it had that one little bitty exhaust port flaw.

  • Well, of course it’s something inappropriate, Scott. What we’re probably talking about here is “oil futures.” Let’s see now…January 2007, February 2007, March 2007, and so on. It’s a quick in-person thing, so as to avoid the distinct posibility that some underling might be trying to pull his own butt out of the fire by getting a recording of Cheney’s conversations. I mean—since we’re recording all telephone conversations betwen US soil and overseas these days—Negroponte (?) might suddenly have himself a hefty bargaining chip for when the “House of Fraud” comes a-tumbling down around Cheney’s ears….

  • Phone conversations about price-fixing on oil for the sake of elections is not something that Pencil Dick Cheney is willing to have recorded by their unconstitutional wiretapping program. Saudi Arabia increased output at the same time the oil companies lowered the prices to give us the situation before the election. The bad news, oil is going back up because the oil companies fulfilled their promise to VP PD to lower prices before the elections and OPEC will be lowering output.

  • 2Manchu @3

    Cheney is bald like Vader – I guess I can hear him saying “What is thy bidding, my master?” to King Abdullah.

    Former Dan @7, I think I may be the bigger idiot Star Wars fanboy.

  • Is allowing the Royal House of Saud to shape US policy a step up from letting disgraced prince Osama do it?

    Why not? We let AIPAC do it every day…

  • Re: allowing Royal House to shape our foreign policy, and Osama…
    please read and enjoy this excerpt, and then buy this brilliant and funny book at gregpalast.com.

    No disclaimers to give, just a fan of his writing.

    Greg Palast “Armed Madhouse” June 2006
    Chapter 1: The Fear (Who’s Afraid Of Osama Wolf?) p.10-11:

    “Osama’s Mission Accomplished”

    “On Thursday, May 1, 2003, President Bush landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier ‘Abraham Lincoln.’ Forgetting to undo the parachute clips around his gonads, our President walked bowlegged on the ship’s deck in a green jumpsuit looking astonishingly like Ham, first chimp in space. The scene was so exciting that the media failed to notice that the War on Terror had ended on the previous Tuesday.

    “On that day, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld quietly acknowledged that he was withdrawing America’s armed forces from Saudi Arabia.

    “I’m always surprised at the debate over ‘What drives Osama? What does Al-Qaeda want?’ There should be no confusion: Al-Qaeda states its mission, like most enterprises, on its Web site. Osama had it written out in English, in capital letters, so it wouldn’t (sic) be difficult to miss the point.

    “DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST THE AMERICANS
    OCCUPYING THE LAND OF THE TWO HOLY
    PLACES- EXPEL THE INFIDELS FROM THE ARAB
    PENINSULA

    “The ‘two holy places’ are Mecca and Medina, and their ‘land’ is Saudi Arabia. That’s what Osama wanted: U.S. troops out of Saudi Arabia.

    “Bin Laden issued his demand on August 23, 1996; and on April 29, 2003, the Tuesday before the President was chauffeured by fighter jet onto the deck of the ‘Abe Lincoln,’ Mr. Bush gave bin Laden exactly what he wanted: U.S. troops sent packing from the Land of the Holy Places.

    “That’s astonishing. Until George W. Bush, the United States of America has never, ever, removed all our military bases from a foreign land no matter how much locals bitched or moaned. We even keep troops in Okinawa over the island’s strong objections, and World War II ended sixty years ago…”

  • Too much! I just posted a quote from Palast on a different site. Great to see others are not just reading, but passing along his indispensable work. Palast is the real deal. He’s a former prosecutor, so, unlike the pretty people who present the news, he knows from investigating.

    Thanks for the plug, jane, you saved me the trouble 🙂

  • knowbuddhau-

    Nice to hear an “Amen”from the choir, but people should really read this book…it would save us a lot of time arguing our position, wouldn’t it?

  • Isn’t it nice to know that someone is winning somthing in the war with al Qaeda?

    Even if it is Osama?

    Really, don’t let this bother you. Osama’s “Get the Americans out of Saudi Arabia” is as real a reason as BG2’s “Finding WMD in Iraq”. They are just excuses to play to their bases.

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