Saudi Arabia Says Open to Settling Trade in Other Currencies

bloomberg.com

5 points·chewz··4 comments

The US should respond in kind. Not that they will, or want to, but they need to.

While yes, the Saudis have leverage being that they are the epicenter of oil production and also home to the mecca (pun not intended) for the 2nd most followed religion on the planet , the US has some serious leverage too, such as being the provider of the Saudi's military tech, helping the Saudis wage geopolitical proxy wars against Iran, making sure that Saudi oil shipments around the world happen unmolested, making sure that the Saudi royals who fiscally backed the 9/11 perpetrators were able to return to Saudi Arabia on 9/12 unmolested, etc...

The Saudis are playing a dangerous game here, and really don't understand the shit that will go down if they destroy the Petrodollar.

I don't see why the US should care about Mecca as far as financial leverage goes.

The Saudis have an outsized influence on Islam as a whole, which is not financial leverage so much as it is a massive cultural leverage. Mecca was a huge (Muslim) tourist destination well before oil companies came to the Kingdom.

Without neccessarily dusputing what you're saying (which is a bit simplistic, but not wholly inaccurate), I just don't see why it matters in determining the US response here.

But my comment was too much of a nit; I do agree the US should respond. If the Gulf Arabs want to act like grown men (which they aren't) then they can experience what that life is like.

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