The Saudis have been living with peak oil for some years now and have
been largely bailed out by price appreciation and maintenance of production at
current levels. The music must end. It is only a matter of when.
When that happens the royals will quietly escape to Europe and the rest
will have to deal with a rapidly worsening situation. In the meantime it has been a great party for
the lucky for now over two generations and heading into the forth.
Worse, the rapid expansion of USA oil production is quickly making the
royals expendable. Besides there are
serious scores to settle that have never been collected that reach deep into
the heart of Al Qaeda. These are not
forgotten.
Meanwhile, In Saudi Arabia...
When the Arab Spring sprung a few years ago, the
world's eyes only really cared about one nation. If Saudi Arabia's elite could
not keep paying off their poor, an uprising in the world's largest oil supplier
could have significant (and catastrophic) consequences for the rest of the
world. Of course, between being paid to lose weight (in gold) and raising
unemployment insurance, the government has kept trouble at bay. However, things
are shifting. As DPA repots, two police were killed after coming under
heavy gunfire while trying to arrest several Shiite activists. Of course,
this is a one off but notable in its occurrence for the first time since 2011.Saudi
Arabia blames Iran of inciting its Shiite citizens to disturb security and
stability.
Via DPA,
Two policemen and two fugitives were killed
Thursday in Saudi Arabia when security forces tried to arrest the wanted men,
the Interior Ministry said.
The incident occurred in Awwamiyyeh, in Qatif
governorate, a stronghold of the country's Shiite opposition.
Police came under heavy fire while carrying out
the arrest operation and were forced to shoot back, ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki
said.
A wave of protest swept the Shiite-dominated
Qatif area, in eastern Saudi Arabia, in 2011. Since then there have been a
number of shooting incidents, while authorities have pursued wanted Shiite
activists.
The Shiites accuse authorities in the kingdom,
which is dominated by the hardline Sunni Wahhabi tendency, of discrimination. Saudi Arabia denies this, describing the
protesters as "rioters" financed by foreign countries to cause unrest
in the world's top oil exporter.
Saudi
Arabia blames Iran of inciting its Shiite citizens to disturb security and
stability.
In January, the US embassy in Riyadh warned its
citizens against travelling to the district after gunmen attacked the car of
two German diplomats.
Security forces who tried to arrest those
suspected of being behind "armed unrest" were shot at and retaliated,
a ministry spokesman was quoted as saying.
They seized "two weapons, a large quantity
of ammunition, a bulletproof vest and weapons sights," he added, warning
the authorities would crush any such resistance with "an iron
fist".
Awamiya has continued to experience problems
despite the end of mass protests that erupted in the eastern region in March
2011 in the wake of the Arab Spring.
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