Tag: Saudi Arabia

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Background Briefing: October 10, 2022

On By gram

 

Apart From Angry Denunciations of MBS From Congress, What Can Be Done About His Perfidy?

We begin with angry denunciations of the Saudi Crown Prince coming from Senate and House leaders frustrated with MBS’s insulting rejection of Biden’s ill-advised entreaties and his embrace of Putin in facilitating the rise of the price of oil to help finance Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and help bring back Trump to the White House. Joining us is Hossein Askari, the Iran Professor Emeritus of International Business and International Affairs at George Washington University where he has served as chairman of the International Business Department and as director of the Institute of Global Management and Research. He served for two and a half years on the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund and was special advisor to the Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia. During 1990-1991 he was asked by the governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia to act as an intermediary to restore diplomatic relations; and in 1992 he was asked by the Emir of Kuwait to mediate with Iran.

 

The US Fought Two Wars To Protect the Saudi Regime, Now They Are Allied With Russia and China

Then we look into what options the US has in retaliating against MBS’s perfidy and the treachery of his allies in the US such as the Trump family and the many financial institutions, Washington officials and think tanks on the Saudi payroll. Joining us is Robert Baer, one of the most accomplished agents in CIA history, and a winner of the Career Intelligence Medal. He is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, including Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul For Saudi Crude. He is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Middle East and is an intelligence and national security affairs analyst for CNN. His latest book is The Fourth Man: The Hunt for a KGB Spy at the Top of the CIA and the Rise of Putin’s Russia, and we discuss how the US fought two wars against Iraq to protect the Saudi regime which has now aligned itself with Russia and China and is financing Trump’s comeback while jacking up the price of gas to hurt the Democrats in the election a month away.

 

Inside Ukraine’s Military Strategy and Recriminations Within Putin’s Military

Then finally we speak with a war correspondent just back from Kyiv who is soon to return to Ukraine and speak with Simon Shuster, a reporter for Time Magazine based in New York City, by way of Moscow, Kyiv and Berlin.  He has previously covered Russia and the former Soviet Union for Reuters, The Associated Press, The Moscow Times and Foreign Policy, and his latest article at Time is “Inside the Ukrainian Counterstrike That Turned the Tide of the War” and we discuss the attack on Putin’s signature bridge on his birthday and his vicious retaliation against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.