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9 Oct, 2015 14:20

‘House of Saud in very defensive mood’

‘House of Saud in very defensive mood’

The House of Saud has been in a defensive posture since 2011, says Dr. Colin S. Cavell of Bluefield State College. Declining oil revenues and fortunes spent on supporting terrorists has created an eruption within the third generation of the House.

Saudi authorities have ordered serious cuts on buying cars and luxury property because of the country's worsening economic crisis caused by low oil prices, reported the Guardian citing leaked memos. 

RT: So we have Saudi Arabia’s government introducing their own version of austerity measures, cutting car and furniture purchases among them. Do you think we’re seeing the end of the super-luxurious life that these guys are leading, I mean they’re not going to start taking the public bus to Bahrain and the UAE now, are they? 

Colin S. Cavell: I hope so, I’m hoping that this is the beginning of the end of the House of Saud – this corrupt monarchy has to fall…. Many of the problems originated from the Middle East. The real problem is that you have a corrupt family with billions and billions of dollars, and this has led to a government – a regime that engages in wars of aggression, has engaged in policies of repression, sending its military into neighboring Bahrain to repress the democratic movement there, sending its bombers and military into neighboring Yemen to repress the movement for democracy there...

READ MORE: Saudi black op team behind Damascus chem weapons attack – diplomatic sources

Its regime has engaged in so many repetitious acts to destroy the sovereign state of Syria in 1993, funneling chemical weapons, which have killed many people in Ghouta in August of 2013. So this regime has tons of money, it is trying to fight back the ‘Arab Spring’ of democracy by trying to get rid of the democratically elected governments in Iran, Syria and elsewhere. They are trying to maintain this autocratic monarchical dictatorship as they’ve done since the early part of the 20th century, when king Saud Abdullah bin Aziz Bin Zaid established the modern Saudi state.

RT: The Saudis have been known to have the media in their pocket in the region, also paying huge cash to US PR and lobby firms to improve their image. Do you think their relations with the West will be affected, if they won’t be able to throw money at every problem like before?

CC: Absolutely, money is the only connection right now between Saudi Arabia and the UK and the US – were it not for this tremendous amount of oil revenues propping up this dictatorship - no one in its right mind in the US and probably Britain as well would ally with these despots.

RT

RT: Up to now Saudi Arabia’s been a pretty stable country, compared to their friends over in Bahrain for example. Is it possible that this type of unrest may hit Saudi Arabia as well if this deteriorating economic situation is added to the human rights and other issues the country already has?

CC: If you look at the stability of the House of Saud’s since WWII, it has been fairly stable with some ups and downs at times. But currently since 2011 with the eruption of the Arab Spring protest for democracy, which has galvanized people all over the Middle East, the House of Saud has been in a very defensive posture, and I think right now having sent its military into Bahrain, having sent its military into Yemen, having surpassed India as the number one arms buyer in the world just in 2014, having purchased over $61 billion in arms just from the US – they are in a very defensive mood right now. And it is in conjunction with this decline of oil revenues, it is in conjunction with this expenditure of tremendous amounts of money on the war in Yemen, on the support for ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliates in Iraq and in Syria; it’s in conjunction with the lavish luxurious living of King Salman and the rest of the House of Saud. This is creating an eruption particularly amongst the third generation of the House of Saud – those who are competing to take over upon the demise of King Salman. They see this as their heritage, which is going quickly down the toilet.

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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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