An Asshole and Killer, But “Our Asshole and Killer”

Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is the guy who runs the show in Saudi Arabia and a ruthlessly interesting dude he is. If ruthless and interesting don’t sound like they belong in the same sentence, you may be right. Asshole and killer is pretty provocative

So let’s take a look at the Muslim nation we dare not criticize:

Our American support begins with a deal. The deal was that Saudi, who dominated world access to oil at the time, would agree that oil would be internationally paid-for in American dollars. In return, the U.S. would support Saudi militarily.

The reason that was important is that Richard Nixon had taken America off the gold standard in 1971 and oil was nearly as stable as gold—often called black gold—and we needed monetary stability above almost all else.

The deal went back a long way, begun by FDR and Saudi King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud agreement in 1945 and reinforced by Nixon in 1971.

The military-industrial guys love Saudi

And why not? Over 75 years, we probably sold Saudi a trill…