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Saudi royal family teetering on edge of collapse: Analyst

Saudi officials kiss the hands of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz (C) in a symbolic pledge of allegiance during a ceremony at a royal palace in Riyadh on January 23, 2015. (SPA photo)

The Saudi royal family is “teetering on the edge of collapse,” with the possibility of internal dissent, whether it comes from within the ruling family or the masses living in poverty, according to an American political analyst and activist.

Myles Hoenig made these remarks in an interview with Press TV on Sunday while commenting on Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s recent statement about Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Trump denounced America’s protective relationship with Saudi Arabia.

The billionaire businessman told supporters that the US should be reimbursed by the countries it provides protection, especially those with vast resources such as Saudi Arabia, a top oil exporter.

"We take care of Saudi Arabia. Now nobody’s going to mess with Saudi Arabia because we’re watching them," he said. "They’re not paying us a fair price. We’re losing our shirt.”

In his earlier remarks, Trump said, “Saudi Arabia is going to be in big trouble pretty soon. And they’re going to need help.”

Hoenig said “Trump’s understanding of many of the issues is incredibly juvenile, as he is with Saudi Arabia.”

“Trump is a businessman; whether he’s good at it or not is irrelevant. But he does see everything related to foreign policy as a business venture. That’s one of the many ironies,” he noted.

US Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan, March 3, 2016. (AFP photo)
US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Saudi King Salman on January 23, 2016. (AFP photo)

The analyst said Trump “criticizes US foreign policy as if he’s on the left, as if he’s with the Green Party. When he talks of Saudi Arabia being pretty much a client state of the US, he speaks an honesty that not even the Democrats would dare to speak.”

“What Trump only cares about is a dollar exchange for a commodity and how the US can come out ahead. He is correct that Saudi Arabia is in trouble. But to him, it’s only about the price of oil and the level of dependency the US and others have on it,” he continued.

“Nowhere in his understanding of happenings or knowledge of events in that country would he even consider that the royal family is teetering on the edge of collapse, with the possibility of internal dissent, whether it comes from within the royal family or the masses who live in poverty and are waiting for their Arab Spring, which Saudi Arabia had been so successful in suppressing in other countries, as well as brutalizing the people of Yemen for their internal struggles,” the activist observed.

“Like a typical Republican, and many Democrats, he would easily see the US simply increase its own oil production, even if it is an oil exporter. Nowhere in his positions does he talk about reducing the need for oil and replacing it with renewable resources. That would be left to the more intelligent candidates, such as [Jill] Stein of the Green Party. Even Hillary Clinton is a strong advocate for some of the worst, most environmentally destructive methods of oil extraction, notably ‘fracking,’” Hoenig concluded. 


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