King Salman is even more of an asshole than the former king

[Ichingcarpenter]

Long article but gives you the ends and outs of the new kingdom 's ruler.................. and it worse than you think.






“You deserve more.” That’s what Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman tweeted to his people shortly after a flurry of royal decrees on Thursday reconfiguring the Saudi regime. And that’s exactly what he gave them, doubling down on such outdated pillars of his family’s rule as intolerant clerics, clannishly centralized power, politicized oil policy, and short-sighted handouts to paper over dissent.

By recommitting to these classic features of Saudi policy, King Salman is not providing much material to those who would like to portray him as a moderate and a reformer. Rather, he is reinvesting in the same unsustainable strategies that have set the kingdom up for greater instability down the road.

So let’s meet Salman’s new regime. Just like the old Saudi regime, only worse.

First, the king handed out prime promotions to some reactionary clergy, suggesting that he is unlikely to usher in a new era of much-needed Saudi religious tolerance.

much much more

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/saudi-king-salmans-audacious-power-play-12170

[truebluegreen]

1. IIRC, King Salman has Alzheimer's so I don't think you can pin this stuff on him. nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Oh, I'm trying to pin things on your friend? wtf

is your agenda?

[truebluegreen]

6. wtf is your problem?

[leveymg]

3. Yes. He's the eldest member of the Sudairi Seven (now Three) who contested power w/Abdullah

Abdullah, along with Prince Turki (former Ambassador and head of GID external intelligence), was the most western in orientation. Bandar also likes the visceral pleasures of America and the UK. So we backed them. Now, it's the turn of the "conservatives."

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Thanks for the chart, my article helps show where these people

are in the new inner circle of power and it doesn't look good considering their history of fueling the radicals which mine pointed out. l thought the old king was bad......LOL.

We also see who is out of the inner circle as compared to the last king..............

[leveymg]

5. Thanks for linking that article. Many DUers have a limited understanding of

the divisions within the Saudi Royals and how this has played out in certain factions backing various militants and terrorist groups as part of their succession struggles, religious crusades, and international intrigues. Often, at our cost and that of their neighbors - yet, we've continued to do nothing about it, even after 9/11.