US waives sanctions on Saudis over religious rights

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has postponed punishing Saudi Arabia, its close ally and key oil supplier, for restricting religious freedom -- the first time Washington has waived punishing a blacklisted country under a 1998 law targeting violators of religious rights.

U.S. officials said on Friday the Bush administration had decided to delay imposing sanctions on Saudi Arabia for six months.

The decision reflects the delicate balance the United States has sought to strike with Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia as it promotes expanding freedoms at the risk of irking governments needed to support its oil and terrorism policies.

In a rare official rebuke a year ago, Washington designated Saudi Arabia as one of only eight countries worldwide that could be sanctioned. The blacklisting in an annual report said religious freedom did not exist in the kingdom.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050930/ts_nm/religion_saudi_usa_dc

[JDPriestly]

1. Shows ya who's boss!

Bush may have the guns, but the Saudis have the butter -- oil that is.

[left hand man]

2. reminds me of an old Rodney Dangerfield joke

"My doctor gave me 3 months to live-- I couldn't pay the bill,He gave me 3 more months"
typical

[Coastie for Truth]

3. API-PAC (not AIPAC)

Shows you who's boss - and who has the most influence in Washington. Not the normal villain, with the confusingly similar name (AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)) - Nope - it's
API-PAC --- the American Petroleum Institute Political Action Committee

and here is their position---

SANCTIONS

Unilateral Trade Sanctions

Acting independently of its allies and trading partners, the U.S. government has restricted trade and investment by U.S. companies in nations believed guilty of terrorism and human rights violations. While these unilateral economic sanctions share a worthy goal—controlling or changing the behavior of rogue states—they have done more harm than good:

* By targeting American companies but not businesses from other nations, they leave the field open to foreign firms, hurting American companies and reducing American jobs. Sanctioned nations continue to enjoy the benefits of international trade and investment with the rest of the world.
* Unilateral sanctions limit the positive influence of American businesses on foreign nations and signal a policy of isolation and disengagement from the world’s most disturbing problems.
* Unilateral sanctions adversely affect the nation’s energy security interests by restricting the ability of U.S. oil and natural gas companies to develop needed petroleum supplies.

Oil is the nation’s most important energy source. It helps us get where we need to go, helps heat our homes, and supplies the petrochemical stocks employed to make computers, clothing, contact lens and a wide range of other products. Most of the oil we use is now imported—about 60 percent or almost 500 million gallons per day. While we must develop more of our domestic oil resources to meet the demands of our growing economy, they alone won’t be sufficient. Moreover, the world’s economy is also growing and will need more oil. U.S. oil and gas companies have the experience and technology to help supply our nation and the world with the critical energy supplies they will continue to need, yet they are increasingly hampered in this work by unilateral sanctions that fail to alter the behavior of targeted nations.

API believes the United States should reevaluate the role of sanctions in achieving its foreign policy objectives. Every sanction the U.S. imposes should have a reasonable chance of success, be the best option for achieving the result desired, and be kept in place only so long as it works. Multilateral sanctions imposed by the United States in cooperation with its allies and trading partners are likely to be more effective than unilateral sanctions. More sensible sanctions policies can better serve our national security, economic goals and human rights.

API is a member of USA*Engage, a coalition of diverse businesses and farm groups seeking improved U.S. sanctions policies through reform. Please visit the USA* Engage website at http://www.usaengage.org/ for more information about unilateral trade sanctions.

See the link to usaengage - here's their

Typical Bush-Cheney-Rove "Have Mores" line.

[shavedape]

4. fundies unite! repression is on the march!!

got no use for any faiths holy rollers.

[Roland99]

5. 1st * waives sanctions on S.A. over human trafficking and child-sex rings

and now this?


Just wtf kind of democracy and freedom is * supporting anyway?

[pelsar]

6. the protestors?

pretty quiet out there?...saudi arabia must be one of the most repressive regimes today....

[Coastie for Truth]

7. You know that the protesters only protest against one ME state.

The favorite target can do no right - and the other ME players can do no wrong.