02-10-02 A giant oil rig in the Gulf in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia collapsed, spilling a gusher of oil into the sea which, unless capped or "torched", could spread and contaminate the entire region. The rig belongs to the Arabian Oil company which was owned by the Japanese but was taken over by the giant Saudi Aramco a couple of years ago.
Saudi engineers are now working night and day to contain the massive spill and prevent not merely a huge ecological disaster in the region, but a loss in the oil production chain which could send oil prices above the current $ 29 to $ 30 per barrel.

The Gulf still hasn’t recovered from the terrible catastrophe created in 1991 by the retreating troops of Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, when, as US-led coalition forces battered them back to their borders in "occupied Kuwait", the Iraqi Republican Guard and Iraqi engineers deliberately smashed open the taps of 700 Kuwaiti oil wells, deliberately spilling no less than 8 mm barrels of oil into the Gulf and the coastal deserts and beaches of Kuwait, Iran and most of Saudi Arabia’s coastline.
Marine life was destroyed and feeding grounds for fish fouled for perhaps half a generation, flocks of marine birds perished (auks, cormorants and grebes) when their feathers, coated with oil, no longer helped them fly, but weighed them down to crash into the sea and choke on the poisonous and fast-spreading oil slick below.

It was probably a "blessing" that the Iraqis next sought to destroy the oil wells by setting them afire -- but the resulting explosions and conflagrations resulted in a pall of atmospheric pollution that caused many deaths from throat and lung diseases, and other debilitating side-effects. Even when we arrived two months later, that choking, oppressive pall of smoke and pollution still hung over the area. Incalculable damage was caused -- and the region continues to suffer from it.
However, it’s no longer Saddam they’re bashing daily in the Arab press, but America’s George W. Bush and his supportive ally, Britain’s Tony Blair. The Arab News published simultaneously in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam headlined: "Naif accuses US of double standard in Middle East."
The article was picked up by all the wire agencies, and every newspaper in the region, including Dubai’s Gulf News, Khaleej Times and Gulf Today, the three ad-rich, glossy front-paged English-language newspapers. Prince Naif is Saudi Arabia’s Interior Minister whose headquarters in Riyadh is shaped like a space ship (flying saucer-type) with a Star Trek bubble-shaped top ready to take off.

The Saudi prince, a brother of King Fahd, said the US "double standard" banned Iraq from acquiring lethal weapons while allowing Israel to have them. The Prince further disclosed that Saudi Arabia had bankrolled the US-led 1991 Gulf War in the amount of $ 80 bn. (Some Saudis tell me it was as much as $ 100 bn the Kingdom kicked in to underwrite "Operation Desert Storm".)
"The most powerful nation in the world is hostile to Arabs and Muslims as a result of the influence the Zionist lobby wields in the United States," Prince Naif asserted. It was very revealing that the Saudi Prince also defended "the aid extended by Riyadh to families of Palestinians killed in the two-year old uprising (Intifada) against Israeli occupation." This includes the families of the dead suicide bombers.
He declared: "Saudi Arabia helps Palestinian families who lose their children or breadwinners" in the conflict with Israel. The Interior Minister heads a Saudi committee for the support of the "Al Quds" Intifada. Officially, the Kingdom frequently announces that, despite misgivings, it is an ally of the US. I’ll have to say, it hasn’t sounded that way.

Saudi Arabia is vital to the US in the sense that the Kingdom is America’s biggest oil supplier. An attempt by Washington DC to play the "Russian Card"; i.e., by implying that, if their Middle East sources dried up, they would buy their oil from Russia (which has proven, but difficult to extract oil reserves, not only equivalent to but bigger than Saudi Arabia’s). Recently, however, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been making deals with Iraq and Iran, and his Foreign Minister Ivanov has been clashing with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in the United Nations Security Council over US-proposed hard-line action in Iraq.
In sum, the Soviets used to be a superpower in the Middle East, a counterpoise to America’s influence there, and a weapons supplier to most Arab nations at odds with America and Israel. What I see is that Moscow and the Russians have dealt themselves back into the "Great Game".
What happened to the "camaraderie" of Camp David and the Crawford Ranch in Texas? Gone as dry, I’d say, as the Texas Panhandle.