US Cables detail Saudi Royal Family welfare Program

[Doctor_J]

Have to go to London to read this.

LONDON (Reuters) – When Saudi King Abdullah arrived home last week, he came bearing gifts: handouts worth $37 billion, apparently intended to placate Saudis of modest means and insulate the world's biggest oil exporter from the wave of protest sweeping the Arab world. But some of the biggest handouts over the past two decades have gone to his own extended family, according to unpublished American diplomatic cables dating back to 1996.

The cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and reviewed by Reuters, provide remarkable insight into how much the vast royal welfare program has cost the country -- not just financially but in terms of undermining social cohesion.

Besides the huge monthly stipends that every Saudi royal receives, the cables detail various money-making schemes some royals have used to finance their lavish lifestyles over the years. Among them: siphoning off money from "off-budget" programs controlled by senior princes, sponsoring expatriate workers who then pay a small monthly fee to their royal patron and, simply, "borrowing from the banks, and not paying them back."

As long ago as 1996, U.S. officials noted that such unrestrained behavior could fuel a backlash against the Saudi elite. In the assessment of the U.S. embassy in Riyadh in a cable from that year, "of the priority issues the country faces, getting a grip on royal family excesses is at the top."

I wonder if the right-wing budget hawks will pull the plug on this caper.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_wiki_saudi_money

[patrice]

1. Yay!!! WikiLeaks!!!

[Sonoman]

2. I have flown in a few of the Family's airplanes.

Unbelievable.

Opulence beyond your wildest imagination.

Sonoman

[Doctor_J]

3. I remember seeing a pic once of a SRF's silver Audi roadster

Not painted silver - actually made of silver. ho says terrorism doesn't pay?

[Sonoman]

5. I saw that pic, as well.

My late father (that is the first time I have ever used that word to describe him) was a mechanical genius and one of the top five (if not the best) farrier on the planet. He had one client, the Fahd family. There were squads of his employees working at what they called Hobby Farms (horse ranches) all over Saudi Arabia.

Any time there was a super-serious problem (such as a foundered horse) they would send a 747 to Houston and fly up a helo into the Piney Woods of East Texas to pick him up and take him overseas. I used to ride along, after I got out of the service.

It was crazy on those planes. Beautiful French and Italian women, great wines, cognac and single-malts. The ashtrays in the arms of the seats were solid gold, with sides and bottoms at least 3/4" thick. Lotsa porn, too. And hash.

When we landed, it was always the same - red carpet, bowing sheiks, all the way to the Rolls-Royce. They absolutely worshipped my father, as he was on of just a few guys who could solve a foundered horse. He would sleep in the stall and move with the horse untill he could trim it back into balance. They paid him large money to save those multi-million dollar horses.

I have the decree that Faisal signed, allowing my father to wear "Western-style footwear". Everyone else had to wear Brogan-style work shoes.

Goodness, those were some high old times.

Sonoman

[Citizen Worker]

4. I worked on one of their yachts. Mind boggling, heart stopping opulence everywhere.

[Sonoman]

6. It is almost indescribable, isn't it?

I tried, albeit feebly, to describe just a bit of those airplanes, above.

I have been around a good bit of wealth, but never anything as ostentatious as those folks.

Sonoman