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The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

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Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#11

Post by sailfast »

How is it possible to sell U.S. Treasuries in secret or in a dark market while still providing an ostensibly transparent market for Treasuries? Those two things seems counter to each other.

A deal with this structure as a preference seem extremely misguided, and I'm not sure if the secrecy was requested by the Saudis or by the Nixon / Kissinger NSC / Cabinet which was prone to secrecy for no reason. Either way, one more crazed "feather" in their cap that greatly influenced the future of the country for better or worse.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#12

Post by aedron »

The most surprising thing is the backdoor arrangements the Treasury and Federal Reserve handily created to keep Saudi bonds purchases off the books - through forty years!

I'm sure most people would not believe something like this could be done - that actual governing and federal dealing is so hidden, through changing administrations, in spite of apparent transparency, like annual reports, budgets, hearings, and so on. It really puts a big question mark on the U.S. democratic system, as if that wasn't tenuous enough already.

Oh, and if anyone was in doubt about the shift to Iran, this suddenly being publicized as much as anything tells you all you need to know. It's a big middle finger to Saudi Arabia.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#13

Post by dforrestwilson1 »

s_q_b wrote: post #9

You can see from their reported figures that their U.S. treasury holdings are far too low for a sensible national portfolio. It's a pretty glaring hole, and you know that the money is going somewhere off the balance sheets. The question has always been how much U.S. debt exactly the Saudi's hold. This is an interesting historical anecdote, but it doesn't provide any information about the size of the debt, other than…

Perhaps we should be demanding heads on pikes. This has very real implications for Hillary Clinton's election chances as well. The Clintons have been supporters of the Saudis for some time now and have accepted Saudi government money through the Clinton Foundation.

https://www.clintonfoundation.org/contributors?category=%241...

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/hillary-clinton-...

There is no reason the U.S. should be allies with the House of Saud. We have almost no aligned interests and very different views on human rights and Wahhabism. My hope is that the report is published.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#14

Post by JoeAltmaier »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #10
lr4444lr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks - makes much more sense. I haven't had my coffee yet. According to the Dept. of Energy that'd be about 7 gallons. ( http://energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-915-march-7-2016-averag... ) Not sure what typical passenger car engine efficiency was in those days, though.

I remember the '73 embargo vividly. Rationing was based on license plate, even or odd. My parent's two autos were one of each. Of course, a station wagon and pickup truck. So my dad would get up about 4:30, put the snub-nosed .38 under the seat, and go get in line. Those who waited until the station opened were too late. Stations had big signs up if they had no gas. Gas was always pumped by the attendant. When you go…

Wow I never knew that. I lived through it too - but on a farm. We were exempt from any sort of rationing. So I didn't get any notion that things were that tight. I thought the lines (on TV) were just panicky folks rushing to fill up, like they empty the grocery store every time a storm is coming.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#15

Post by arethuza »

Cyph0n wrote: post #8
eternalban wrote: post #7

Bitter Lake [1] connects the Saudi windfall with the rise of global bankers as a power. Showdown at Doha [2] looks into the growing discomfort of US with rise of Iran and the subsequent strategic deal with SA which has lead us directly to the current mess. The role of the Brits (always busy busy in the shadows) is well worth looking into. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_Lake_%28film%29 [2]: http://masoudbeh…

Thanks for the links. I've added Bitter Lake to my watchlist.

FYI Bitter Lake is probably the best thing I've watched in the last couple of years - not sure I completely agree with all of it, but the format and approach is breathtaking.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#16

Post by s_q_b »

dforrestwilson1 wrote: post #13
s_q_b wrote: post #9

You can see from their reported figures that their U.S. treasury holdings are far too low for a sensible national portfolio. It's a pretty glaring hole, and you know that the money is going somewhere off the balance sheets. The question has always been how much U.S. debt exactly the Saudi's hold. This is an interesting historical anecdote, but it doesn't provide any information about the size of the debt, other than…

Perhaps we should be demanding heads on pikes. This has very real implications for Hillary Clinton's election chances as well. The Clintons have been supporters of the Saudis for some time now and have accepted Saudi government money through the Clinton Foundation. https://www.clintonfoundation.org/contributors?category=%241... http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/hillary-clinton-... There is no reason the U.S…

Swinging the election toward a hawkish demagogue with no knowledge of foreign policy does not seem like a desirable outcome for the United States either.

It's worth noting that for now the Saudis still retain a bit of leverage. They could potentially start a kamikaze run on the dollar. They are our largest regional ally, and in very close proximity to Israel. We have very little knowledge of their nuclear program. Finally, they're a vital partner in the ongoing war with Russia and its proxies (Iran et al.)

Also, I cannot begin to fathom what would happen if a "Christian" nation invaded the keeper of Mecca and Medina...

I never thought I'd say this, but perhaps some secrets are better left untold.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#17

Post by aedron »

The massive issuance of U.S. Dollar debt to Saudi Arabia, as a result of the deal mentioned in the OP, coincided perfectly with the abolition of the gold standard (the dollar being linked to physical gold reserves) [1]. So right from the start, the U.S. was purchasing oil with pieces of paper with no guaranteed value of any sort.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#18

Post by Sophistifunk »

s_q_b wrote: post #9

You can see from their reported figures that their U.S. treasury holdings are far too low for a sensible national portfolio. It's a pretty glaring hole, and you know that the money is going somewhere off the balance sheets. The question has always been how much U.S. debt exactly the Saudi's hold. This is an interesting historical anecdote, but it doesn't provide any information about the size of the debt, other than…

I think it's much more likely that the result will be an un-deniable public insistence on the right to sue the royal family. And if the Sauds can be sued for 9/11, the US can be sued for all the drone strikes and the like.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#19

Post by wahsd »

We really should simply cancel all debt and confiscate all assets owned by Saudi Arabia and any other muslim country as consequence for 9/11 and all the other terrorist attacks against the west hat muslims are organizing, supporting, and funding in order to undermine, fracture, and weaken the west with the help of self-loathing and self-destructive liberals.

What are they going to do about it. Will Europeans all the sudden withdraw their investments and stop exporting to the USA? Will the Chinese all the sudden worry that the same may happen to them even though they are not part of the cancerous muslim scourge upon all of humanity that is attacking and undermining the west and they will simply stop exporting to the single larges market out of fear? No. None of that will happen and muslims will have learned a valuable lesson that cancer received chemotherapy and turmor removal; not chanting, meditating, and juicing until it's too late to treat a highly curable muslim cancer.

Remember, muslims are voluntarily part of a vile organization founded by vile savages whose legacy is mass murder and mass rape and pedophilia.

Re: The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Treasury Holdings

#20

Post by knodi123 »

dforrestwilson1 wrote: post #13
s_q_b wrote: post #9

You can see from their reported figures that their U.S. treasury holdings are far too low for a sensible national portfolio. It's a pretty glaring hole, and you know that the money is going somewhere off the balance sheets. The question has always been how much U.S. debt exactly the Saudi's hold. This is an interesting historical anecdote, but it doesn't provide any information about the size of the debt, other than…

Perhaps we should be demanding heads on pikes. This has very real implications for Hillary Clinton's election chances as well. The Clintons have been supporters of the Saudis for some time now and have accepted Saudi government money through the Clinton Foundation. https://www.clintonfoundation.org/contributors?category=%241... http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/hillary-clinton-... There is no reason the U.S…

> There is no reason the U.S. should be allies with the House of Saud. We have almost no aligned interests and very different views on human rights and Wahhabism.

Well, in isolation, sure. But in the broader geopolitical sense, it really does make sense to have at least one close ally in that region.

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