Should Ireland withdraw its embassy from Saudi Arabia?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Saudi Arabia as a country is essentially a scummy piece of shit.

The beheadings, the slavery, funding terrorism internationally, the treatment of people who don't fall in line, their war on Yemen ect.

They are certainly a good contender for a top 5 position in the most horrible countries of the world.

Human rights in Saudi Arabia.

biko

No, they are needed for when Irish people get in trouble with the Saudi authorities for having too much craic.

riffmongous

Yes, their war in Yemen is a disgrace

Hector Bellend

Great bunch of lads.

JupiterKid

Any Irish person - or any Westerner - or anyone in the world - who willingly travels to Saudi seriously needs their heads examined.

But it's ok - because they're an ally of the West and have lots of oil...

Hector Bellend

JupiterKid wrote: »

Any Irish person - or any Westerner - or anyone in the world - who willingly travels to Saudi seriously needs their heads examined.

But it's ok - because they're an ally of the West and have lots of oil...

And buy lots of weapons.

Fann Linn

And buy lots of Irish cattle.

kneemos

How would teachers get their deposit for a five bed detached?

OldMrBrennan83

No. No need to annoy them, they're too dangerous.

Grayson

biko wrote: »

No, they are needed for when Irish people get in trouble with the Saudi authorities for having too much craic.

Your reason is the only reason I can think for having an embassy there.
But can we provide consular services without having an embassy?

Do you like driving and heating your house?

Absolute hole of a place with an abominable human rights record, built on oil wealth and slave labour. Hatred of women, gays, non-Muslims, Shia Muslims, Yemen, Qatar, etc.

Though you'd *almost* have to admire a country that's so brazenly antagonistic and petty that they can start a diplomatic war with fecking CANADA of all places!

Feisar

Topgear on Dave wrote: »

Do you like driving and heating your house?

Joking aside, essentially this.

To properly boycott Saudi one would have to live in a cave and use rabbit skins for clothes. Their main export is to intrinsicly linked to our day to day lives for our opinions to matter.

Here we go

****hole but it’s there **** hole and if people want to disassociate them self’s from it fine but it should be the full job stop buying there oil and anything else they sell and not just a aren’t we great meaningless gesture so until we don’t need oil no we should stay stum

RustyNut

kneemos wrote: »

How would teachers get their deposit for a five bed detached?

Sell drug to the kids in school. Deposit in no time.

WoollyRedHat

Feisar wrote: »

Joking aside, essentially this.

To properly boycott Saudi one would have to live in a cave and use rabbit skins for clothes. Their main export is to intrinsicly linked to our day to day lives for our opinions to matter.

Haha if the West turned their backs on SA and cutl off all ties with the sand Despot, they'd be fairly screwed in turn. Anyway people aren't as reliant on oil as they once are. And we heat our house with gas.

I'm sure similar arguements were made to support the continuation of the slave trade in the USA back in the day.

The Rape of Lucretia

Its got fabulous shopping centres. Seen one, seen um all though.

Atoms for Peace

Topgear on Dave wrote: »

Do you like driving and heating your house?

Who needs oil when we've got turf.

Ulysses Gaze

They won the geological lottery and could have changed the world for the better.

Instead they buy super cars and fund terrorism.

The sooner the oil runs out and they are back herding camels in the desert the better.

Sal Butamol

Despotic, backward, inbred, scumbags.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Feisar wrote: »

Joking aside, essentially this.

To properly boycott Saudi one would have to live in a cave and use rabbit skins for clothes. Their main export is to intrinsicly linked to our day to day lives for our opinions to matter.

OPEC have reduced their supply before. There’s plenty more.

As for this war in Yemen. Never heard about it.

JupiterKid

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

OPEC have reduced their supply before. There’s plenty more.

As for this war in Yemen. Never heard about it.

Yes, the oil embargos of 1973/74 and 1978 seriously screwed the global economy at the time. The sooner we wean ourselves off our addiction to oil the better.

The war in Yemen is not being reported in the West because the West are selling the arms to the Saudis to wield their terror there causing a famine and a humanitarian crisis. Depressing and cynical.

Del2005

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

OPEC have reduced their supply before. There’s plenty more.

As for this war in Yemen. Never heard about it.

When they turned off the taps before they controlled a huge percentage of the oil market. Now the US is exporting oil and OPEC is struggling to increase the price of oil, as every time they get it high it becomes viable for the US and other countries to pump more oil so the prices drop again.


It's essentially the same as Syria but without the publicity. Saudi and Iran funding different sides and the local people suffer.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Del2005 wrote: »

When they turned off the taps before they controlled a huge percentage of the oil market. Now the US is exporting oil and OPEC is struggling to increase the price of oil, as every time they get it high it becomes viable for the US and other countries to pump more oil so the prices drop again.

Possibly. The West seems ideologically in hock to the Saudis though.

It's essentially the same as Syria but without the publicity. Saudi and Iran funding different sides and the local people suffer.

I know about Yemen. I was being sarcastic about how little it is covered.

dexter_morgan

Topgear on Dave wrote: »

Do you like driving and heating your house?

Haven't tried driving my house yet. I don't think it will fit through the pillars.

Cheerful Spring

What was barely reported in the mainstream news was Saudi Arabia and UAE had prepared the groundwork to invade Qatar and according to one report, Tillerson told them not to that could potentially end up with American troops defending Qatar. They lobbied to have Tillerson removed after this. I not sure if the threat is still open and can happen with him gone now?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/rex-tillerson-stopped-saudi-uae-attacking-qatar-180801125651449.html

Bob24

Saudi Arabia is a country I have no interest in visiting and which I don’t exactly think is a great place.

But wanting our embassy over there closed is not understanding what an embassy is for (hint: it is not meant show that we support the policies of the country in which that embassy is established).

seamus

Topgear on Dave wrote: »

Do you like driving and heating your house?

The ME's grip on western consumption is collpasing, really. This is part of the reason instability has been building in the region.

Energy independence for most countries is within reach in our lifetimes, the efficiency and cost of renewables improving all the time. When I was a kid, people used to make disparaging jokes about solar and wind power. Now both are cheaper (in terms of MW produced) to build than any other kind of plant.

Vehicle independence is just around the corner as electric is within a stone's throw of parity with traditional combustion engines.

As it stands, it's already possible to live in a perfectly warm and modern house, drive a vehicle with all of the bells and whistles of any other, and consume food and other products, without requiring the involvement of oil. It needs a little effort, but within a decade it'll be effortless.

This could be the next big issue in terms of global economies and war. As demand for oil drops, its value does too. This means that the dollar finds itself in trouble since trillions in debt has been built up in US dollars for oil. If countries start calling in that debt and switching to Euro or Yuan, it could trigger major economic meltdown for the US and the Middle East, as they start scrambling to gain control over more resources to offset the continuously diminishing value of the ones they do own.