Bank Run pics - 31 OCT 10

When you can't read the signs, you find your way around based on landmarks.  This is a common landmark in giving directions.  It's affectionately known as the BAM (Big-ass mosque).

View of southern Riyadh skyline.

Can't remember the name of this one, but there's a restaurant in the ball.

Having tea and coffee with Omar and Bandar at the 'high priority business branch' of SAMBA.

SSG Spann keeping a close eye on the process.

A typical line up in Riyadh: Bentley, Rolls, Beemer, Lexus outside of office building.

Bank Run pics

We had another bank run yesterday.  That meant a return trip to the Kingdom Centre (pictured above).  The bank is on the ground floor.  The rest of the ground floor and the second floor are a high-end mall complex.  Floors 3-12 are the SAMBA bank offices.  There are roughly 60-65 floors in total.  The top span is an observation deck that costs 50 'rips' to enjoy (roughly 13 bucks).

This is Mustafa, one of our contacts at the bank.  This was my first time meeting him so we were having the customary getting-to-know-each-other-before-conducting-business chat.

This is a pic from a window near Mustafa's office on the 11th floor.

Afterwards, SSG Spann and I went to the food court in the mall for lunch.  I wanted Mickey D's b/c in that instance, I wanted to be relatively sure of what I was getting.  Unfortunately,  I didn't see those signs overhead that depicted which side was for women and which side was for men (BTW, I was the only one at the counter at the time).  Anyway, I was kindly asked to step to the other side of the partition, which was probably a lifesaving maneuver since these two purse-wielding ninjas were deftly closing in behind me.  

Budget fun

My uncle, in an effort to poke fun, used to always claim that his tax dollars weren't being well-spent if they were paying my salary as a member of our country's military.  He'd be happy to know, and most would be surprised to find out, that the Great American Public does not foot the bill for SCOs/SAOs.  The host nation has that privilege.

As such, it's incumbent upon us (the SCO/SAO) to submit a budget every year to the host nation.  Very simply, we say "this is what it'll take to continue the mission for the next year" and they decide how much to actually pay.  For the last few years, USMTM has submitted requests around the $32 million mark.  That includes approximately $9 mil for military payroll and $5 mil for civilian payroll.  It even includes funds for  temporary duty travel and the funds that buy our tickets back to the States when we take our mid-tour leave.

Unfortunately, we have, over the last few years anyway, been approved by the Kingdom for about 75% of what we ask for.  This forces the powers that be to rob from Peter to pay Paul in some instances.  An example is that we submit the budget for military payroll personnel based on a 100% fill of the manning roster.  In actuality, we are not 100% manned for all services.  In other words, there are several Army slots that have yet to be filled, but we've received the funding that pays for those slots.  That 'surplus' in military payroll is used to fill a deficit elsewhere in the overall budget.  If we asked for $1.5 mil in TDY funding and only received $1 mil, then that's where the hole gets patched.

While that may sound fair, an audit by our gracious hosts would result in their wanting the 'extra' military payroll funds returned regardless of our needs in other areas.  Saudi will replenish funds such as paying for tickets home should they run out during the fiscal year.  But any budgeteer will tell you they can't properly plan for funds that they don't know when and if they're gettin'.  It's nice to know ahead of time that you don't need to rob Peter to pay Paul if Paul is gonna get his later in the year.

My question was, why are we slighted on our budget request?  Is Saudi hurtin' economically?  The short answer is no.  The King has said that $37 of every barrel of oil is earmarked for the economy.  A barrel goes for about $89 bucks these days and this country produces 12.5 million barrels A DAY.  The other $52 per barrel is "the King's money".  The Saudi national debt could be paid off with one day's production of oil, by the way.  Surely, a good portion of the King's money goes to other reforms, payment of those debts and foreign investment, but the dude doesn't exactly need to borrow change for a cup of coffee.   Additionally, the King has already set aside $100 Billion for military improvements this year. $50 Billion of that is going towards the purchase of F15 fighter jets from the good ole U.S. (which will equate to thousands of new jobs in the States) as well as $25 Billion for Apache helicopters.  If our request is around $32 mil again, that equates to about less than one-thousandth of a single percent of the $25 Billion remaining for 'military improvement'.

So, what the Hell?  Why short us.  I don't have an answer.  We'll call my theory the 'suq' theory.  The traditional market shops here are called 'suqs' (pronounced 'sook').  Every price in a suq is negotiable.  It is even considered a cultural slight not to haggle.  Maybe that's why we don't get what we ask for.  We don't haggle or they feel they should never agree to the first offer.  I say, why not just figure out what we need, arbitrarily add 25% and submit that?  That may actually end up being the plan.  Don't know.  But when I find out, I'll let you know.

A few pics

This is looking NNW from my roof.  You can see the backs of a few villas and the playground.  I've never seen any kids around here so the few families that I've heard are here are obviously not lodged in my area.

This is basically looking W.  The dark dirt is the softball field.  The high netting to the left and little sliver of light green turf is the driving range.  Again, I've never seen anyone use these amenities while the sun is up.  You can see the shade covers for cars in the foreground.  Unfortunately, the construction is to replace water pipes so the covers can't be used.  The tall buildings in the far background are completely uninhabited.  Back in the Desert Storm days, they were teeming with US military.  Now they simply provide stand-off protection against any terrorist attack on what's currently occupied.

This is looking SSE (my front door is below me).  I'm driving the 2nd car from the right. A '99 Crown Vic.  That's what they gave me - can't complain.  Across the street, that is basically one villa.  It mirrors my own for the most part.  The tallest part of that structure is where I'm standing on mine to take the pic.

Coming through the gate at Eskan.  Notice the road sign on the left.

One of many guarded points in the 'process' of entering Eskan village.

Post 9/11 Saudi-American Relations

Oil – Still important, but the game is changing.  Saudi has market opportunities in China now.  No longer will they need to rely as heavily on US markets.  While the option exists to place an embargo or at least severely limit sales to the US, it’s still not in the interest of Saudi or China, for that matter.  Such an action could serve to further de-stabilize the Middle East as the US is the one providing the most duct tape and spit to keep it from falling apart.  The US may lose some sway over the kingdom given their market diversification, but a global interest by their new partners will serve American interests as well.

Defense Relationship/Location – We’re still the biggest bad-ass on the planet.  That, plus Saudi needs our influence in stabilizing Iraq and keeping Iran on a short leash.  That means they’ll want to preserve a strategic relationship that allows us use of their land and airspace to keep things in order.  Unfortunately, the kingdom’s relationship with China and Russia means different options for defense articles.  And China, more than likely, will have fewer restrictions in selling sophisticated weaponry to the Saudis.  Something the US will have to keep a close eye on.

Religion – Our mutual interest in defeating communism has led directly to the Islamic radicals that terrorize Western civilization today.  This is the tough part.  The US, once complicit in Saudi Arabia’s support/funding of religious radicals during the Cold War, now stands starkly against the very same actions.  Saudi Arabia has made commendable strides in working with the US to root out local terrorist organizations and its militants, but the tough part is re-directing a religious message they’ve supported for more than a half-century.  The US must get Saudi to use their pulpits from Mecca and Medina to preach a positive, proactive message in promoting Islam.  Additionally, Saudi Arabia must increase vigilance in tracking what their money funds and supports.  For the US’s part, we must accomplish our goal of a stable Iraq.  Furthermore, we have to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians to help neutralize toxic anti-Americanism in this region.  

All of this will take time and patience, neither of which is in great supply given the current global environment as it pertains to terrorism.  Failure in accomplishing this reform will certainly lead to a very dangerous and grim future. 

(Source: Thicker Than Oil by Rachel Bronson)

Obama to Eskan

       The challenge I’m accepting this time is being able to explain my command’s existence from the White House to Eskan Village.  Hopefully, I’ve been able to establish why the US and Saudi Arabia are partners.  Now I want to help you understand how the United States Military Training Mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (my command) materialized out of this relationship.

I understand if you find yourself napping between paragraphs.  I’ll try to use my uncanny ability to reduce intellectual insight to elementary musings.

The President, once during their term, issues a National Security Strategy.  The Department of Defense (MUSCLE) and Department of State (DIPLOMACY NERDS) each write their own plan to support the NSS.  The Secretary of Defense writes the National Defense Strategy to assess threats to the objectives and interests outlined in the NSS, while the Secretary of State writes the Strategic Plan to provide priorities and direction to both the State Department and USAID.

On the DoD side of the house, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs comes up with the National Military Strategy to support both plans from DoD and DoS.  The Military Strategy begets 2 subsequent documents: Guidance for Employment of the Force (near term) and Guidance for Development of the Force (long term).  The consideration of State objectives in penning these docs forces a holistic approach to strategy and planning in order to avoid conflicting guidance and resource constraints.

The GEF is given to the geographic combatant commands.  Mine happens to be Central Command or USCENTCOM, headquartered on MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida.  CENTCOM’s area of responsibility or ‘theater’ is the Middle East (Egypt to Jordan to any country ending in -stan).  CENTCOM makes theater plans supported by regional plans supported by country plans.

Meanwhile, back at the Batcave (…uh…I mean the State Department), similar nesting of subordinate plans make their way down to the embassy and ambassador level.  

Country plan (DoD) meets embassy plan (DoS) and bingo, bango, blam-o …a security cooperation/assistance organization 'tis born.  The SAO for Saudi Arabia is the United States Military Training Mission.  The embassy provides the country-level foreign assistance budget, to include Foreign Military Financing and International Military Education and Training.  The security assistance programs ran by USMTM are classified in 3 ways: Equipment, Services, and Training; Training and Education; and Military-to-Military exchanges.

Foreign Military Sales is the largest and most well-known of US security cooperation programs.  FMS is a Title 22 security assistance program (security assistance simply means a security cooperation program that’s carried out by the military) that allows our international partners to procure defense articles (planes, tanks and guns – oh my), services (maintenance and support of planes, tanks and guns), and training (how to use planes tanks and guns).

Wake up – you’re drooling on your keyboard.

Oil, Oil, Toil and Trouble

Alright, raise your hand if you’ve ever read a protest sign or heard the words chanted, “No more blood for oil!”  Is this accurate?  Is it a generalization that holds any merit?  

First of all, for anyone to claim that oil has nothing to do with today’s environment would be pretty shortsighted to say the least.  However, to claim that oil is the only reason would be equally shortsighted.  

How does the role of oil play into the Saudi-American relationship?  American businessmen won concessions for oil drilling in Bahrain in 1933.  The Saudi king was eager to allow the concessions because he was broke and the British wished to colonize his kingdom, placing politics over business.  The American company, completely void of political motive, was successful in their exploration, won a concession that covered 50% of the Saudi mainland, and their anti-colonial sentiments helped Saudi rid themselves of the British in the 1950’s.  The Americans started a new company within the kingdom called the Arab American Company (Aramco) and tapped into what would become 25% of the world’s oil reserves.  With the technological and industrial advances of the times oil became extremely important worldwide, especially during WWII.  By 1950, Saudi was producing 578,000 barrels a day of crude oil – 5% of the world’s production.  Over the course of the 1970’s, ownership of Aramco changed from American to Saudi hands.  Today, Saudi Arabia houses 85% of OPEC’s spare capacity, which is to say it houses 85% of the world’s spare capacity of oil.  As you can imagine, Saudi’s oil exports are responsible for 95% of its country’s revenue.

So we know that oil is extremely important and Saudi Arabia has a metric buttload of the stuff.  

This may explain America’s interest in Saudi relations but it doesn’t explain the strength of the relationship.  Take Russia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Libya and Sudan for instance.  They’re major oil-producing states, but no one would categorize our relations with them as strong.  Oil certainly explains where Saudi Arabia derives its wealth, but it doesn’t explain how they chose to invest and spend said wealth.

The strength of the Saudi-American relationship is a 3-legged stool: oil, geography, and religion.  Remove one leg and the stool falls.

We’ll talk the number one rule in realty next: location, location, location.  Get out a map and imagine all shipping and flight routes from the States to anywhere from the Middle East to the Far East.  Use of a Saudi Arabian airbase and airspace in WWII helped us with logistical ties to our then allies, the Soviets.  Think of the Arab peninsula’s advantage during the Cold War’s threat of Soviet expansion.  Think of the necessary supply routes to our troops in Japan.  Now think of our current conflicts of the past 10 years.  Pretty key terrain for the good guys.

Finally, it was recognized by the US government that making the king of Saudi a global icon for the Arab world was vitally important to protecting our national interests against Soviet/communist expansion.  FDR determined “that in view of the strategic location of Saudi Arabia, the importance of oil resources of that country and the prestige of King Ibn Saud throughout the Arab world, the defense of Saudi Arabia was vital to the defense of the United States.”

That’s why the U.S. is in the relationship, but what does Saudi Arabia get in return?  Some ass-whoopin' ability.  Even when we backed Israel while Saudi backed Syria and Egypt in the Yom Kippur War of '73, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia showed a video to some Saudi government officials to illustrate the incomparable ability of the U.S. to provide support to an ally in times of war, remarking, "this is why it is imperative to maintain a strong relationship with the United States."

In conclusion, we were not shedding American blood for oil in Iraq.  On the contrary, our relationship with Saudi Arabia allows the U.S. freedom to sanction and alter the production of other oil-rich countries in order to impose political reform or at least political mediation.  Oil will always be a significant role player in the shifting sands of power (until it’s replaced by the discovery of alternative energy), but it will never stand alone as the reason for U.S. military operations.