Saudis Criticize Kerry for 'Bashing' Kingdom
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Friday criticized Democratic presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry for "bashing" the kingdom when he called on the United States to cut its dependence on the Middle East nation's oil.
"Saudi bashing is not an energy policy," an official with the Saudi Embassy in Washington said.
In his nomination acceptance speech Thursday night, Kerry said he wants America to use technology to become energy independent and end its reliance on Saudi oil.
"I want an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation -- not the Saudi royal family," he said. The personal and financial ties between the Saudi royal family and President Bush and his family have been criticized in books and in Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Saudi Arabia has one-fourth of the world's proven crude oil reserves and is the largest foreign oil supplier to the United States -- providing 17 percent of U.S. crude imports.
The Saudi embassy official said Saudi Arabia has been a reliable supplier of oil to the U.S. market for decades and expects to continue in that role whether or not Kerry becomes president.
"This an election year ... and unfortunately Saudi bashing in expected," he said.
The Saudi government does not plan to send an official response to Kerry, but the kingdom has expressed displeasure over past anti-Saudi comments by U.S. politicians, and the Kerry campaign is aware of them, he said.
The United States itself is to blame for its dependence on foreign oil imports to meet more than half its petroleum demand, the Saudi official said.
He pointed out that the kingdom has urged the United States to produce vehicles with better gasoline mileage, but U.S. consumers keep buying gas-guzzling SUVs.
"We're not making them (SUVs)," he said.
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
The Democratic Party platform calls for the United States to end its dependence on Middle East oil and develop crude supplies from countries such as Russia and Canada which are outside the OPEC cartel.
Kerry also wants to develop alternative energy sources and boost the fuel efficiency of U.S. cars and trucks to reduce oil and gasoline demand.
"In the Bush administration, energy independence doesn't get a thought. Their energy policy is simple: Government by big oil, of big oil and for big oil," reads the platform presented this week at the Democratic convention in Boston.
Democrats have also accused the Bush administration of developing a nation energy plan, under the direction of Vice President Dick Cheney, behind closed doors and with undue influence by the energy industry.
The Bush administration has implemented much of the plan on its own but the Democrats in Congress are blocking other parts of it. Time is running out to pass a final package this year.
"The attacks are backward," Energy Secretary Spencer Abrah said earlier this week. "We've done as much as we can."
Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, have missed major votes this year on the energy bill. "Instead of spending as much time on the campaign trail, maybe they should be spending a bit more time helping get an energy bill passed," Abraham added.
Democrats oppose legal protections in the bill for oil companies that make a water-polluting fuel additive. Democrats are also against some proposed tax breaks for the oil industry.
The Senate already defeated Bush's plan to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
He didn't say "The Saudi's are big bad meanies!" he said he'd like to decrease dependence on the Saudi royal family (or, in other words, Saudi Arabia) for our nation's oil.
