I just caught this item on towleroad a few minutes ago and it piqued my interest.
Apparently, according to the link at Foreign Policy:
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/...
Dick Cheney put in an appearance in Riyadh yesterday and met with King Abdullah.
To many of us here on Kos, this is a potentially loaded situation. What business exactly does Mr. Cheney have in Saudi Arabia at this time?
Well, according to Adam Weinstein at Mother Jones:
something financially advantageous. Cheney, who oversaw the Saudi staging of Gulf War I, has always maintained good relations with the kingdom and its elites—relations that certainly came in handy after the war, when his oil-services and all-around shady operation, Halliburton, won lots of US and Saudi contracts to help extract the kingdom's petroleum wealth—and buttress its national defenses.
Mother Jones
One of Cheney's biggest regrets these days is that the Bush era came to an end. This sentiment is probably shared with the Saudi royal family Examiner Whatever his reasons for being there (and I can't help but assume he's up to no good) he received the honors of a state visit and met directly with the king.
It's certainly possible that he's there doing oil business but, given his high profile lately as one of President Obama's greatest detracters, the thought of him going to Saudi Arabia to countermine the current administration's policies is too great.
Again, according to Examiner.com:
It was as if Cheney was there for serious business. But what? The Saudi press has offered nothing of substance on the purpose of the visit or the content of the meeting. The only thing the Saudi press is reporting is that Cheney is visiting and who attended. But that’s it...
...So the Saudis want Cheney to do their bid in attacking Obama for being allegedly too soft on Iran and to claim that Arab leaders, that’s what they’re called, themselves are worried about Iran and the administration’s lack of resolute action and willingness to accept Iranian nukes as inevitable. The Saudis want Cheney to attack Obama in a way they cannot, to raise the far-right’s call for an attack against Iran, and then they hope this will pressure Iran to take military action or, at least, acquiesce to Israeli bombings.
The main issue here is that Cheney, regardless of his intentions, should publicly disclose what those intentions are. If he is actively working with the Saudis to undermine the Obama administration's current policy towards Iran, it needs to be dealt with.