saudi arabia seems to have sway over US/UK

Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown

More on this hopefully later, but
in the meantime here's the initial dirt. They certainly pick their moments. And
other depressingly overused
epigrams.

Remember
this?

Saudi Arabia has given Britain 10 days to halt a fraud investigation
into the country's arms trade - or lose a £10 billion Eurofighter
contract.

Well, it took just a little over ten days. Here's
this:

The Serious Fraud Office is discontinuing its investigation into a
multi-billion pound arms deals with Saudi Arabia, it has been
announced.

Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said the decision had been
made in the wider public interest, which had to be balanced against the rule of
law.

'It has been necessary to balance the need to maintain the rule
of law against the wider public interest,' apparently. Just what this wider
public interest entails other than the massively subsidised (at the UK taxpayers
expense) jobs in the British defence industry and the flogging of weapons to an
oppressive regime, isn't clear.

From now on, upon hearing the words 'rule
of law' trip from the mouth of a New Labour hack, the urge to spit will be nigh
on irresistible.