Quote Originally Posted by Bob's World View Post
...Ken raises some challenges to some of the "facts" I quickly laid out to help frame the discussion (I can provide cites)...
Nope. Incorrect. I didn't challenge your facts, I agree with all except the oil and the Saudis being the largest supplier of Furrin Fighters -- I too can provide cites on that -- what I did 'challenge' was the relevancy of any of those facts to your premise.

That's the subject FYI. Then, on other aspects of your comment...
...but the important thing to remember is that if the aggrieved populace believes something to be true or significant, then it is.
Ah, the silver tongued attorney person himself subtly points out that, as I said, those 'facts' don't count for much...

He then asks questions about Saudis perceptions which neither he nor we can answer though we could speculate until the cows RON at the barn.

This OTOH:
What small, reasonable changes could the US make on our end to help mitigate these perceptions?
Seems perfectly reasonable. Except that it asks us to define a policy based on the above speculation.

While this:
what small, reasonable changes could the Saudis make (beyond the enhanced bribes and security efforts being employed now in response to fears driven by Arab Spring)?
is really none of our business.

It is good to advocate dismissal and recasting of Cold War values and practices. It is IMO however rather unwise, perhaps even a bit conflicted, to advocate continued interference in and with other nations just done a bit differently. To me, that seems to be a continuation of the cold war by other means...