Larison: "Our Despicable Saudi 'Ally'"

link

It seems absurd that we continue to ally ourselves with the Saudis. 

They more-or-less maximally suck along every dimension of suckitude...other than the ones that really seem to matter: (a) barrels of oil produced and (b) not being Iran. (Though they're really not all that far down the latter axis...). 

But we're a net exporter now. To hell with 'em.

Not that I really know what I'm talking about. Perhaps there's some super-secret reason why we can't dump 'em. I haven't read anyone saying this, but my guess would be: to keep them from allying themselves with China or Russia. Anybody know?