US-Saudi relations ‘changed forever’

Jeddah : Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States has changed forever, and would not return to what it was under a new president.
This is the view of Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief, who made the comments in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. He said: “There is going to have to be a recalibration of our relationship with America — how far we can go with our dependence on America? How much can we rely on steadfastness from American leadership? What is it that makes for our joint benefits to come together?”
He added: “And I don’t think that we should expect any new president in America to go back to, as I said, the yesteryear days when things were different.”
Prince Turki also rejected accusations that the Kingdom had been holding the United States in an “energy straitjacket.”
He said: “‘Straitjackets’ and other such terminology is not appropriate, I think. “I’ve always thought that America and Saudi Arabia willingly came together to undertake joint efforts. If you want to change course and establish new grounds for understanding, you don’t have to be insulting,” he said.
Prince Turki also said the Kingdom had “nothing to hide,” in reference to the US Congress proposing to pass a law that would declassify 28 pages of the Sept. 11 report, which allegedly shows Saudi involvement in the attack. The law would allow US families to sue the Saudi government, but has been rejected by US President Barack Obama.
“This is all regurgitation of past similitudes and accusations that followed Sept. 11,” Prince Turki said, while making clear he could not speak for the Saudi government. “All those questions were answered by the commission report.”