The carrot?

Yesterday I posted the story that the Saudis may have threatened Russia with terrorist attacks over Syria, but Russia just gave them the finger (which looked a LOT like the threat of a missile...or two), saying that if anything happens to Syria they will hit Saudi Arabia -- hard. Somebody could lose a camel over this.

But I can't find any corroboration for the story, and neither can my favorite commenters (who are  a lot more diligent at uncovering info than I). I know...I know...a SERIOUS blogger would have checked it all out before linking. I am rarely serious and hardly a blogger. And you are way out of line to accuse me of either. I'm a smart ass writing about what I want. If you want high drama and hysteria all the time with no credibility, read Infowars, if you want total credibility and no drama whatsoever, read The Wall Street Journal. I can't even say I'm somewhere in between. I am somewhere out in the weeds whacking at bugs.

So today, there's this headline from The Telegraph:

Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria

Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia’s gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria. 

This seems entirely more likely than the sparring and threats reported in the EU Online article. "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" has always been the basis for diplomacy. The "I'll terrorize you." "No, I'll bomb the shit out of you." method has never been considered as diplomatic, though it has, quite often, ended up being the final answer.

So we will see. Prince Dumbass is no doubt playing golf while waiting for the Congress to reconvene so that he can officially ask for their permission to "act stupidly" on this potentially world-ending crisis. And though it is a faint and tremulous hope, I'm keeping my fingers crossed the GOP teaches Obama that "No means no."