"Follow the money."

In the UK the Labour Party is constantly criticising the government's double standards with regard to Saudi Arabia but the arms industry has a lot of influence with the governing Conservatives

It's strictly unenlightened self interest. The US government believes its self interest is in Saudi Arabia having the government they do and that Iran's and Venezuela's are against our interests. The US is not interested in justice or fairness.

OIL! They really control the price of oil on the world market.

Wahabbism is the worst export from the Saudis. The US government has long been hypocritical in its actions. I expect little to change over time. I know from personal experience that the US military prefers to hide certain things from some allies - including the Saudis and the Turks. There are many places in the Mideast where Americans would be welcomed by the majority of people, if not for certain of our government's actions. I have no doubt, speaking now of Afghanistan, that if the US had gone in to punish the Taliban and did what it originally did - use the warlords to help, then walked away without trying to maintain control over the entire region, that the people there would be not only better off but more friendly to the US. Yes, parts of the world and many parts of the Mideast are not democracies and that is not something, in my opinion, that our country should try to shove down anyone's throats - it is for the people to rebel and bring for themselves. Something that the people in many countries started a couple of years back - and, the US interfered messing things up in Egypt and in Libya.

You're absolutely correct in your thoughts. It's because of the money. To many here in the U.S. make a ton of money off the Saudi's and they will never upset that apple cart.

Aside from oil and money, I think for some politicians they're viewed as a stabilizing force in a very volatile region so we turn a blind eye to their religious fanaticism and brutality. We couldn't even get our government to admit that an vicious murderer like MBS did anything wrong because it might impact our weapons sales.

It is not very complicated.
The answer is trade, money and regional power.

Please understand I know what those countries do and esp. Afghanistan, from Alexander the Great, who by the way, got out and did not fight, but married the warlords daughter to save him and then he left you alone, but honestly, read what the British did, over and over again, then the USA comes! It is an outrage and the sorry I feel for what has happened, I cannot express but please know many of us feel nothing but anger at what our government has done!

That beautiful book: Kite Flying! how wonderful it once was, that book just broke my heart!! So I know what you once had, and it was beautiful and your country had/has kind, decent human beings and I know that!!

Also I am well aware of how the Saudi's treat people, esp. women, have been reading expose's given to an american woman, it took her years to gain their trust, but she wrote at least 8 books, based on interviews with women of the Saud family, very high up in the social ranking.

also the attacks on people that are different, enough said, you know what I am talking about, and it is horror!

So, I have been very aware of what has been going on in that country for many many years, and what they have done to the girls and women, but the damage to the boys, what they turn them into, what we do as humans!

Many of us think about it every single day!! We do care and what is wrong with us!!

It is all about greed, influence, power! As hard as it is, we must all still to adhere to the belief that there are more good people in the world than bad!! If Anne Frank can think that after what happened, then maybe just maybe we can really believe it! I do believe it!!

Ideology and brutality are irrelevant. The issue is subservience to American hegemony. This has been true for all of America's history, and more so as it has become the world's unrivaled military superpower. It has nothing to do with human rights, religion etc.

To learn more about this, look up some of the work of the American professor and public intellectual Noam Chomsky. There are a number of YouTube videos where he captures it well.

Oil .
I have thought of this many x . We most get involve when there is gain for us . Humanitarians of the world my ass .

Oil and money. Trump mentioned something about not wanting to piss off the Saudi's because we are manufacturing the weapons and don't want to put American workers out of business.

It is the hypocrisy of the West, claiming to be the moral arbitrer of the globe and operating as a predator.

They only care about resources.

Oil.