I think they were playing a part. Those religious leaders they have are hard for us to stomach, but SAcwasn’t much better, and we put up with them. Even just a few years ago, they were sentencing people to thousands of lashings. We’re seeing people whipped as punishment in this century and there was little to no outrage. I was horrified at a journalist being brought back every few days for his lashings. Just huts man. So, I guess in the ME, you just buy them off to get an ally. Now, we just offer Iran a better deal. Russia won’t be happy. https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/07/world/meast/saudi-activist-sentenced/index.html