Attack on Saudi Arabia Demands a United Response
A strike on its oil and gas infrastructure is an assault on the world economy.
Aramco oil facilities, like this near the al-Khurj area, are a global economic asset.
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images
The attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas facilities in Abqaiq, which has suspended half of the kingdom’s processing — corresponding to 6% of world supply — is a blow to one of the main arteries of the global economy. The Trump administration should use the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York to marshal a global response.
Responsibility for the attacks has been claimed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who say they used a swarm of drones to inflict great damage. But there’s also suspicion that Shiite militias in Iraq were the culprits, and that they used cruise missiles.