Saudi Prince Offers Bentleys To Pilots In Yemen Bombing Raid

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: April 23rd, 2015

saudi prince offers bentleys to pilots in yemen bombing raid

After the end of the first phase of a military campaign in Yemen, one Saudi prince decided to reward the pilots with Bentleys for a job well done.

Saudi royal family member Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal tweeted that he would give the 100 pilots involved in the bombing operation 100 Bentleys “in appreciation of their role” in said operation, the BBC reports. The tweet was shared over 28,000 times and favorited by over 5,000, with many praising the prince for his “generosity.”

However, those affected by the bombing weren’t too thrilled by the proposal. One Yemeni chastised the gesture, stating that no ambulances would be coming to the hospitals the pilots likely helped fill. Others noted the disparity between Al-Waleed’s wealth and the poverty among those in Yemen, with one Jordanian saying “100 or 200 lives for a Bentley” was how “cheap” a human life was for the Saudis.

The original tweet was eventually deleted, with Saudi media reporting the account as having been hacked; the prince himself did not claim this happened.

[Photo credit: Bentley]

#Bentley #Gifts #MiddleEast #MilitaryCampaigns #PrinceAl-WaleedBinTalal #SaudiArabia #SocialMedia #Yemen

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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11 of 39 comments

Roland on Apr 24, 2015

I guess it's today's world-class standard of courage. The Saudi regime is just trying to show how much they're with the program. We all love to bomb people who can't shoot back, and get treated like heroes afterwards. Canadians are as bad as Saudis as far as that goes. Without the Bentleys of course. In Canada the Bentleys are strictly reserved for our great heros of financial speculation, who take risks approximately equivalent to those faced by Saudi fighter pilots.

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TonyJZX on Apr 24, 2015

They should just do like the US and give medals to drone pilots... I'm sure driving to their local AFB in continental USA entails greivous risks...

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- Quasimondo on Apr 24, 2015
  
  When a drone operator takes out a target and saves us from having to put boots on the ground to face those "grevious risks" to accomplish the same thing, I think that operator should be failry compensated.
  
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- TonyJZX on Apr 24, 2015
  
  @quasimondo that doesnt make any sense at all its not as if the drone operator is even the one who makes the executive decision to take out an ISIS terrorist in a Landcruiser or a shepherd tending his flock... its someone of much higher pay grade i doubt a drone operator is likely to facing congressional inquiry if things go wrong
  
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- Quasimondo on Apr 24, 2015
  
  @TonyJZX The drone operator is the one who's pushing the FIRE button that launches the missiles. Someone of a much higher pay grade may have told him, "this is the target," but in the end, it's the operator that's ending somebody's life, even if they're doing it from an air conditioned room on a stateside airbase on the other side of the world.
  
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- Panzerfaust on Apr 24, 2015
  
  @quasimondo Knowing most drone operators, they'd probably prefer to be adequately compensated with a bag of "Chips-ahoy" cookies over a medal anyway.
  
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- 95_SC on Apr 24, 2015
  
  @quasimondo Plenty of boots already on the ground at the bases those drones fly out of. Plenty of rocket fire and mortars routinely landing on those bases too. While the drones can certainly reduce the risk in that it is less likely someone will have to kick in a door, it isn't a free ride by any stretch.
  
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- 95_SC on Apr 24, 2015
  
  @quasimondo Also, nobody had issue with giving them medals. The issue was that the medal they were giving them rated higher than the Bronze Star that dudes on the ground were getting.
  
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Shatners Bassoon on Apr 24, 2015

Total f**ked-up perversion. Bribe soldiers, while incubating the Wahabbi-ISIS funadmentals within your own state. What a ridiculous country.

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- Panzerfaust on Apr 24, 2015
  
  There's more than one that qualifies for that moniker.
  
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Geekcarlover on Apr 24, 2015

Does the Saudi Air Force have any female pilots? If so, I guess he'll give the car to their husband or brother.

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