I'm not denying that it isn't Sultan's fault. I worded it wrong in the previous post. He signed it, and that's why he's responsible for it. He's been criticized for doing things like that before, BTW (and I'm not particularly fond of him). The question is, who actually came up with that idea? I wonder about which of his advisers actually wrote this and gave it for him to sign. While it has no bearing on how the situation would look under the current Sultan, it might give us some insight whether this stupid edict is gonna be thrown out under his successor (along with the guy who proposed it, as it often happens), or if it's gonna stay. Sultan is responsible for all that happens under him, but he's not El Presidente from Tropico, and does not micromanage everything himself. Internal politics within the court are a thing, too, and also influence the monarchy's politics. Here, it probably depends whether the minister who proposed it counts among the allies of the currently designated successor. If he doesn't, there's hope for Saudi Arabia yet.
Also, the problem with that particular monarchy is that it's essentially a bunch of desert farmers who suddenly got rich on oil. They say that when a rich man becomes poor, he becomes a sheep, but then a poor man becomes rich, he becomes a wolf. The latter case is essentially what is happening here, with corruption galore, excessive spending, noveau riche "style" and all signs that show that those people have no idea what to do with the amount of money they have. And of course, no amount of money can buy one out of small-village mentality and bigotry. Which is why we have Wahhabism, a rather uninspired, short-sighted, strict and literal interpretation of Islam. They're essentially a 1st world country with 3rd world mentality. Those problems are not exclusive to them, and not really correlated with them being a monarchy. In fact, I'm pretty convinced that if they were a democracy, things would be just as bad, and with no hope for a change, to boot (whereas now, after the current Sultan dies, it seems that we'll get someone much better).
Well, not that it all matters to businessmen. As long as they don't declare oil buyers and weapon sellers terrorists, the world isn't gonna care. There will be some token uproar from various freedom movements over the world, and that's all. Shi'a Muslims are probably gonna be furious (rightfully so), but it's not like anyone in the West will listen to them, since in popular opinion, Muslim=terrorist anyway. And it's not like any country in the Muslim world can exert pressure on Saudi Arabia, in fact, it usually works the other way. This is gonna be a problem for Muslims in general, though, since Mekka and Medina both happen to be in Saudi Arabia, and that new law means they pretty much could pick any pilgrim out and arrest him/her on the spot.
