John Kerry
Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir (R), listens to the US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) while interpreting for King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud before meeting at the King's private residence on June 27, 2014 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Kerry, who was in the region earlier in the week, is traveling to Saudi Arabia to meet with leaders about the increasing violence in Iraq, ISIS and other regional and international issues. Getty Images

Yesterday (13 September), Isis released their third video claiming to show the beheading of British captive David Haines. Meanwhile, in a major boost to the US morales, Saudi Arabia and nine other Arab nations are to join a US-led coalition against Isis (known as Islamic State) militants.

United States and Saudi Arabia have continued on their amicable political ties without fail, through the 9/11 attacks when a Saudi-born al-Qaeda militant coordinated terrorist attacks in New York killing almost 3,000 people.

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To the extent that in 1991, the US military made it mandatory for its female personnel in Saudi Arabia to wear a head-to-foot abaya (cloak), making Saudi Arabia the only country in the world where US military personnel wear a religiously-mandated garment.

While the House of Representatives ruled against the Pentagon from "formally or informally" making female personnel wear abayas in 2002 after the highest-ranking female fighter pilot in the US and now retired colonel, Martha McSally, filed a lawsuit, the practice continues to be encouraged today.

On the other side, despite the rampant violence against women practised in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom has successfully managed to bypass sanctions or any level of international condemnation from the US.

The Isis Threat

In the wake of the emerging Isis threat as the US fuels up with Saudi Arabia to rage another war, critics are left questioning the superpower's relationship with the oil-rich Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia Isis