March 28, 2003

I have the delightful feeling that the whole al-Saud family dreams of gallows, every night. They have to sense the end of their power approaching, once Iraq is free and Iran has thrown off its mad ayatollahs.

The best part is that it won't be necessary for us to depose them. Their own people, confronted with a free and prosperous Iraq right next door, will spit on their hands and do the job themselves... and a century of foolish Washington pandering to a corrupt "royal family" will come to an end, just like that.

I'm being over-optimistic, you say? Well, let it be. It's a cushy job, but someone has to do it.

How I HOPE you are right!! Is it possible though that we are being slightly utopian in imagining how much the Iraqis will welcome freedom. I'm uneasy that we may find we're dealing with primitives who would rather blame Israel a la the other Arab states, than build a free and democratic country. Still, we have to try.

I read an interesting paper in International security or world politics. It contended that the least democratic countries in the Islamic world were the ones which had women the most subservient. I'll look it up and give you the reference if interested.

Iraq seems to be ahead of the curve with respect to women. At least from what I have seen. So, there is at least one reason to be somewhat optimistic.

This I thing I like about the Saudis: their hypocrisy.
Now they point to Sharon as a criminal due to its very indirect role in Shabra and Shaktila massacres (ie for not foreseeing the Maronites would perpetrate them and then acting to prevent them) but how about the massacres of Syrians and Palestinians in Lebanon? There is a link at http://freelebanon.org about that and when adding the number of dead it is easy to notice that the number of dead amounts to several times the one at Shabdra ad Shaktila. Anyone noticed the Saudis calling for punishment on Arafat and, when he was still alive, Hafez Al Assad? We can also notice that Saddam's savage repressions against Kurds and Shia Muslims (called dogs in Saudi parliance) have caused at least twenty or thirty times more dead than Shabra and Shaktila. Anyone noticed the Saudis calling for punishment on Saddam? We also notice that Saddam has had a policy of arabization of the Kurdish oil regions (ie ethnic cleansing and steling of Kurdish oil). Anyone noticed the Saudis calling for the return of those lands to their original owners? We also notice that the governement of Sudan helped by Saudi volunteers has been perpetrating genocide and massive rapes in South Sudan. The number of dead amounts to a thousand Shabras and Shaktilas. Anyone noticed the Saudis calling for punishment on the Suadanese leadership? Anyone heard of the Saudis castrating those of their citizens guilty of rapes in South Sudan? Anyone heard the Saudis calling for the return of the South Sudan oil producing regions to theitr legitimate non-muslim owners?

Oops there is a sentence above I miswrote. It should ready "what about the massacres of Lebanese by Syrians and Palestinians" instead of "what about the massacres of Syrians and Palestinians"

An individual like myself,having worked for a very important saudi Prince, linked to the House of Saud for many years can speak with authority by saying: you cant believe a single word a saudi says.