HORSEFEATHERS NOMINEE FOR NYTIMES OP-ED COLUMNIST: DR. MOHAMMED T. RASHID
The recent departure of Frank Rich from the NYTimes Op-Ed page left an opening for another liberal moralist to articulate the horrors of Bush's Amerika. Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman are doing yeoman work, explaining how a cabal of Israel loving Neo-Cons and greedy capitalists are despoiling Iraq and our economy, but they need help to repel the forces of darkness. Howell Raines, meet Dr. Mohammed T. Rashid, columnist for the official Saudi newspaper, Arab News:
"....When people in the Middle East made it clear that they were against the war, Americans (a sizable majority) could not understand how we could “stand for Saddam”. We didn’t. Saddam is not Iraq. Wanting him out does not by necessity mean the raping of Iraq under the banners of “liberation” and “rebuilding”. Now that the agenda is becoming reality, we need some answers.
Haliburton and Bechtel, to name but two, have landed sizeable contracts from the fallen Babylonian cow. Dick Cheney and George Shultz (Reagan’s man) have undeniable ties with those two companies. Ahmed Chalabi, the Bush administration’s choice to lead Iraq, is a figure out of Enron itself...."
There's no way to please such as "Dr." Rashid. Did he say what his doctorate was in? Islamic Studies, perhaps?
Had we simply smashed the Baathist regime and then withdrawn, Rashid would have excoriated us for not caring about the victims of the war or the oppressive regime we'd destroyed. Had we taken out Saddam and his inner circle with a cruise missile or a squad of SEALs, he'd have condemned us for practicing assassination. Had we simply quarantined the country, cordoning it off with sea and air power, he'd have raged about our unnecessary intensification of the sufferings of the Iraqi people.
We'll do what we always do with a defeated enemy: Lift him up and set him steady on his feet again. There will be contracts to American private enterprise. There will be charity from non-Muslim sources. There will be administration by Washington. There will even be participation by (gasp!) Jews.
Perhaps the "Middle East" didn't want the war. America did. And the Iraqis will ultimately be recognized as the principal beneficiaries, even by the "Middle East." But that's what "Dr." Rashid probably fears most. That, and the possibility that his turn will soon come.
Posted by: Francis W. Porretto on April 24, 2003 08:15 AM>There's no way to please such as <
There is... simply stay away out of other people's business. Get away from this region and stay within your own borders, would be a nice start. No body invited the US to march into Somalia, Lebanon or Iraq. Simply take your troops, oil companies, military experts out of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the middle east. And do not forget to take your "peaceful" Israel with you.
It is a simple formula even a child can understand it. Why can't you?
Posted by: Walid on April 30, 2003 10:30 AMRashid,
Posted by: Stephen on April 30, 2003 11:06 AMDoes your comment mean you're angling for a leadership role in al Qaeda?Somehow I think I've heard these comments before, but not recently from Mr. Bin Laden.
Hey Walid, we are pulling out of Saudi Arabia...How long do you think the House of Saud will last without us? I give them 6 months before revolution starts and they are overrun by islamofascists like you. I could care less though because when this happens, NO ONE will allow a Saudi citizen into the US, or anyplace else for that matter, without a full cavity search and a request for immediate assylum, and you'll have to carry out your terrorist activities in other areas of the world--that is, if they'll still let you in.
As for whether we were "asked," guess again! The Saudis ASKED us to protect them from Saddam. The Iraqi exiles BEGGED us for military help to rescue their homeland from a madman, and the Somalis were starving to death at the hands of your fellow Muslim Aidid.
Sooooo sorry that we--the big bad evil US--put our brave soldiers in harms way to protect a bunch of ungrateful, racist, ignorant hate-filled murderers such as yourself. Next time, maybe we really won't bother and you can all blow yourselves to smithereens at will.
I won't shed any tears for you, that's for sure.
Posted by: Deb on April 30, 2003 08:26 PM