|
October 13, 2003FOLLOW THE (SAUDI) MONEYHorsefeathers has argued that the United States must focus on Saudi Arabia as the enabler of radical Islam. Regrettably, the Bush administration has not yet fully confronted the problem. Saudi Arabia has spent many years and much revenue bankrolling ex-State Dept. officials and pro-Saudi propagandists. Here is the latest story of the corrupting effect of Saudi money: "...The New Republic magazine is coming under attack for co-sponsoring a recent forum with Saudi Arabia and allegedly agreeing to the kingdom's demand that it withdraw its invitation to a leading critic of Riyadh. Author Stephen Schwartz told The Forward that he was removed from the panel at the behest of Saudi Arabia, which co-sponsored the October 2 panel discussion on the kingdom's political future and has advertised in the magazine. "I was deeply shocked," said Schwartz, a convert to Islam and author of "The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'Ud from Tradition to Terror" (Doubleday), in which he accuses the Saudi government of being the principal backer of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and funding the spread of the puritanical form of Islam known as Wahhabism. "My book says that this evil alliance of the cult of Wahhabism and the House of Saud has had a devastating effect on Islam," said Schwartz, a former Washington bureau chief for the Forward and currently director of the Islam and Democracy Program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "I'm the person that has caused them the most trouble. It is because of who I am..." Posted at 05:23 PM by
 
|
Saudi Arabia is slowly losing the public-relations battle here in the United States. Should its oil production ever appear less than vital to our national economy, our forbearance for its evils will drop to zero.
The Saudis know this, of course. Which makes for an interesting speculation: could there be Saudi money behind the political campaigns to keep ANWR closed to oil exploration and to limit licensure of offshore oil sites?
Posted by: Francis W. Porretto on October 13, 2003 06:48 PMAnd while we're at it, who's not working to increase fuel efficiency standards? Why does the IRS give a huge tax benefit to SUV owners? And what state just elected a Hummer owner as governor?
Posted by: Frank on October 13, 2003 09:32 PMWOW!!
I never knew that Schwartz was a convert to Islam? When did he convert?
Thus, is he now technically allowed in Saudi Arabia and Mecca for the Haj, or if he is a Jew by birth does that disqualify him?
Maybe http://allahakbar.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Mike on October 14, 2003 01:33 AMwould know?