Sunni or Later -

This may have come as a shock to many of you, as over the last seven years I have, perhaps as you, been confused and perplexed at the various positions and direction that the Bush Administration has taken, and I fear I have that familiar feeling again.

After his trip to Israel, Bush stopped by our very trustworthy Allies in Saudi Arabia, then promptly dropped a $20 Billion contract for weapons to the Kingdom. This of course is to maintain Saudi Arabia as a regional check on the Iranian bid for power. It just seems odd that Bush feels nothing but contempt for checks and balances stated by the Constitution at home, yet thinks it can work in the Persian Gulf.

The United States has benefited greatly from its hard work tenacity, idealistic principles, and quite frankly stupid opponents. Miscalculating their advantages and misunderstanding the circumstances that surrounded the military engagements throughout our history.

Enumerating this list would take more work than I am able to do, since it is a dreary Monday.  Suffice it to say that a great deal of luck benefited the United States at very critical moments in our history.  Luck, however is a fickle mistress, and her retributions can be harsh.

Providing weapons to Islamic people who wish to drive off a common enemy of both the United States and the Islamic people we are aiding did not go particularly well in Afghanistan.  Despite the knowledge/Faith/Hope that God was on our noble side.

So we are now giving more aid to the country that 15 of 19 hijackers were born and raised on.  A country whose government is founded upon the spiritual clout of the Wahabi Islamic teachings, the back to the old way style of Islam.

All of this to put a strangle hold on Iran, who by my reckoning does not have nuclear weapons, and yet we do nothing with regard to Pakistan, or North Korea, that do have nuclear weapons.   Bush’s own rhetoric is the driving force for a country that is ideologically opposed to US interests, to gain the technological check on American influence in the region.

I wish I could see the world through Bush’s eyes and in that way gain an insight on what it is h is trying to accomplish.  I could understand Tony Blair, and see the vision he was attempting to bring to life.  But then I am the worst of all things: a moderate liberal,  articulate when I want to be, cynical in our battered political system, and growing more apathetic to its false hope of change.  Its got to get better, Sunni or Later.

Going On Vacation

Well this is simply fantastic.  Two countries who are well known for either funding terrorist organizations, or having more oil than sense are putting down centuries of religious rivalries and getting together for the holy Islamic Pilgrimage to Mecca.

Of course I am talking about our loyal friends the Saudi’s inviting Iran’s very intelligent, and sane, President Ahmadijinejad to partake in the holy pilgrimage and visit the holy city of Mecca.  This would almost be like Mit Romney inviting Pat Robertson to go to Slat Lake City with him, without offering him everlasting salvation.  (I was going to make a remark of an inappropriate nature, so now you will just have to use your imagination.)

It may not be so bad if their wasn’t a war going on in between these countries, and that it was a goal of the founders of the Islamic Republic of Iran to destroy such Sunni Countries bowing to the will f the United States, if they weren’t involved in their own proxy war in Iraq.

Everybody knows that the Iranians have been supplying the Shia of Iraq the necessary tools and training to operate IED’s and to make sure the suicide bomber is not alone before pulling the trigger to explode.  What is not highly touted is the role that Saudi’s have been taking in arming their Sunni brethren to fight back.

Granted they didn’t need much help as most of the dismissed Iraqi army kept their stuff and ran their own personal vendetta/insurgency but they did need resupplies.  Additionally with the domestic popularity waining of the man who started this whole mess, Saudi needed to make a “Dessert Shield” of its own.  (Wow that was clever, I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but toot toot)

Now that these two have decided to be friends, in the name of Allah probably, we can only hope that this turns out to be better than the Palestinians and Israeli’s getting together, cause they have only hated each other for 60 years, so we have only a few more hundred to go.

Peace…its Going On Vacation

With Friends Like Saudi Arabia…

Well the favorite topic of discussion, the deterioration of Pakistan, keeps getting better and better.  And by better I mean those crazy religious guys with the “the end is near” signs don’t look so crazy.  And that will be the nicest thing I ever say about Pat Robertson.

So here is the latest scoop that is a couple days old Pakistan is importing exiled former leaders in order to make a crazy election even more hectic and violent.  Democracy is great isn’t it kids?  Who is this newly arrived but already has a track record for being corrupt if not incompetent?  Nawaz Sharif is his name and Islam is his game.

Let me explain, Bhutto was brought in to be a shield to Musharraf so that the Islamic fundamentals would be violent towards her and her group of supporters, leaving the Military “not” under the command of Musharraf to run the country without all the pesky uprisings to put down.

So the Saudi’s in their obvious role and history of free and fair elections, fostering peaceful intentions of Islam, and concern for the people of Pakistan thought that if a liberal minded woman is allowed to go back home, then a strict Islamist should have that same right.  I mean its not as if a strict interpretation of the Koran would lead someone to do something irrational, right?

Let me repeat the scenario what we have is a Monarchical Society with a history of exporting strict Islamic beliefs throughout the world preaching that Democracy is an affront to Allah, telling a semi-legitimate “Democratic” government with conflicting segments of its population that could tear the country apart, and has nuclear missiles aimed at India as well as be open to dispensing that technology with like minded degenerates.

And we call the Saudi’s our ally!  The whole purpose of the retaliation in Afghanistan, I thought, was to present accountability to countries that harbored terrorists that would use distorted beliefs to attack innocent people.  I mean I get the Iraq was a way for Baby Bush to show he is a tougher man that Pappa Bush and be like the Scion of God himself Reagan, Peace be Upon him.

I mean I can understand why we would not fault the educational system of Saudi Arabia, cause ours isn’t exactly top notch.  Though we don’t have children’s books that tell the reader that Jews are Monkeys and that the hero is able to kill Jews and Infidels because it is Allah’s will.  Unless you go to Mississippi and replace a couple of the words with easy to understand pictures.

The top two majors in Universities in Saudi Arabia are Arabic and Studies of the Koran.  It would be like the U.S. having its top majors be Spanish and Capitalism.  Throw in some science classes let the people learn stuff that is useful to the world at large.  Let them play HALO 3.  Then the Saudi’s would be too occupied to meddle in the affairs of Countries on the downturn.  As it is we are trying to kill ideas with bullets, and they are speaking to the hearts and minds of our enemies.

Too bad it isn’t telling them to knock it off.  No wonder we have so many Islamic Fundamentals disdaining the American people, With Friends Like Saudi Arabia…

Saudi Spin

What you are reading is no illusion, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has said that Great Britain is not taking the “War on Terrorism” seriously. Well, I am in a word stunned. The pure audacity of that statement just has to make you smile, cause it is ballsy for any country to condemn another in such a way. Even more so when the country taking the pot shot is Saudi freken Arabia.

For those who don’t know because they either haven’t seen “The Kingdom” or went to school in Mississippi here is a brief history of how the Kingdom of Saud came to be. WWI ended and control of the Ottoman Turks over the Middle East was sadly over, thus giving the Europeans something to mess up while they were still obliterating any chance Africa would have being a functional continent. Thus arbitrary lines were drawn, and “spheres of influence” put in place so people knew who was in charge. One of these people who wanted a silly little thing like “self determination” was Abdul Aziz Al-Saud. Whose family had twice before attempted to be the country’s leadership, the first time great-grand pappy Saud got pwned by the Ottoman Turks, and the second time grand pappy Saud got lit up by internal rivals.

In each of these grasps at power the family of Saud had as their ally the practitioners of Wahhabism which is a conservative sect within Sunni Islam. The followers of Wahhab believed in a strict adherence to the precepts of Islam, against a “perceived moral decline and political weakness” within the peninsula of Arabia. It is this background that we have the ideology of Osama Bin Laden begin to percolate, as the ruling government seems to serve the desires of the West.

This idea is seemingly proven by two embarrassing and critical events in the Middle East. The first would be the complete an utter failure of a Coalition of Arabic armies to destroy tiny little Israel. This is significant because the people in the region still, somehow, feel they are superior to the West in general and Jews in particular, because thousands of years ago they made cities. To Middle East, “Thanks for the cool history about empires, and especially Persia since it would lead to the movie 300, but your time as being a superpower is past.” Cause to say they lost to Israel is a little bit of an understatement, they beat them so bad their great grandchildren still walk funny.

The second significant event that I am cherry picking for my thesis, is when the Saudi Government turns to the West, namely the big-bad United States, to protect them against the evil that was Saddam Hussein during the First Persian Gulf war. Especially when one takes into consideration the “offer” of the Mujahideen leader, and to this point I still believe Saudi citizen, Osama Bin Laden. Fresh off their defeat of the Evil Empire that was the Soviet Union, one would think the Mujahideen would at least be capable in a fight. So it was to these fundamentalist radicals that the rulers of the Middle East had become morally and politically weak and that the region could only be made pure by blood and fire.

So with the history lesson over, we can get back to what the English response to Saudi Arabia should be. “Expletive Deleted You” was probably the first thought that came into the Head of Prime Minister Brown. Especially since the Saudi’s say the Brits failed to act on Intel given to them. So to recap if I tell you “my kids may throw eggs at your car” and I have been giving them throwing lessons, and eggs, and you don’t move your car, it is your fault for it being egged. (My lawyers are telling me I have to say that I do not endorse the egging of cars, unless they are KIA’s cause c’mon, they deserve it)

One has to look at the credibility of the one giving information as the first stage of interpreting the data. I will not be the first person to buy stocks from, “the people who brought you ENRON.” Especially when the Saudis shoot up a bunch of criminals, place them in black SUV’s place them in front of an Oil Refinery and say, “We killed terrorists.” You get a nod for trying but the substance is a little weak.

This is almost as neat a trick as telling the world that a terrorist attack that involved 17 out of the 19 perpetrators was the responsibility of a dude that people just happen to know who he is. If there was an attack on Los Angeles and 17 of 19 criminals involved were from Mexico, we would not invade Cuba. No matter how many proud Republican Cubans say we should. We would and should want to place the accountability on those who are responsible, either by taking part in the act, or by inaction allowed the act to occur.

Telling Wahhabits to stop teaching kids to “find the Jew, kill the Jew” would be an excellent place to start. Such action would be critical of our friends, and we don’t like to do that as a country, especially this President who is BFF with Putin. The very same guy undermining US efforts with Iran. The friend that does you harm is better than the enemy that wishes to do harm to you. So we let the Saudi family slide on at least a berating that they must take hold of responsibility of what their people do. Instead we get distracted by FOX news which always lead us into the “Saudi Spin Zone.”