I almost smashed my head through the monitor when I read this bit:
The two countries had interests which underpinned a "critical relationship". There was much that both had in common - religious faith, family values, and the pursuit of peace.
Family values!
BoTM / JL / MM / HAB / VRWC / Horseman
I'm studying for the CPA exam. Have a nice summer, and if you're down just sit back and realize that Joe is off somewhere, doing much worse than you are.
Well, I suppose that shoots to pieces Bush's whole moral high ground argument for taking out Saddam. Seriously, can anyone tell me a fundemental difference between the two regimes?
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Joe, could you copy and paste these articles from arabnews.com for now on? I can't read the damn things.
DPDarkPrimus is my boyfriend!
SDNW4 Nation: The Refuge And, on Nova Terra, Al-Stan the Totally and Completely Honest and Legitimate Weapons Dealer and Used Starship Salesman slept on a bed made of money, with a blaster under his pillow and his sombrero pulled over his face. This is to say, he slept very well indeed.
Saudi-US Relations Will Remain Strong, Says US Ambassador
Michel Cousins, Arab News Staff
JEDDAH, 23 February 2004 — In his first public address since arriving in the Kingdom, US Ambassador James C. Oberwetter last night said those who tried to disrupt the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia would “not succeed”.
The US, he said, had a “long-standing commitment” to the Kingdom. It included not only working together “to defeat the terrorists who have tried hard to drive us apart” but also to ensure the security and prosperity of both countries.
Oberwetter was speaking to a crowd of some 400 guests at a National Day reception at the US Consulate here marking the joint birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
For almost 60 years, he said, Saudi Arabia had been one of the US’ “closest allies”. His country had a “tremendous interest” in seeing the Kingdom’s security and stability. This meant encouraging economic reforms. They would lead to increased business and trade growth. This, he believed, would result in the creation of jobs for a growing population.
The two countries had interests which underpinned a “critical relationship”. There was much that both had in common — religious faith, family values, and the pursuit of peace. Washington and Riyadh would continue to talk as close friends, he said, even if it would inevitably include highlighting “the areas where we might differ in approach”. This is what “long-time friends” do, he said. “They freely discuss their differences, work toward mutually beneficial solutions and they celebrate their similarities.”
Following a ceremony moving even to non-American hearts, where the strains of the Star-Spangled Banner wafted on the Jeddah evening air and all eyes seemed fixed on the floodlit Stars-and-Stripes gently waving in the cool breeze, the ambassador said that he intended to work on those areas of “similarity” and give his support to “our friends here working on behalf of changes that will strengthen US-Saudi ties.”
Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Oberwetter was vice president of Governmental & Political Affairs for Hunt Oil in Dallas, Texas. Although new to the diplomatic service, he is not new to the Arab world, he said last night. He had been introduced to Arab culture as a student when his parents lived in Libya.
The ambassador was accompanied by his wife, Anita, who arrived in the Kingdom just four days ago. She would also be part of the US diplomatic team in her own right, he said, focusing on medicine and health care issues.
BAM!
"Show me an angel and I will paint you one." - Gustav Courbet
"Quetzalcoatl, plumed serpent of the Aztecs... you are a pussy." - Stephen Colbert
"Really, I'm jealous of how much smarter than me he is. I'm not an expert on anything and he's an expert on things he knows nothing about." - Me, concerning a bullshitter
This is what “long-time friends” do, he said. “They freely discuss their differences, work toward mutually beneficial solutions and they celebrate their similarities.”
And since it seems that 'religious faith' is shared similarly by the US and the Saudis, when can I expect the Department of Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue to come for me?
...Now I also feel like smashing my head through the monitor...
DPDarkPrimus is my boyfriend!
SDNW4 Nation: The Refuge And, on Nova Terra, Al-Stan the Totally and Completely Honest and Legitimate Weapons Dealer and Used Starship Salesman slept on a bed made of money, with a blaster under his pillow and his sombrero pulled over his face. This is to say, he slept very well indeed.
The Kernel wrote:Well, I suppose that shoots to pieces Bush's whole moral high ground argument for taking out Saddam. Seriously, can anyone tell me a fundemental difference between the two regimes?
Saudi Arabia = no mass murder, at least in recent years. However, they're one of the most repressive Islamist theocracies in the world and they spend billions of dollars a year on "Islamic activities," an amount that makes the Soviet external propaganda budget seem rather modest.
Invading Saudi Arabia is not a realistic possibility right now, nor was it last March, the best thing we can do now is start to use our new operating leverage in Iraq against them, but this doesn't seem like a high priority item on the agenda given the Ambassador's remarks. Fuck it, the main reason I supported going into Iraq was to give us some leeway against the SOBs.
BoTM / JL / MM / HAB / VRWC / Horseman
I'm studying for the CPA exam. Have a nice summer, and if you're down just sit back and realize that Joe is off somewhere, doing much worse than you are.
theski wrote:Start fucking Drilling in Alaska again...... i
We can't do that, we might destroy the natural habitat of the mosquito!
BoTM / JL / MM / HAB / VRWC / Horseman
I'm studying for the CPA exam. Have a nice summer, and if you're down just sit back and realize that Joe is off somewhere, doing much worse than you are.
This is what “long-time friends” do, he said. “They freely discuss their differences, work toward mutually beneficial solutions and they celebrate their similarities.”
And since it seems that 'religious faith' is shared similarly by the US and the Saudis, when can I expect the Department of Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue to come for me?
...Now I also feel like smashing my head through the monitor...
Isn't that the nickname that Ashcroft's wife gave him? Just checking.
- Odd Jack, Jaded Skeptic
--- jadedskeptic.blogspot.com
- "The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry."
"The universe is a strange and wondrous place. The truth is quite odd enough to need no help from pseudoscientific charlatans." - Richard Dawkins
We can't do that, we might destroy the natural habitat of the mosquito!
Fine then, Time to start building Nuke reactors enmass again..
*listens closely* faintly.... No Nukes No Nukes No Nukes
The anti-nuclear shitheads don't have a fucking leg to stand on now. Modern nuclear power plant designs are far superior to the plants currently operating in the U.S., and if we got off our ass and reprocessed our nuclear fuel like everyone else in the world does, we'd produce but a tiny fraction of the waste we do today.
But don't you people know? The Saudis us and don't wish us any harm at all and are really nice guys, which is why Saudi ambassadors who may have made unfortunate remarks about genocide on the jews and crusaders in the past (which they really didn't mean) are frequent house guests quite a few of our administrations in recent history. We just can't slow and halt our relations with them!
"Show me an angel and I will paint you one." - Gustav Courbet
"Quetzalcoatl, plumed serpent of the Aztecs... you are a pussy." - Stephen Colbert
"Really, I'm jealous of how much smarter than me he is. I'm not an expert on anything and he's an expert on things he knows nothing about." - Me, concerning a bullshitter
Canada: bad, because we didn't join the war. Our liberal democratic society is not considered a point in our favour.
Germany: bad, because they didn't join the war. Their liberal democratic society is not considered a point in their favour.
France: really bad, because they said bad things about the US and tried to stop the war. Their liberal democratic society is not considered a point in their favour.
Saudi Arabia: good, because they're deeply religious and oppress the shit out of anyone who opposes their "family values".
Gotta love Bush foreign policy
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
Yes, but please bear in mind you have the Bush Administration's views there in a nutshell, and not the average American's views. I realize that we bear some responsiblity for having that man represent us, but we were mislead about his foreign policy as much as anyone.
Howedar wrote:Yes, but please bear in mind you have the Bush Administration's views there in a nutshell, and not the average American's views. I realize that we bear some responsiblity for having that man represent us, but we were mislead about his foreign policy as much as anyone.
His foreign policy with regard to Saudi Arabia is simply a continuation of Nixon’s (You invest your oil money in the US and in exchange we will buy said oil no questions asked, not to mention sell you weapons on the side). Still I don't particularly mind the US being in bed with Saudis, it means there is little room for the EU to debase itself there (although we are falling all over ourselves to develop our new aspiring main strategic and trading partner the PRC).
i
Just checking.
us and don't wish us any harm at all and are really nice guys, which is why Saudi ambassadors who may have made unfortunate remarks about genocide on the jews and crusaders in the past (which they really didn't mean) are frequent house guests quite a few of our administrations in recent history. We just can't slow and halt our relations with them!
"Friends 4ever with the homeland where terrorists leader come from. 
