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2005-01-21 Arabia

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Posted by tipper 2005-01-21 1:07:57 AM|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11138 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Saudis caught in a vicious cycle

What? Life?

Posted by nada 2005-01-21 1:51:22 AM|| 2005-01-21 1:51:22 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 I'm all sympathy.

Posted by gromgorru 2005-01-21 5:57:40 AM|| 2005-01-21 5:57:40 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Too funny! The guy starts with: "Although it may seem that all turban wearers look and think alike...."

Brilliant, Sherlock. I'm glad you got an opportunity to finally cross your county line.

Then he spews: Such analysis is fundamentally insincere. It begins with the intended culprit of fundamentalist Islam or "Wahhabism" firmly in mind, and then seeks to cobble together arguments to indict it - regardless of how detached from reality those arguments might be.

Speaking about detached...give this man a sucker. His translator clearly gifted him with deep insight that only a true rube could fully comprehend.

It's so lame, it's almost cute.

Posted by 2b 2005-01-21 6:23:11 AM|| 2005-01-21 6:23:11 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 I think he misses the real point. Saudi Arabia looks like an armed camp not just because of fear of terrorists. It is because their inbred leaders are terrified that democratic revolution is headed their way. And they have a good reason to be scared. Because while terrorists are fanatical and apt to go off like a bomb, they can only tear down. Democrats (in the good sense), are filled with lifelong determinism and realism. Democrats never stop. They have a philosophy, a plan of what to do. They know it will work, if by *any* means they can bring it about. And they also know that it will sustain itself on new believers. And this is why no other system has survived in a competition with democracy. There are even democrats hidden in their own ranks, their own family, and they know it. Democrats pushing for, and waiting for, that subtle balance to shift just enough so that nothing can stop it. And while I have said this in the past, President Bush made it abundantly clear last night to every remaining tyrant: your days are numbered.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-01-21 11:57:07 AM|| 2005-01-21 11:57:07 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Apparently the pre 9/11 sermons of these West Leaning Imans worked incredible well since only 15 of the 19 assholes were from Soddy Arabia. Keep up the good work guys and we'll continue to buy into your horseshit.

Posted by Rightwing 2005-01-21 12:00:16 PM|| 2005-01-21 12:00:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 I'm with the Moose! Right on the mark. It only moves One Way.

Posted by .com 2005-01-21 12:11:08 PM|| 2005-01-21 12:11:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 It is amazing how so many of these "visitors" fall for the Saudi bullshit. I remember when a Westerner, who understood Arabic, had to call Security because of the content of the Imam's Sermon coming from the University Mosque situated on the side of our compound. It was pure, unadulterated hatred!

Posted by TMH 2005-01-21 12:57:14 PM|| 2005-01-21 12:57:14 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 It only moves One Way

Not so. China's moved backwards since '89, as has Russia. Democracy's not a sure thing, and many simultaneous factors are needed to force it into bloom.

Posted by lex 2005-01-21 1:06:00 PM|| 2005-01-21 1:06:00 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 lex - You're right. It's not easy to give it up, but your observation is on the mark. And Russians are doing it willingly, eyes open. In China it was different.

What may differentiate things today is who is sitting in the Prez chair. This time, do you think a Tiannamen would end the same way? A whimper? I think the dynamics would be quite different, but I'm not a fool for my own hopes - so it might end the same way, but with a scream that would not be forgotten for a long long time. Subversion of the military leadership - or a spontaneous flip, ala Moscow / Yeltsin - would alter the situation - and possibly tip it. They did bring in troops from the hinterlands to perform the crushing in Tiannamen - because they weren't sure / couldn't trust the local garrisons' loyalty. The calculus is interesting - and our penetration in China today might surprise some people, I'd wager.

You can far better explain Russia's love affair with tyranny. I freely admit I just don't get them. I once thought they were our natural new allies - the equation of who needs what and who has what was almost perfect - now I'm utterly disgusted with them, lock, stock, and barrel.

Posted by .com 2005-01-21 1:28:03 PM|| 2005-01-21 1:28:03 PM|| Front Page Top

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