ARAB OFFICIALS: SAUDI ARABIA IN WORST CRISIS IN HISTORY;SOME OF THE 6,000 PRINCES STILL FUND AL-QAI

MEMRI ^ | 6/22/04 | MEMRI

[Mark Felton]

ACCORDING TO ARAB OFFICIALS RETURNING FROM VISITS TO SAUDI ARABIA, THE KINGDOM IS GOING THROUGH THE WORST CRISIS IN ITS HISTORY AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IS IN THE BALANCE. AT THE SAME TIME, SOME OF THE 6,000 SAUDI PRINCES CONTINUE TO FINANCE AL-QA'IDA. (AL-QUDS AL-ARABI, LONDON, 6/22/04)

[Note: Story is in the MEMRI ticker]

[gathersnomoss]

So, OBL and AQ get to run the oil trade? "And slowly they turn...step by step....inch by inch...."

Sounds like a slow and deliberate world domination play. We must develope our oil fields yesterday. Then nuke Alah!

[Mark Felton]

A tiny minority of those 6000 actively fund Al-Qaida.

yes. You are correct!

admin, can the title be changed from "6,000 Prince Still fund Al Qaida" to "Some Princes Still Fund Al Qaida"?

Thanks and apologies.

[mlbford2]

Born, raised and worked in the ME. And I agree with you 100%

[rrrod]

Good!...Expats need to speak out more and let folks know what we are up against!...all the best.

[bray]

Like Einstein said, Sand times E squared = Glass. Mecca glass pottery has a nice ring to it??

Pray for W and Our Amazing Troops

[Stopislamnow]

House of Saud is 30k+

[StumpyPete]

You are probably correct, but I wasn't counting wives and daughters because in that culture ... they don't.

[Cicero]

The House of Saud was Wahabist in the first place and has continued thus. They have supported the Wahabists, including the fire-and-brimstone preachers and the terrorists, up until 9/11. They have funded madrassahs throughout the world to train up Muslim children to know nothing but a memorized, fundamentalist version of the Qran and the holy texts in Arabic. Their own children often attend Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and other western universities, but they have trained generations of young Muslims who know NOTHING but a radicalized Qran.

They have been riding a tiger, and now they can't get off. There is no easy line of separation between the Saudi religious police, the Saudi government, the Saudi security officers, the Saudi imams, and the terrorists.

I agree that the House of Saud is finished. They can't repudiate the Wahabists without repudiating their who power base. And they can't continue to fund the Wahabists because they are inseparable from terrorism.

I believe that we will pull out, let the country descend into chaos, and then go back in again, probably sometime after next November unless the media manage to elect John Kerry. If Kerry is elected, the whole world will descend into chaos, he will probably serve only one term like Jimmy Carter, and who knows what will happen next?

[yoe]

IMHO,the Saudi Princes have all been paying (appeasing; being blackmailed by) the terrorists off for years. These same princes have banked billions of dollars away just for this sort of rainy day, which is fact approaching them so they will all go to some far off land and live off their protected loot...pretty quickly. I suspect the exodus has already started with women and children first...leaving their castles in the sand to the rabble it has aided and abetted.

We should have drilled in America...........

[sarasota]

The only thing that will wake up America (again)and mobilize us against terror is another 9.11. Most of us have already forgotten. Witness the overwhelming joy at Moore's pathetic piece.

[sarasota]

And based on what I see and hear in the media, I already don't "know" America. Those days appear to be gone.

[q_an_a]

good comment. one factoid that is often overlooked is that the GDP if Isreal is the same as Saudi Aribia and 10 times greater than Egypt. No lakes of oil, and no Answan Dam to fuel the ecomony-just hard work.

Isreal may ahve many government problems with what they do with their econopmy, but it is easier to sort it out when everyone is working (most everyone) than when most people are in a religous school.

PS all those madresses are not much different that the cultural studies programs in our colleges. kids can't find jobs with that education.

[Imagine]

With plenty of ammo I hope.

[ought-six]

"Any thoughts on what's available to the Saudis to get this under control?"

Nothing. The House of Saud is about to become toast.

[aculeus]

In 29 days we're going to see 6000 princes executed?

Er, "some" of 6000 can be as few as 2 and as many as 5999.

[Hostage]

Average citizen there is not in poverty, far from it. In Saudi Arabia, average citizen is middle class or better by US standards. OBL was one example, having amassed hundreds of millions through construction contracts his family had with Sauds.

[StolarStorm]

just hard work.

Plus lots of cash from Uncle Sam. It would be unfair to fail to mention the USA's support of Israel's economy.

[itsahoot]

Might be a little unfair to over rate it too. http://www.gopusa.com/opinion/aw_1021.shtml

---

How about the Middle East? Billions of dollars in aid are being dispensed there. What does it accomplish?

Israel is the #1 recipient of U.S. aid. But it doesn't really need the money, which totals less than 3% of its GDP. In fact, U.S. aid probably discourages needed economic reforms which could make the Israeli economy more productive. Aid also makes Israel unnecessarily dependent on the United States, making the Jewish state vulnerable to U.S. pressure to make unwise concessions to its enemies. You can't receive aid, in other words, with no strings attached. (See "Israel Doesn't Need to Be A Banana Republic", for some good recommendations along these lines).


Egypt is the second-largest recipient of foreign aid, and is considered a close ally. However, Egypt is still an authoritarian state and its official media is a source of anti-American and anti-Jewish rhetoric. The nation's Christian minority is persecuted and Islamic radicals are always on the verge of causing major damage. Plus, Egypt has been cooperating with North Korea in the development of ballistic missiles. Is American aid to Egypt a good investment?


Even pre-9/11 Taliban Afghanistan was raking in U.S. aid dollars! In July of 2001, the government reported that in that fiscal year, Afghanistan had already received $117,869,525 millions of dollars in aid for food, education and other benefits.


Did that inspire Mullah Omar to turn Osama over to us? Of course not. Like the Beatles sang, "Money Can't Buy Me Love!". Now the U.S. is spending big bucks to beef up Afghanistan's borders - how about our own borders?


Since the Oslo Accords, the U.S. has paid millions to the Palestinian Authority. What has that purchased? Certainly not peace. To show its gratitude, the Palestinian Authority named a city square in Jenin after a suicide bomber who killed 4 American soldiers in Iraq.


A year ago in October of 2002, USAID official Laurence Foley was assassinated in Amman, and Yasser Arafat called his killers "noble men". (Was Arafat against the fact that USAID had supplied clean drinking water to Jordanians, or was it just sheer anti-Americanism which caused him to say that?) Some USAID funds disbursed to the Palestinian Authority, by the way, were used to renovate a high school named after Dalal Mughrabi, a female terrorist who killed 37, including 1 American. http://www.connectionmagazine.org/2002_11/ts_bauer_unmoney.htm And then there is the latest atrocity - American embassy officials dispensing scholarships to Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.


Why are we sending money to these guys?


Other countries considered U.S. allies are Jordan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Yet Jordan appears to be a great source of anti-American activity in Iraq. Elements of Pakistan's government apparently aided our enemies in Afghanistan even after 9/11. And Saudi Arabia, the country we saved in the First Gulf War, is the home of Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 hijackers.


Isn't it about time to sit back and analyze our entire Middle East policy?


And here's something interesting to consider. One Middle Eastern country which reportedly does have a significant amount of pro-Americanism is Iran. Not only does Iran not receive U.S. aid, but its regime is an enemy of America. Quite a contrast with Egypt, where the exact opposite is true. There may be a lesson there....

[JesseHousman]

Why are we sending money to these guys?

Good question.

Why are we sending money to any countries?

[King Prout]

but one upon whom they depend.
not terribly bright, that.