Posted on 10/12/2001 7:07:45 AM PDT by callisto
Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal suggested Friday that he'll make New York pay a price for Mayor Rudy Giuliani's refusal to accept his $10 million dollar check for the Twin Tower relief fund, saying he's ready to "put his money where is mouth is."
The Saudi prince contributed the big bucks after Giuliani gave him a tour of the World Trade Center disaster site Thursday. Bin Talal said at the time, "Saudi Arabia is with the United States wholeheartedly."
But hours later the wealthy Arab released a statement saying:
"I believe the the government of the United States should reexamine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause. Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of the Israelis while the rest of the world turns the other cheek."
Upon hearing about the bin Talal's press release, Giuliani condemned the statement as "highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous." Hizzoner's aides returned the Saudi's money after determining that his check had not yet been cashed.
The mayor's snub prompted the Saudi prince to leave in a huff for home, where he spoke to NBC's Andrea Mitchell.
"He's not backing down," Mitchell told radioman Don Imus Friday morning. "He says he has a big stake in New York (and) he puts his money where his mouth is."
Bin Talal's financial stake in the Big Apple includes a $10 billion investment in banking giant Citicorp, half ownership of the Plaza Hotel, substantial investments in the Saks Fifth Avenue department store and NewsCorp., the parent company of the New York Post and the Fox News Channel.
He also has part of his $20 billion personal fortune invested in AOL Time Warner, Apple Computer.
We can't. The sympathizer/supporter of Bin Laden Terrorist Taliban organization Senator Dascle squelched the bill to start drilling in committee just yesterday.
To accept the money after the Prince blamed the U.S. Middle East policies for the terrorist attacks only serves to legitimize the "blame the U.S. first" mentality. Rudy was absolutely correct in rejecting the $10 million dollars.
Can someone tell this Aussie - is Rudy a Republican or a Democrat?
How about we take some big oil rigs, the floating kind, and
park them in international waters just of the Saudi coast.
Then with horizontal-directional-drilling technology, we could suck all the oil we wanted right out
from under their sand covered noses.
What if he decides to destroy the World Trade Center by crashing two jetliners into them? What if he decides to take it out on the Pentagon in similar fashion?
Where, oh where, is Carlos Hatchcock now that we really need him??
The problem is that Saud and Egypt and the other Arab states allow terror cells which agitate against the US to flourish, as long as they dont threaten their regimes.A sort of relief valve that threatens us, not them
They could assimilate displaced "persons" within their regimes (ie Palestinians) and of course "discourage" religious "schools" from selling their hateful propaganda (like how neat it is to be a martyr). And so on
Yes, there will always be fundamentalists. But look at Turkey and Khrgystan and Tunisia. Those types are "out of favor" there, for the most part
The Arab regimes are the problem. Either they straighten up and find a spine, or maybe we quit "protecting" them. Its Typical behavior, thinking you can have it both ways...
P!$$ on that. That's worked really well for the last decade, hasn't it? Now they can start "perceiving" things from our point of view or be damned.
Rudy had no right not to accept the gift and to insult the man that way. Foreign policy is part of the " big stick " and if not used fairly the rest will go by the boards.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!! :P
The Prince insulted US, and Rudy said "No, thanks". It was totally fair. And Rudy had every right to do it, and I support him 200% in this.
And excuse me, this was not "foreign policy" just because an a$$hole foreign "prince" came to MY CITY to make a LOCAL donation followed by an INTERNATIONAL press release designed to placate his homeys.
LOCAL matter. NYC. Rudy's call. Get it? I suppose you think Rudy had no right to throw Arafat out of that reception some years back either, but he DID. Deal with it.
Second verse, same as the first:
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!! :P
No, thanks. That's what got us into the mess we're in now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.