Bush and the Saudi princess

The Spectator ^ | 11/30/2002 | Mark Steyn

[Diana Rose]

Why don't the Saudis just hack the old girls hand off (you know the one she signed the checks with) as a sign of good faith...(/sarcasm)

[RKV]

I think galt was trying to anticipate a bit. Personally, I'd like to see more emphasis on cooperation between the Libertarians and the Republicans around here. Bottom line is govern by the Constitution and we will get along much better. Clearly we are NOT doing that now. No mention of a Department of Education, NPR, etc. in Article 1 Section 8, so no power for the Feds to get involved. Me personally I am a 2nd Amendment bigot - and let's not forget who signed the (so-called) Assault Weapons Ban which expires in 2004. Let me give you a hint - his initials wer GHWB. And so on.

[LisaFab]

Thanks and the same to you.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[MeekOneGOP]

bump for later read....

[Crazymonarch]

pretty wild website

[iconoclast]

We have to be careful not to overstretch our military and intelligence resources all at once by going after every single terrorist-harboring nation all at once.

Few would disagree ... but why go in reverse order?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Mark Steyn is fast becomming my favorite columnist.

He is variously described as a Saudi government agent and al-Qa’eda sympathiser, as if these positions are mutually exclusive.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

looks like you are wrong on this one.

[swarthyguy]

Iraq is the tactical pivot, Saudi Arabia the strategic and Egypt the Prize. --Rand Corp 2002.

What if we skip the tactical and just go to the strategic. Now, that'd be Misunderestimating Dubya and his Strategery.

[Wissa]

let's not forget who signed the (so-called) Assault Weapons Ban which expires in 2004. Let me give you a hint - his initials wer GHWB.

Clinton signed it into law on 9/13/94.

[Sarah]

You know, this actually makes me start believing some of those anti-semetic stories about Bush.
The whole thing is just so incomprehensible.
I lived in Israel while Bush Sr. was President, and it was so clear to us then how pro-Arab his cabinet was, (as was he...)
When George W. came on the scene I really saw him as another type completely. Open to reality and able to see Israel's position like Reagan. I see he has a good relationship with Sharon, and (like Giuiliani) treated Arafat from the start like the piece of ... that he is.
So, what to make of this Saudi worship? .... G-d help us when the Democrats or McCain get up to speed.

[Sarah]

Please check my post (I responded to the wrong poster.)

[Excuse_Me]

I think it would be interesting to know what percentage of stocks of U.S. companies that are traded on the NYSE is Saudi owned. I think GWB knows, and that this may be the reason for his "tread lightly" attitude. A mass pullout of Saudi money from American markets would crush the budding recovery pretty quickly, I'd guess...

[Texasforever]

You know, this actually makes me start believing some of those anti-semetic stories about Bush.

Idiotic comments like that tend to make me feel a bit anti-Semitic.

[lainde]

bttt

[Sarah]

What is your explanation, if I may, to the constant pandering to 'Arab Concerns' when Sharon goes after terrorists, (ie: American criticism of the expelling of terrorists' families..etc.), or just the double standard in general, if not the willingness to allow Arabists to dictate American views on policy in the Middle East. Policies that put Israeli lives in danger.

[MeekOneGOP]

Bush and the Saudi princess

Excerpt:

The Saudi embassy say they’ve only received queries about this matter from the media, not from the FBI. Odd that. The federal government claims it needs vast new powers to track every single credit-card transaction and every single email of every single American, yet a prima facie link between the terrorists and Prince Bandar’s wife isn’t worth going over to the embassy to have a little chat about. I doubt very much whether Princess Haifa is deliberately bankrolling al-Qa’eda, but I’m not so sure one could make the same confident claims of those embassy staffers running the begging letters past her. And, even if their hands are clean, the widespread support for Osama among Saudis at home and abroad means it’s only a degree or two of separation from hardcore terrorists via their supporters to the Saudi royal family. The fawning legions of ex-ambassadors to Riyadh have been all over the TV assuring us that, oh, no, al-Qa’eda hate the House of Saud and want to overthrow it. But, interestingly, though Osama’s boys are happy to topple New York landmarks, slaughter Balinese nightclubbers, blow up French oil tankers, kill Philippine missionaries, take out Tunisian synagogues and hijack Moscow musicals, you can’t help noticing they do absolutely zip against the regime they allegedly loathe. There are 6,000 Saudi princes, but none of ’em ever gets assassinated. And, if anything mildly explosive goes off in the Kingdom, it somehow manages to get blamed on Western bootleggers. Statistically speaking, if you’re looking for the spot on the planet where you’re least likely to be blown to shreds by an al-Qa’eda nutcake, it’s hard to beat Riyadh. If al-Qa’eda hated the rest of us the way they supposedly hate King Fahd and co., the world would be as harmonious as a Seventies Coke commercial.

< snip >

As for Bandar, he seems far more likely than most Washington diplomats casually ensnared in some embarrassment to have had a reasonable idea of just who exactly his wife was mailing cheques to. For two decades, he’s swanked around the capital as a deal-maker with a long reach extending way beyond the accepted role of a diplomat; as Bandar’s publicity has it, it was he who negotiated a Sino-Soviet missile deal that caught the US on the hop, he who hand-picked Robert McFarlane as Reagan’s national security adviser, he who helped Chad ward off a potential invasion by Libya (really), he who determined the post-Soviet character of Afghanistan. That last one he doesn’t talk about so much these days. But that’s the kinda guy he is: the Taleban’s Talleyrand, the cosmopolitan front man for the exporters of feudalism. Even without his wife’s bank statements, it’s simply not credible that the global fixer isn’t completely aware of his family’s and his country’s complicity in Islamist terror. Instead of pondering a ‘90-day ultimatum’ to the Saudis, the administration should remove the symbol of the diseased relationship. If the Pakistani ambassador’s wife had been funnelling money to al-Qa’eda supporters, they’d both be on the plane home. The day Bandar is, we’ll know Bush is serious.

One day the Democrats will stop sleepwalking over the cliff and realise that this is Bush’s weak spot, and they’ve got incriminating pictures and all that sycophantic audio. And, if the Dems don’t realise it, then John McCain will, shortly before he runs for president.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[Guillermo]

bump for later

[RKV]

In 1989, President Bush banned the import of 43 semi-automatic assault rifles - absolutely inconsitent with the 2nd Amendment. You can't bear arms if you can't buy them. Same problem with the NFA tax on machine guns - you cannot tax a right.