Hersh's discussion doesn't seem to address the Great Leap Out of Saudi Arabia
Speaking of "great leaps" (in this case, BS) coming out of SA, here's one that can be classified under "the pot calling the kettle black"..
Saudi Prince Urges Israelis to Reject Sharon's Way
DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah on Sunday urged Israelis to reject Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies, likening him to the Roman emperor which popular legend accuses of fiddling while ancient Rome burned.
"The question that persists in this issue that is preoccupying the world today is: did today's Nero...read the history of his nation and the lessons it tells," the official Saudi media quoted Prince Abdullah as saying in a speech delivered by his son Prince Met'eb at a seminar on Islam and cultural debate in Riyadh.
"What he is doing in Palestine is the (product) of dream-like thinking that will not achieve security for his people...it is a type of thinking that requires his people to ask themselves 'where is our prime minister leading us to?"'
At least 1,074 Palestinians and 345 Israelis have died since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000.
Prince Abdullah expressed hope that the Middle East peace plan he floated recently will not "stumble amid the battles of blood and destruction," the Saudi Press Agency reported.
"This (violence) is a thorny way. It will not give his people security. It plants hatred and shatters security," the prince told a gathering of intellectuals.
Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler since his brother King Fahd suffered a stroke in 1995, has launched a peace plan that offers to normalize Arab ties with Israel in return for withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Vice President Dick Cheney, who met Abdullah on Saturday during an 11-nation Middle East tour that will take Cheney to Israel on Monday, said the Saudi proposal had given some impetus to the peace process.
Prince Abdullah has said that most Arab states agree with his initiative, which he intends to propose formally at an Arab summit this month in Beirut.
webcenter.newssearch.netscape.com
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Last time I checked, Sharon is an elected official, and Prince Abdullah is not.
As for "fiddling", not only has the SA royal family "fiddled" with regard to muslim extremism, internal and abroad, but they also provided them the torch and gas can.
After all, this whole war began as an attempt to force the US to back out of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Otherwise, they would have been crashing planes into Tel Aviv and not NYC.
And furthermore, had SA and the rest of the Arab world spent as much effort pushing a total peace plan years ago, especially right after Jordan gave up its claim over the West Bank, none of this might have happened.
The Arabs have been fiddling for years, unwilling to face the truth that they have to make peace with Israel or face extremists creating an untenable situation, both for their illegitimate regimes, and the legitimate one in Israel.
Hawk |
