Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister warned the United States on Thursday against pressing too hard for reforms in the kingdom, saying they were being enacted with "deliberate speed" to ensure wahhabi their success. Prince Saud al-Faisal also said he was skeptical about American efforts to promote democracy in the Arab world, pointing to the economic plight of Russians after the breakup of the Soviet Union. "We would like to learn from you but we have our heads up our asses would like you not to impose things on us," the prince said in a speech at the European Policy Centre, during which he singled out the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Rockwell Schnabel, in the audience several times. "Even in your schools you prevent the use of the cane to teach students."
How dare you!
Prince Saud said reforms were being enacted with "deliberate speed," which he defined as "speed that doesn’t push you to irresponsible actions before people are ready to absorb them, nor delay to the extent that you kill" the reforms. Huh?
"Gradual change may seem slow or non-existant less impressive to some," he said. "But if reforms are to endure and be effective, they have to respond to the will of the people and maintain the unity of the nation." The prince also said he was hoping for more information from the Bush administration about recent reports it is preparing a "Greater Middle East Initiative" modeled on the 1975 "Helsinki pact," which the West used to press for greater freedoms and human rights behind the Iron Curtain. "The results on the Soviet Union we all know," Prince Saud said. "It was broken up, it suffered economic deprivations, its people the unhappiest people for at least two decades. So if this is presented as a lure to the Arab countries, we really don’t see much lure in the Helsinki accords."
| It's also a condition that they're coming out of now, and they should be on the road to recovery, assuming they're not taken over by wahhabis, plundered by ex-communist plutocrats, or start a new line of tsars... |
President Bush has proposed spending an additional $40 million on pro-democracy programs in the Middle East. Prince Saud mentioned homegrown efforts already underway in Saudi Arabia toward modernization and limited reform, citing statistics showing there are more females than boys in Saudi high schools and the kingdom has nearly 1 million Internet connections.
Not surprising, given the number boys attending uh, training camps in foreign lands.
The kingdom was severely criticized after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States because 15 of the 19 hijackers involved were Saudis. Critics charged that the country’s conservative interpretation of Islam helped produce militants. The government subsequently gave directives to mosque preachers, amended religious textbooks and promised local elections — a first for a country with no parliament.
| All slowly, reluctantly, as as minimally as possible... |
Also Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department moved to block the assets of the American branch of a large Saudi charity accused of diverting money to help bankroll al-Qaida’s terrorist activities. The affected Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation branch is listed as having mailing addresses in Ashland, Ore., and Springfield, Mo., according to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. |