| Submit your comments on this article |
| Axis of Evil |
| Saudi prince says Arabs back US on Iraq |
| 2002-09-11 |
| Saudi Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz said Wednesday the Arabs back a U.S. strike to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and that publicly expressed opposition to such a move was merely propaganda for local consumption. "There is a covert Arab-Western consensus on the need to topple Saddam," Talal told the Egyptian opposition daily al Wafd. Godammit! There goes another keyboard...! Talal, a half brother of King Fahd, is well known for his calls for reform in Saudi Arabia, such as his approval of Western-style elections, a practice unknown in the kingdom. "When the Arabs claim that they are against hitting Iraq, they just want to appease Arab public opinion and because they fear innocent people in Iraq being harmed," he said. So how do the Arabs talk themselves out of that corner? Talal played down as exaggerated and blown out of proportion the ill effects that Arab countries say they fear U.S. military action would have. Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the 22-nation Arab League, said last week such action would open the gates of hell and cause major instability in the Middle East. "And the worst thing that could possibly ever happen, anywhere, under any circumstances..." "The negative consequences already exist as the Arabs are divided and cannot agree on anything that might help the Iraqi people, in addition to the fact that Israel is playing with us," Talal said. So he's admitting that they're ineffectual and divided, but still somehow phrases it "Israel is playing with us," rather than "we're playing with ourselves." The prince, who holds no official post in his country, said a U.S. strike was inevitable and the U.S. administration was determined to topple Saddam, though it had not fixed when or how it was to be done. The United States intends to change the regime in Baghdad even if international weapons inspectors return to Iraq, he said. The whole world, including Arab states, Talal said, want the intervention to be backed by the international community and approved by the United Nations. We'll be expecting the Soddies to stand up and vote "Yes" then. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 What would cause a Soddy turn against Saddam? Prince Bandar must have coaxed a Bush' promise of Sharia government in a defeated Iraq. No? On Sept. 9, Bush said that the U.S. would have no role in governing a post-Saddam Iraq. Why the hell would he say that? |
| Posted by: Allah the Dog Faced God 2002-09-11 19:36:18 |
| #1 He'd have gotten an A, but dropped his final grade to a B- with the "Israel's playing with us" term paper he turned in. Overall, though, moves up to #1 nominee for headguy to replace Fahd, at least in our eyes |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-09-11 16:58:46 |