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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| King Abdullah's warning | |
| 2013-03-20 | |
| As President Obama arrives in the Middle East today, Jordan's King Abdullah has a message for us: We're naïve about the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood, which now runs Egypt and is working for control in Syria and other parts of the region. In an interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, the king says too many Western leaders believe "the only way you can have democracy [in the Middle East] is through the Muslim Brotherhood." The Brotherhood, he says, is run by "wolves in sheep's clothing." But "when you go to the State Department and talk about this, they're like, 'This is just the liberals talking, this is the monarch saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is deep-rooted and sinister.' " Let's remember who's speaking here. This is not some neo-con. This is a leader of a modernizing and democratizing Muslim nation who claims direct descent from the Prophet Mohammed -- speaking more openly than any other leader before him. (Perhaps too openly: Yesterday, the king's Facebook page called Goldberg's article "inaccurate and dishonest," although it didn't disavow any of his quotations.) King Abdullah is also America's best friend in the Arab world. When he says we underestimate the menace of the Muslim Brotherhood, we do well to pay attention.
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| Posted by:tipper |
| #10 The British didn't "give" Mecca to the Sauds. It was conquered in a war in '25. The British tried to give the Hejaz to the Hashemites, who managed to lose the region to the sandbillies from the Nejd. The Transjordan was a consolation prize for the schmuck who lost Mecca to the Sauds. At best, the British tolerated the change in ownership of Mecca |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2013-03-20 16:21 |
| #9 And in fact, they used to run Mecca before Britain gave it to the House of Saud. The Hashemites were given Jordan and Iraq as compensation. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2013-03-20 14:38 |
| #8 "IIRC the King's family, lineage, has claim to run Mecca." Why Yes! Yes they do! |
| Posted by: newc 2013-03-20 13:08 |
| #7 IIRC the King's family, lineage, has claim to run Mecca. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-03-20 11:16 |
| #6 I've spent some time in Jordan and it is a fine place. The women wear western clothing, the country is prosperous. There is a cop behind every tree and they park APC's and station troops at the front door of the Hyatt and the InterCon. Jordan is what the ME could be if someone had the balls to go in there and kick KSA in the ass about their support of radical Islam. Cut off the KSA money and most of these terrorist nutjob have nothing to work with. Of course, you have to ask, if it wasn't for terrorism, what would all of these psychopaths in the ME do? Terrorism is actually serial killings sanctioned by religion. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2013-03-20 10:32 |
| #5 given Arab history and mindset, he's about as modern and democratic as they're gonna get |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-03-20 09:56 |
| #4 Jordan king warns Syria could become jihadist state, says Assad’s days numbered Jordan’s king warned Wednesday that a jihadist state could emerge on his northern border in Syria with Islamic extremists trying to establish a foothold in the neighbouring country. King Abdullah II told The Associated Press in an interview that in his view, Syrian President Bashar Assad was beyond rehabilitation and it was only a matter of time before his authoritarian regime collapses. “The most worrying factors in the Syrian conflict are the issues of chemical weapons, the steady flow or sudden surge in refugees and a jihadist state emerging out of the conflict,” the king said. He warned that radicalization of Syria, together with the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, could ignite the entire region. “Another extremely dangerous scenario is the fragmentation of Syria, which would trigger sectarian conflicts across the region for generations to come,” he said. “And also the huge risk that Syria could become a regional base for extremist and terrorist groups, which we are already see establishing firm footholds in some areas,” the king added. “All these are extremely dangerous threats. I have been warning against them all, especially the chemical weapons threat, since the beginning of the crisis,” he said. |
| Posted by: tipper 2013-03-20 09:54 |
| #3 When has MB started believing in democracy i thourght they wanted Sharia Law as per their charter! |
| Posted by: Flusogum Spealet6811 2013-03-20 07:19 |
| #2 This is a King. A real king. A decent King. |
| Posted by: newc 2013-03-20 03:37 |
| #1 "America's best friend in the Arab World" Uh, uh, AS PER GADDAFI + MUBARAK THUS OF COURSE AMERICA = OBAMA WILL HAVE TO KILL HIM??? gut nuthin. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-03-20 01:58 |