January 13, 2003

Saudis unveil surprise reform plans

Saudi Arabia says it has launched an initiative calling for major reforms in the Arab world.

The Saudi press has published details of the proposals, which advocate internal reform and developing political participation [notice they can't quite bring themselves to call it "democracy" because it won't be--ed.] in Arab countries.
The initiative also calls for a common Arab undertaking to reject what is described as any illegal aggression against an Arab country.

What's this? An Arab NATO?

The Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, says the proposals are now in the hands of Arab leaders.

He is hoping they will formally adopt his initiative at the next Arab summit in March.

The call for Arab political reform from Saudi Arabia will come as a surprise to many.

Nothing from this bunch would surprise me now!

The kingdom has one of the most conservative systems in the world.

Only if you call a country where if you sneeze in the wrong way it's called "blasphemy" and the penalty is beheading "conservative."

All political decisions are made by the ruler, aided by an appointed advisory council.

And that council is made up of sons, brothers, nephews and cousins of the ruler, all from the House of Saud!

But the Saudi initiative appears to be a response to intense American pressure on governments in the region.

The US has recently launched its own drive to encourage democracy in the Arab world.

Pardon me, BBC News, but the US has encouraged democracy anywhere and everywhere in the world since July 4, 1776!

Since the 11 September attacks, Arab systems of government have been under an unflattering spotlight in America.

It just couldn't be that, with or without that spotlight, their systems of government--basically IslamoFascism by shari'a law--are just plain awful on anyone's terms, could it?

As the country which produced most of the alleged attackers, Saudi Arabia has been the target of sustained hostile comment in the US.

Oh, I wouldn't say "hostile comment" exactly...but how does blame, largely because of their support for Wahhabism and the violent jihadi murder it preaches which directly resulted in the 9/11 attacks, work for you?

By insisting on self-motivated reform, the Saudi proposals are an attempt to seize back the initiative from Washington.

Translation: The Sauds are praying to Allah that once we've occupied and democratized Iraq, we won't turn our (military) attentions to their evil fiefdom and want to effect "régime change" there!

They also address an Arab public wounded by the humiliation of the Palestinians and the prospect of an American war against Iraq.

You saw it here first: "the humiliation of the Palestinians."
As if they didn't humiliate themselves!
All the Bush Administration did was identify them and expose them to the world for the cold-blooded killers they were!
I'm with Steven Den Beste on this when he says that September 11, 2001 was the beginning of the end for the "Palestinians," when all Americans became Israelis, too.

The kingdom says it wants Arab leaders to pledge to build up Arab defences, support the Palestinians and reject foreign aggression.

This is Media garbage language to say something completely different than the truth: what the Arabs want are more bombs, particularly nukes!
So this isn't about Arabia becoming any more democratic or enacting internal reforms!
In fact, it restates their continued reliance on their old scheme of using "Palestine" as a safety valve to let off the steam which brews internally in every Arab country in the region.
It's about their same old Wahhabist dreams--to take over the world for Islam (ism) and themselves and
to form a military Islamist alliance, particularly with the aim of the acquisition of the Arab Bomb(s), towards that end...but in the short term, they must hope that just making the right noises about "internal reforms and political participation" of their people will save them from the "gathering storm."
Must be off-putting for these scoundrels to see the juggernaut of American military might being assembled right in their back yard!
(Hmmm. You don't suppose that the NorKs are the Saud's idols, do you?)