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| Middle East |
| ’We Have Bred Monsters" |
| 2003-12-01 |
| Saudi Columnist: ’We Have Bred Monsters ... We Are the Problem and Not America’ On November 30, 2003, Dr. Muhammad Talal Al-Rasheed, columnist for the English language daily The Saudi Gazette, wrote an article titled " Senseless Violence, Senseless Death." The article is in reaction to the murder of Saudi Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rasheed of Hail by ’Islamists’ in Algeria. The following are excerpts from the article: [1] "
A few days back Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rasheed of Hail was murdered in Algeria while on a camping trip. He was 40 years old and his son, Nawaf, 13 years old, was with him. At the time of this writing, we only know that the father was killed, while the son s condition is to be verified. "It is easy to get on one s soap box and pontificate; to tell humanity that we suffer from terrorism too. That is too easy though; and perhaps too intellectually cowardly. Talal was a well-known poet in Saudi Arabia. He comes from a family that ruled Arabia long enough to be recorded in history. He was and will always be a beacon of Art, whatever that word means. "Those who killed him are those who want the word silenced. The young man left it open whether he was with this or that, but he was adamant to tell all and sundry that to be is to talk and exchange. I grieve, I must admit, and am beyond reason because of the trauma of it all, but I do maintain a semblance of reason to see where all of this is leading. "We have bred monsters. We alone are responsible for it. I have written as much before my personal tragedy and will continue to do so for as long as it takes. We are the problem and not America or the penguins of the North Pole or those who live in caves in Afghanistan. We are it, and those who cannot see this are the ones to blame. "Castrated as we are, we look to America. Why? Because they went into Iraq and made a difference. Better or worse is another point. Once America has demonstrated its willingness to do something, the moral imperative is that it should not stop at the first station along the road. The majority of us are sick and tired of this carnage and President Bush, wrong on just about everything else, is right on this one. Does he have the (courage) to finish the job? I wonder. "I don t think this will be published in the Arab News, as it should be. If not, I understand their point of view and their perpetual selectiveness. But one thing is sure, we are here to stay even if it takes giving our best to the madness of religion and the wrong of fanaticism. Nothing, but nothing, is worth the life of an innocent... may the Americans add Talal to their list of loved ones lost to the same indiscriminate madness that took 3,000 on a certain day in September." |
| Posted by:tipper. |
| #4 DPA's final assessment rings true - it's pretty much PR. In the meantime, large sums of money continue to flow out of SA to fund terrorist operations and to promote extreme Wahhabism here at home. Sorry Traveller, but I cannot share in your rosy assessment based on what even you admit is a paucity of such views in SA.... a situation which is true for almost all of the Middle East. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-12-2 2:01:05 AM |
| #3 Traveller, I've been noticing a change in tone too... I actually talked about it on my blog recently. But I'm not sure if this is actually a change in arab public opinion or if it's just the Saudi government's reaction to terrorism hitting the homeland. Also, if it's not printed in Arabic then it's just PR for American approval... The vast majority of Arabs will never read it unless it's in arabic. |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2003-12-1 10:34:32 PM |
| #2 Dear DPA: I'm not so sure of this...One that it will not be printed in Arabic, or even if not, that then this doesn't matter. Is is in a Saudi newspaper...and I am seeing more and more of these kinds of sentiment in writing. I think that this is good. I grant you that the pace of chance in Arab opinion is far too slow for my inpatient heart, but think about this...even just two years ago they were completely in denial, and nothing like this would see the light of day, even in an English language newspaper. I concede that you can find ten bad spewings of Arab hate for every article like this one. But thanks for posting this, Tipper...there isn't much good news out there...this is a start. Best Wishes, Traveller |
| Posted by: Traveller 2003-12-1 10:25:08 PM |
| #1 Yeah, he's right... this will never be printed in arabic newspapers. What they print in english and what they print in arabic are 2 completely different things. |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2003-12-1 10:11:53 PM |