The warning from Interior Minister Prince Naif that Saudi Arabia will pursue and punish those religious leaders who have instigated hate and terrorism through their preaching needs to be heeded by anyone who thinks that suicide bombings can be justified, here or anywhere.
But quite apart from the religious aspect, these bombings are a political and military dead-end. They are a raging admission of failure. What have they achieved? Have the Israelis been shocked into negotiations? No way. Suicide bomb after suicide bomb has served only to harden Israeli hearts against compromise with the Palestinians, against accepting a Palestinian state, against dismantling the settlements. Have the Russians become more conciliatory as a result of Chechen attacks? Will Mondayâs massive truck bomb in Znamenskoye and Tuesdayâs slightly smaller one near Gudermes change opinions in Moscow? The Russian have been made more intransigent by attacks. In Sri Lanka too, where there have been more suicide bombings than anywhere else on earth, the consequence has been to entrench attitudes, to harden hearts, to prevent solutions. So why, here in the Arab world, is there this absurd view that suicide bombers have achieved something, done something noble? Why this replay of Japanâs kamikaze pilots at the end of World War II, cheered as they flew off to their death? They too were a last-ditch stand. They produced fear. They produced devastation for an instant. But they were a spectacular failure, both militarily and politically.
Noticed that, did you? Somehow they keep happening, though, one after the other, whether they make sense or not. It's an Islamist trademark, something Islam can be noted for throughout all of subsequent history, kind of like lemmings are noted for their good sense...
There is nothing noble about killing innocent people. As for the notion that the bombers are martyrs, that too is a lie. They are not that. Martyrdom has to do with standing up and dying for something that is good. To kill innocent people as well as yourself is an act of sheer evil. In Riyadh, Westerners, Saudis, Filipinos, and many others died. If anyone is the martyr, it is them, certainly not their murderers.
But we never seem to see real condemnations of suicide bombings when the occur elsewhere, do we? Guess it depends on whose ox is being gored â or whose citizens are being turned into flying meat.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/16/2003 11:30 am ||
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#1
Nice, but as always, we need to see what they actually say in Arabic. The Friday sermons will tell the tale, I think.
#2
The Friday sermons will probably be toned down but that won't mean much. Wait until the Saudi govt starts to admit that incitement to murder is endemic in Saudi Arabia. Wait until clerics who incite murder are arrested. Wait until the national guard is purged of terrorist sympathizers. Wait until serious action against financial support of terrorism is taken.
#3
Yeah. Wait until Hell's several degrees below zero...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2003 15:58 Comments ||
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prince naif is the leading islamicist dingbat in the "royal" family who thinks 9/11 was a zionist plot--he ain't leading anything except the familigia to the dustbin of history until his brothers and nephews replace the dickhead--until then, its like arafat going after the al acqsa martyr guys--pure camelshit
A Saudi charity which the United States suspects of having links to terrorist groups said it has decided to shut three of its offices abroad and will close four more to focus on humanitarian work within the Kingdom. The Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which was blacklisted by the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks, said it took the decision in light of the unfolding international developments. It said the offices to be closed are located in some European, Asian and African countries. Al-Haramainâs General Manager, Sheikh Aqeel Al-Aqeel, denied there was pressure from the US to close the offices. âThe current situation necessitated a review of the organizationâs geographical spread. There has been no pressure from the American authorities to close the offices in those places. There were some indirect reasons behind the closure,â Al-Aqeel was quoted as saying in a statement. Al-Haramain raises almost $30 million a year in donations for charity work across the world.
Whatever the hell "indirect reasons" might be. I'd call this one a victory, assuming they stay home...
Al-Aqeel said the decision was taken after a series of meetings by the organizationâs board of directors, some of which were chaired by Sheikh Saleh Al-Sheikh, minister of Islamic affairs, call and guidance, who is the supervisor of the organization.
Sounds like the local chapter of the Learned Elders of Islam decided that since the group's cover was blown they should be folded. There will be another bunch to take its place — the usual false nose and moustache thing — when they think the heat's off...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/16/2003 11:17 am ||
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Fred, feel free to move this to Home Front if it fits better there.
Five Saudis were released from the U.S. military prison for terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and returned home Thursday, the Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef, said. Five? Not sure this is the signal I'd want to send right after the bombing.
The U.S. Navy is holding more than 100 detainees from Saudi Arabia at Guantanamo. In all, approximately 660 detainees from 42 countries are detained at the base. Saudi Arabia has said it wants its citizens to come home. Russia, Sweden, Britain and Pakistan have made similar requests. "You can have them when we're done with them."
Prince Nayef said Saudi Arabia would continue its efforts to bring back its citizens ``to be tried by legal and just courts as part of the country's rejection of all kinds of terrorism.'' As Fred says, cut a few heads off and then we'll believe you're serious.
U.S. officials have long said that some prisoners could be released if their countries could guarantee they would deal with them appropriately. Thursday's release came three days after suspected al-Qaida terrorists attacked Riyadh's foreign residential compounds in suicide attacks that killed 34 people. Not sure this is the connection we want to make.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/16/2003 12:37 am ||
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I still believe Guantanamo has become a CIA recruitment centre.
Posted by: john ||
05/16/2003 5:56 Comments ||
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We should at least spread that rumor, heh, heh.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/16/2003 7:28 Comments ||
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Steve! that's really evil. I like it
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/16/2003 10:12 Comments ||
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Actually, I think it sends exactly the right signal. "You're finally serious about dealing with the problems inside your border, so now you can have your people back to deal with them."
I'm sure Prince Saud got the message loud and clear.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/16/2003 10:58 Comments ||
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Put tracker collars on 'em and give 'em to the Saudis and see where they go.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/16/2003 14:18 Comments ||
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I don't know how much info we got out of them, but I am sure the Saudis will extract lots more. Arab news makes this out to be a great concession from the U.S. Government. These five are unlikely to be be-bobbing in downtown Riyadh real soon.
#7
Anybody know the distribution of nationalities of the Gitmo Gang? It would seem that once we know as much as what we expect to know from them, we could do the repatriation thing back to govts that may be interested in more detailed interrogation in accordance with their cultural norms. The population may then fall at Gitmo for awhile to make room for other people of interest.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/16/2003 17:47 Comments ||
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600+ from 42 countries. I couldn't get a breakdown by country. They are shipping some out (Afghans, Pakistanis, and (SURPRISE!) Saudis. But 30 more checked in yesterday. Enjoy summer camp, boys.
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