The Arab News has been on a roll this past week. IMRA pointed to two outrageous articles a few days ago. Fisking is tempting, but I have no time right now, so I'll merely throw out a few excerpts and let someone else bite:
Disorganized and Weak, but Not Ready to Surrender
Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal
The Arab people today encounter a great deal of contempt and derision from much of the world, especially in the West. The belittling of every aspect of Arab civilization, including the way they look, has reached the level of unacceptable racism. There are many reasons for this and following is a sample of some of them:
• The West has propagated this negative image in order to justify invasion, colonization and exploitation of Arab countries.
• The Jews who control most of the world media propagate this image to justify Israel’s conquest and occupation of Palestine.
• The incompetence and impotence of Arab regimes to defend the interests of their people.
The world, however, is unaware of one endearing characteristic of the Arabs, which is their uncanny ability to be involved with the defeat and humiliation of great world powers. In their own bumbling and seemingly disorganized fashion, they have inflicted some of the most humiliating defeats on some of the most powerful nations on earth.
You have to go and read the article to find out what these humbling defeats consist of. I'm not wasting any more space on it here. Besides, I'm too busy shaking in my boots.
This next one is equally hilarious. Seriously. If you read this stuff as comedy, it's a little easier to take.
We Don’t Shy Away From Confrontation
Khaled Al-Faisal
[ . . . ]
The great surprise was a statement made by Dr. Khaled Al-Dakheel, a professor of political science at King Saud University, which was broadcast on satellite television several days ago and in which he claimed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia avoids confrontation. With one fell swoop, the professor nullified the history of an entire nation that without exaggeration has and still does unilaterally confront many of the challenges within the region.
Here are but a few examples to show that truth is not on the professor’s side:
[ . . . ]
• The Kingdom confronted the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1966 by cutting relations with France and Britain and mobilizing its sons — including Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd — who underwent military training in readiness to defend Egyptian soil.
• The Kingdom faced off against Israeli aggression toward Egypt, Syria and Jordan in 1967 through the strongest moral and financial support. Despite all the disagreements between Nasser and King Faisal (which reached a peak when Egypt invaded Yemen and Saudi Arabia defended its neighbor) it was the king who called for funding to rebuild the Egyptian Army, which went on to cross the canal and liberate its land in 1973.
• The Kingdom confronted the US bias in favor of Israel in the war of Ramadan 10 [a/k/a The Yom Kippur War]. It cut off oil supplies to the US and European countries that collaborated with Israel. It was the first and last time that the oil weapon was used so effectively. Sadat reportedly said: “Faisal is the real hero of the Battle of the Passage.â€
• The Kingdom confronted the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and allowed the allied troops passage through its territory despite strong opposition, which regrettably included a number of Arab and Islamic countries. Were it not for King Fahd’s insistence on the return of the rightful government, Saddam’s army would not have retreated nor Kuwait liberated.
• The Kingdom firmly dealt with attempts by foreign ambassadors to interfere in its affairs and requested that the US ambassador be removed twice, the first time during the reign of King Saud and the second time during King Fahd’s reign.
• The Kingdom confronted terrorism before the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and was among the first to put into place and sign an agreement with Arab interior ministers to combat terrorism. It continues unwavering in this battle.
• The Kingdom still confronts Israel by standing shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinians, supporting them morally and financially. It is making every effort with the American side to push Israel to resolve the problem.
• Despite the fierce global campaign against Islam and Muslims, the Kingdom deals with many of the problems of the world by giving what moral or financial assistance it can and looking out for the needs of the nearly seven million Muslims who travel to the Kingdom to perform Haj and Umrah.
• Finally, the Kingdom now confronts a strange alliance between Al-Qaeda and global Zionism, one attempting to unsettle the Kingdom, the other trying to pressure the US into further hostility toward the Kingdom.
What's too funny about this list is that, through every conflict listed, the Kingdom admittedly "confronted" the menace by throwing money around, cowering behind its borders and letting other people do the fighting. Oh, but they "underwent military training." And they used "the oil weapon."
Ah, well. Whatever floats their boat. One would think that as long as the Arab world labors in this state of senile dementia, it wouldn't be a threat to anyone but itself. If only.
