Saudi King Slams ‘Illegitimate Occupation’ of Iraq
Saudi King Abdullah, whose country is a close US ally, on Wednesday slammed the “illegitimate foreign occupation” of Iraq in an opening speech to the annual Arab summit in Riyadh.
“In beloved Iraq, blood is being shed among brothers in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and ugly sectarianism threatens civil war,” Abdullah said.
He also said that Arab nations, which are planning to revive a five-year-old Middle East peace plan at the summit, would not allow any foreign force to decide the future of the region.
In the past, Saudi leaders including Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal have often criticized US policy in Iraq but have never described its presence there as “illegitimate.”
If Arab leaders recover trust in each other and regain their credibility, “the winds of hope will blow on the nation, and then, we will not allow forces from outside the region to determine the future of the region, and only the flag of Arabism will be raised on Arab soil,” Abdullah said.
Arab foreign ministers meeting ahead of the summit agreed on Monday to call for an amendment of Iraq’s 2005 constitution to give Sunni Arabs a greater share of power in the war-ravaged country and prevent its breakup.
But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari responded by saying the government did not need a “diktat” from the Arabs on how to amend its constitution and boost national reconciliation.
The Iraqi government has initiated moves to review a de-Baathification law in a bid to woo former members of the regime of executed dictator Saddam Hussein back into politics and government jobs.
Under a controversial de-Baathification law, tens of thousands of members of Iraq’s former ruling Baath party were stripped of their posts in government, at universities and in business after the 2003 US-led invasion.
The law has been a major source of grievance for the minority Sunnis, who have waged a deadly insurgency against US troops and the Shiite-led American-backed government in Baghdad.
Iraq’s once-ruling Sunnis also want an amendment of the constitution, which they fear leaves their central regions without natural resources and Iraq’s oil wealth in the hands of the governing Shiites and the autonomous Kurds.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse.
Well, so much for relying on Saudi as an ally against Iran. There are other developments regarding the monetization of oil sales in Euros instead of dollars by countries cited by the USG as allies, http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=140176&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28
It appears the Rove/Cheney/Bush house of cards is about ready to implode.
“… only the flag of Arabism will be raised on Arab soil,” which says exactly what about Israel occupying “Arab soil”?
Now isn’t he the one to call others ‘illegitimate’ - as if the House of Saud has any legitimate claim to power. But otherwise, aside from the source of the statement, I find little complaint with such a statement. After all, it was US occupation of military bases in Arabia that incited bin Laden and other political militants to strike at the perceived source of interference in local/regional affairs. We wouldn’t want the Wahabbis imposing their values on our country, now would we?
“If Arab leaders recover trust in each other and regain their credibility, “the winds of hope will blow on the nation, and then, we will not allow forces from outside the region to determine the future of the region, and only the flag of Arabism will be raised on Arab soil,” Abdullah said.”
That’s a pretty big “if”, especially after you read the next paragraph:
“But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari responded by saying the government did not need a “diktat” from the Arabs on how to amend its constitution and boost national reconciliation.”
This is like asking the citizens of the United States to “recover” trust in their government before they make any concessions to regain credibility. Trust and blind faith seems to be wearing thin these days while our government allows “outside forces” to determine the future of our own country.
One might ask: Why is the entire world having such a difficult time trusting one another? Were we not all led to believe that “free market” globalization and its accompanying open borders would eliminate nationalistic flag raising? Where’s the trust?…..the free market is suppose to be the cure-all for everything, remember?
Welcome to 3rd world status everyone. Once all the oil producing countries switch to EURO’s we can kiss our so-called standard of living good-bye. We won’t matter anymore as our money will be worthless and the rest of the world won’t exactly feel sorry for us as they pick-up the slack we’ll have to relinquish.
Payback is a bitch and this case a real bitch. SUV soccer moms won’t be interested in what happened to bimbo Nicole or Brittney anymore, they’ll be scrammbling to find something to eat.
Chalk up another victory for our great “Decider” and his foriegn policy experts. The fools in power in Washington D.C. and their mouthpieces in the press are now, hopefully, realizing that reality has a habit of sticking around no matter how much spin you put on it.
As with Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, Bush, etcetera, how do these people at the Right Wing papers and think tanks keep their jobs? Everything they have so proudly pontificated on has shown itself for what it always was: poorly thought out views of the world blinded by their greed and hatred.
I’ve always liked to watch the chickens come home to roost at the end of a hard day on the farm. You knew the day was done and you also knew that in the morning there would be some fresh eggs to collect.
“You are hereby demoted from King to Dictator.”
“As with Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, Bush, etcetera, how do these people at the Right Wing papers and think tanks keep their jobs?”
They keep their jobs because their followers will follow no matter what. Thirty years of Right Wing framing has created a base that is dug in so deep it can’t see out. That is the true danger in all of this, and what we’re up against. To hell with fighting extremists over there, they’re right here in River City!
Americans!!!!! You invaded Iraq without reason or justification. [And, to my shame, my own country (UK) aided and abetted.] Why isn’t *every* head of state saying “Americans out of Iraq!”, “Israel out of Palestine”, “China out of Tibet!” or “Russia out of Czechnya”?
If your country is involved in invasion and military occupation, then YOUR COUNTRY IS IN THE WRONG!
You have a vote: use it and make your country behave properly.
Pattern-chaser
“Who cares, wins”
I wonder if this means Prince Bandar, other wise known as Bandar Bush who use to be Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States and Bush families best buddy, will no longer be invited to the the so-called ranch for a brew or two to discuss oil revenues?
We, meaning the US government of Neo-Con-Artists have screwed up everything they touch. No doubt the Saudi’s cannot stand up for Bush’s Illegitimate occupation of Iraq.
They have to live in the reagion and being on the wrong side of conflict would only in-danger themselves.
Behind closed doors I would think they are pressuring there cousin George into getting out of the Middle East.
George Bandar is bankrupting the US and turning it into a dictatorship. The whole scam is just that a scam to turn our country in a complete Police State.
They created the whole mess and are doing a good job of getting rid of the middle-class. Cause we all know without the middle-class we will no longer be a viable democracy.
The bigger picture is world domination, the neo-crappers are trying for the new-world-order, which old man Bush preached in the open but lost his second term to bring it into effect.
SO COMRAD HAIL BUSH…..HE WILL NOT LEAVE OFFICE IN 2008 BECAUSE DICTATORS ARE NOT ELECTED THEY ARE SELECTED. AND WE SAW HIM SELECTED IN 2001 BY THE UNSUPREME COURT……………………………….
Well now…doesn’t that Saudi king have his own problems at home to contend with? And hasn’t Saudi Arabia been lately trying to help the Palestinians get their act together? And wouldn’t it be great if all the Arabs decided to settle their differences before the whole Middle East blows up? Maybe the Arabs are finally waking up to the concept of “divide and conquor” which the US has been using on them for the past sixty years. Now if the European Union would do the same thing and kick the US out of NATO, the world might gain some breathing space in which to address some of the other pressing issues of the day. I hope the Arabs can start the ball rolling.
Nations don’t have permanent friends or permanent enemies. Only permanent interests. We should remember this and treat all allies with wary diplomacy, as temporary, not permanent.
ballerina March 29th, 2007 8:42 am
“And wouldn’t it be great if all the Arabs decided to settle their differences before the whole Middle East blows up?”
Yes, it’s what we’re all waiting for. Let’s cheer them on!
“Now if the European Union would do the same thing and kick the US out of NATO, the world might gain some breathing space in which to address some of the other pressing issues of the day.”
Nice choreography! This is one performance I’d love to see. Can I get some front row tickets for opening night?
Here is a simple plan to bring peace in the middle east.
#1. The West completly withdraws all military presence in all Arab League Nations.
#2. All resources retured to each nation…ie…oil pipelines etc.
#3. In exchange…Israel is left alone by the Arab world….The Palestinians go to Jordan which was their homeland by treaty in approx. 1918.
#4. Any threat to Isreal is met with a ***devastating*** response.
We leave them alone…They leave us and Israel alone…let them find their own way. They will never understand the western mentality…so why are we expecting that?
Unfortunately, Big Biz in the USA will NEVER let go of the oil.
We may never see peace…none of the players in this matter are brave or bold enough for this solutuion.