New Yorker editor David Remnick writes about the uprisings in Egypt and after acknowledging the corruption of the Israeli occupation of Palestine next door issues the following utterly illogical statement: …The United States has long ceased to be a puppet-master among the Arab states, if it ever was. Really? Tell that to the people of…
Showing all posts tagged Saudi Arabia
Don’t forget every “expert” who embraced Mubarak and his kind
The embedded journalists, writers, commentators and think-tankers who spend their hours urging “moderate” regimes in the Middle East – namely Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others – never cared too much about the democratic aspirations of the Arab people themselves. Too messy, too inconvenient. And as long as Israel was happy, well, Washington (and…
Cutting US aid to Israel? Say it ain’t so!
Even the suggestion gets the “moderate” and “mainstream” Zionist lobbies up in arms. Just remind me why America backs a nation in the Middle East that occupies another people and works closely with brutal dictatorships Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt? U.S. Democrats and pro-Israel lobbies slammed on Thursday comments made by newly elected Republican Senator…
America thrives on protectionism and screws the world
US diplomats must be busy. Spying on the UN and other countries. And pimping for Boeing. The glories of empire, indeed: The king of Saudi Arabia wanted the United States to outfit his personal jet with the same high-tech devices as Air Force One. The president of Turkey wanted the Obama administration to let a…
Wikileaks Swedish problem
Julian Assange: Sweden is the Saudi Arabia of feminism. I fell into a hornets’ nest of revolutionary feminism.
Our jolly good mates in Saudi laugh at our oil dependence
Wikileaks-released cable about Saudi Arabia, our cuddly fundamentalist friend in the Middle East. We’ve been supporting these brutes for decades and yet no major Western leader seems to think it may be a good idea to move away from them. Alternative energy anybody? Summary: The Saudi regulatory system offers the al-Saud regime a means to…
Saudi elites drink, smoke and sleep around (thanks for the help, world)
Our close friends in Saudi Arabia are a bunch of hypocritical bigots who love a good party like the rest of us. Oh, they also don’t allow women to work or vote, support terrorist organisations and hate democracy. Just the kind of friend the West loves: United States diplomats have described a world of “sex,…
Whispering sweet Saudi nothings into Obama’s ear
One of America’s finest allies in the Middle East: Last year, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proposed an unorthodox way to return Guantánamo Bay prisoners to a chaotic country like Yemen without fear that they would disappear and join a terrorist group. The king told a top White House aide, John O. Brennan, that the…
More weapons, more profits, more death
The privatisation of war is a growing phenomenon across the world. It’s rarely examined (Jeremy Scahill is a notable and noble exception). And now here’s David Ignatius in the Washington Post on the brave new world of killing “terrorists” and not telling anybody about it: A new arsenal of drones and satellite-guided weapons is changing…
2SER Radio interview on US/Saudi arms deal
The proposed arms sale by the US to Saudi Arabia of $60 billion worth of death is a huge story that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. I was interviewed on the weekend by Sydney’s 2SER Radio about it: