The Religious Policeman

Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal is an educated and civilised man. Indeed, he might make a good Minister of something in a future Saudi Republic. However for the moment he represents this government, so it's good to see him squirm.

Saudi Says U.S. Criticism Undermines War

NEW YORK - Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Monday that U.S. criticism of the kingdom is undermining efforts to fight terrorism and that America was partially to blame for the rise of Osama bin Laden

Never mind the "It's all your fault really" routine, anyone with teenage kids will be used to that. No doubt he "didn't ask to be born", either. He, and the government, obviously don't like the glare of publicity coming from some books and newspaper articles. Long may that continue!

However, with thinking like this, we will never fight the root cause of our problems.

Some U.S. lawmakers have criticized the Saudis for not having done enough to crack down on terrorism and terror financing.


Al-Faisal said Americans should stop focusing on the fact that most of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attack were Saudis. He denied that the kingdom was responsible for the ideology that fueled al-Qaida and bin Laden.

How about that for denial? Mind you, he has a point about the 15 Saudi Terrorist hijackers. It's one of those statistical quirks. Could easily have been 15 New Zealand Accountants. Or 15 Icelandic Manicurists. Luck of the draw, really.

They are very sensitive at the moment about the overall lack of success against terrorists, in particular the charge that the security forces are not all playing in the same team. But the news keeps reinforcing this perception.

Band of Terrorists Besieged

RIYADH, 27 April 2004 — Five terrorists who on April 13 killed an officer and his partner working for Al-Mujahedeen, a unit affiliated to the internal security forces, are still at large.

A source told Arab News that security forces are besieging a mountainous area in Al-Ammariya, about 35 kilometers northeast of the capital. The police have been hunting the suspects since they fled Wadi Hanifa two weeks ago, abandoning their truck.

Yes it's that same old siege, same old group of terrorists. (I must admit I had a shudder when I saw that headline. "Band of Terrorists"? Like "Band of Brothers"? Are we working up to a mini-series here? Is this a replay of "Bastogne", sand instead of snow. "Hey, Abdullah, got any scissors?") Anyway, I can see why Saud Al-Faisal is annoyed. The Western media obviously want some gung-ho bunch of Marines to go in there, shoot first, ask questions later, after all it's a barren area, no civilians, what's the problem? They don't understand the Eastern mind. We are subtle. We are infinitely patient. Our ancestors would wait for a week under a palm until the dates were fully ripe. There's no point in rushing. It takes 406 days to make a baby camel, no matter how much you wave your stick. God does things in his own good time, and so will we.

Anyway, Prince Nayif has explained our latest tactics. First we surround them. Then we completely surround them. Then we keep them there until they:

1) Say "Sorry" or

2) Eat all their vegetables or

3) Tidy their bedrooms properly