A dinner hosted by Steve Clemons, of "The Washington Note" fame and the New America Foundation ,was held Monday night in DC. Those in attendance were scholars, journalists, administration officials, and foreign-service officers. They were there to listen to a man named Turki al-Faisal who talked for two plus hours...while people ate evidently. Slate has a writeup about this dinner event, which you can read here. But for you, my dear reader, I will provide the highlights..
Turki al-Faisal is the Saudi Ambassador and he happens to also be a prince. I would of loved to have been a fly on THAT wall. The folks in attendance also got to ask al-Faisal questions. Oh, to be one of the DC power brokers..
This man knows so much about the whys and wtf's with regard to the middle east. He speaks with intelligence on a subject that is too emotional for many people. His emotions must of been held in check, its hard to say since I wasn't there.. But judging by this snippet from the article, the man knows the score:
"He called for peace in the Middle East and a face-saving solution for all parties involved in the violence."
A face-saving solution, smart man if you ask me. The men running this war are egotistical people, with nutsacks the size of Dick Cheneys', if I would hazard a guess.
Some people say you can not negotiate with terrorists.
I have to call bullshit on that. You either deal with them or kill them all. Genocide isn't popular in this modern era, its barbaric and highly frowned upon..with good reason.
Don't ask me what the reason is..if I have to explain it to you..you need to move on to the next blog...or perhaps tune into Rush Limbaugh. And to those people who believe that the Saudi's are merely our puppets and our stooges, I would like to point you to this part of the article:
"Two months ago, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, brought a letter to Bush from King Abdullah advocating the steps necessary for implementing Middle East peace. "The president expressed excitement and willingness," said the ambassador, "but, alas, there was no follow through." The inactivity contributed to the current crisis: "The decisions made yesterday bear their bitter fruit today.""
The Shrub doesn't want peace in the middle east..he wants a change..a rebirth..as he and Condo refer to it. So they sat on their hands, and watched the shit hit the fan. But I digress dear reader...
Back to our prince. After ripping Hezbollah and Israel each a new one, he had this to say:
"Turki urged a return to the peace plan proposed by Abdullah in 2002 as offering Israel the most comprehensive solution, including an end of hostilities and normalized relations in return for total Israeli withdrawal from Arab occupied territories, including Jerusalem. "The United States must play the role of pacifier and lead the world to peace and not be led by Israel's ambitions," he said, characterizing the Bush administration not just as inactive, but as such a supine thing that it can be led around by Israel."
Love it! This man and his country are America's ally remember? The prince of peace also said the Shrub talks out of both sides of his piehole. This shouldn't be news to anyone that pays attention. al-faisal said the Shrub says one thing publicly and something different privately to the Saudi's. This leader of the "free world" has other world leaders confused and unable to figure out what is the true path of the US..and what our goals are in the region.
I say "our" goals should be leave them all alone and let them figure it out..its their region..not ours. With a voice of reason, like Ambassador al-Faisal, I feel they could find a path with less killing and more tolerance. Our only role in the middle east should be as a voice of reason, a voice that demands negotiations and compromise from all sides involved. This includes Iran and Syria, who our illustrious leader refuses to talk to on any subject.
But the time is running out..
And everyone knows this..including our inept President and his band of nitwits and chickenhawks.
Cross-posted at Bring it On!
Tags: Politics, Middle East, Israel, Peace Negotiations
