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A Rebuttal

Reader comment on item: Blame the UN's Power on George H.W. Bush
in response to reader comment: Democracies and their undemocratic allies

Submitted by Pied Piper (Saudi Arabia), Feb 25, 2012 at 18:00

"Also these words don't belong to any high or low level US officials but to the Saudi despotic ruler Abdullah.......So our ladies have got another important ally who after drowning protests in his own medieval kingdom in blood is now offering his useful democratic ideas and huge resources to help "democratize" Syria."

"Ianus" has some interesting things to say about Syria, Turkey and al-Zawahiri with which I mostly agree, but he is way off base when he characterizes the Saudi monarch as "despotic".

Although Abdullah has the final say in anything that happens in the Kingdom, important decisions are reached only by consensus involving a multitude of advisors and, especially in the last decade or so, involving a growing group of technocrats who are neither "royals" nor "Islamists" but can be classified as "pragmatists", many of them educated in the West.

It is true that most of the political positions - governors of provinces, ministers of defense, interior and so on are still held by royals, but many non-political positions are now held by "civilians" and as such, policy decisions are usually based on their considered opinions and justifications. The Ministeries of HIgher Education, National Economy and Planning, Housing, Transportation, Health, to name just a few, are all headed by these new technocrats.

As far as "drowning protests in his own medieval kingdom in blood", "Ianus" must be referring to the sporadic protests that take place in the Eastern Province largely populated by Shia citizens. I can't deny that this is a troubling ongoing problem in the Kingdom, but have you ever been to the south side of Chicago on a weekend? I venture to state that more "blood" is spilled in that section of the Windy City on a weekend than has been spilled in all the Saudi Eastern Province during all of the last year. There has been no "drowning" of protests in the Kingdom in the sense meant by "Ianus's" phrase. That's simply a gross exaggeration.

It is inconceivable that the Kingdom will ever "enjoy" a democratic process as we know it in the West, at least in my lifetime, but that doesn't mean that the people's voices in the Kingdom aren't heard or aren't heeded. They are and they are becoming more important and influential with each passing year. Anyone who denies this simply doesn't know what he's talking about.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (31) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
revolutions have nothing to do with democracy [235 words]calhouniteApr 10, 2012 10:11195050
Disband this money sucking monstrosity [104 words]danariFeb 23, 2012 00:42193574
Americans the British and the UN [1349 words]Martin HoranMay 31, 2012 08:31193574
The toothless U.N. [68 words]saraFeb 14, 2012 18:53193374
8Democracies and their undemocratic allies [524 words]IanusFeb 13, 2012 18:38193356
American Democracy Can No Longer Be Exported - Cannot Export What One Does Not Have [561 words]M. ToveyFeb 16, 2012 14:30193356
3When you can't export democracy because you don't have it,then you export what you have, e.g. oligarchy or Wahhabism [519 words]IanusFeb 17, 2012 16:07193356
A Rebuttal [394 words]Pied PiperFeb 25, 2012 18:00193356
2A rebuttal of the rebuttal [1095 words]IanusFeb 25, 2012 19:48193356
The Battle of the Rebuttals [519 words]Pied PiperMar 3, 2012 16:43193356
2How many witches have been recently beheaded in the US ? [551 words]IanusMar 4, 2012 06:44193356
Ibi Erit Fletus et Stridor Dentium [135 words]Pied PiperMar 6, 2012 12:53193356
2Malleus maleficarum Arabicus [646 words]IanusMar 6, 2012 23:14193356
Cutting One's Teeth on Biblical Translations [208 words]M. ToveyMar 8, 2012 17:36193356
Ego Sum Princeps Arabicus et Super Grammaticam [191 words]Pied PiperMar 11, 2012 16:05193356
So - Not in Latin Then [681 words]M. ToveyMar 12, 2012 19:09193356
1Manipulating the U. N. is Unconstitutional [886 words]M. ToveyFeb 13, 2012 12:03193351
Thanks for source of UN power and Question [105 words]Dr Bryan PoulinFeb 10, 2012 14:05193278
2We cannot put Sanctity of All Lives on the back burner in the U.N. [65 words]Michael Hanni MorcosFeb 11, 2012 23:14193278
Toothless [316 words]AEBFeb 10, 2012 14:04193277
permanent organizations and UN authority [127 words]mythFeb 9, 2012 12:56193251
4Won't "an organization of only democratically-elected governments" be the accuser,the judge and the executioner in one person? [568 words]IanusFeb 9, 2012 11:42193248
Follow that Light [40 words]Jay1Feb 8, 2012 19:58193228
That Light? It Needs to be Relit First. [370 words]M. ToveyFeb 9, 2012 18:52193228
2The UN a shameful organization [495 words]NuritGFeb 8, 2012 16:43193219
Hey UN.Go away already. [94 words]batya daganFeb 8, 2012 16:39193218
Worthless Trash= The U.N. [8 words]Sandra DeeOct 24, 2014 11:25193218
A man can always turn around if he finds he's gone in the wrong direction. [1 words]Abu NudnikFeb 8, 2012 11:18193202
UN power goals [105 words]lily flacksFeb 8, 2012 05:30193193
2How many times did George H W Bush utter the phrase 'new world order'? Too many, but few had a clue.... [39 words]Adina Kutnicki, IsraelFeb 8, 2012 05:25193192
an observation [293 words]Peter HerzFeb 18, 2012 22:44193192

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