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Political Islam, the House of Saud, the Al ash-Sheikh "Family," & Jamal Khassoggie.Reader comment on item: Trump's Saudi Speech: Pretty Good Submitted by Robert (United States), Oct 19, 2018 at 10:45 Dear Daniel Pipes, As you know, Political Speeches of American Presidents are written by their speech-writers and therefore do not necessarily reflect the precise views of the President's thinking. This is particularly true of our current President Donald Trump who isn't known for expressing himself particularly precisely, to put it mildly and as diplomatically as possible - a sharp contrast to his eloquent, Harvard-educated, Obama. Rather, President Trump may be described as acting on his instincts, for the good of his country. Furthermore, as you also know, the historical phenomena of Arab Spring has a devastating and frightening effect on all Arab countries in East Asia and North Africa, not least of all in Saudi Arabia. That said I want to bring your attention to the 300 or so year-old alliance between the two Tribes, or House, in Saudi Arabia, namely, the House of Saud and the corresponding one under the name of Al ash-Sheikh. What this entails - in my view - is an effective separation of Mosque and State (corresponding to our Western notion of Separation of Church and State). In practice, it means that the secular branch, under Crown Prince MbS, can effect control over the Al ash-Sheikh is he has sufficient police capabilities to do so. And in fact, if one observes carefully his conduct over the time his father the king empowered him, it appears that this is precisely what he has done. I don't think President Trump speech is relevant - except to the extent that it reflects the backing of the United States for Saudi Arabia in its efforts to clean up its House (pun intended). Unfortunately, countries cannot be judged by American, or Western standards of conduct. The reality is that Saudi Arabia is an Absolute Monarchy with the Salafi / Wahhabi version of Islam, which will take probably several generations to reform. But the only means to begin such reform is with repression from the top. Acknowledging that is, as you know, known as Realpolitik. Unfortunately it is in this context that we must judge the demise of Saudi Arabian dissident Washington Post correspondent, Jamal Khashoggi. It appears that he was a vocal anti-Israeli, Muslim Brotherhood, dissident, who had to be removed to advance the Reforms of Saudi Arabia, among which is the surreptitious alliance with Israel. As the saying goes, one cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. Yet the mainstream media judges the Khashoggi fiasco with Western Freedom of the Press standards - standards which are non-existent in Saudi Arabia.The fiasco occurred in the deviation from the treatment which Lebanon's Hariri received: he first vanished, but then reappeared; "unfortunately" for Saudi Arabia, he subsequently repudiated his prior repudiation. Here is the "dope" on Jamal Khashoggi that's not initially reported in the: 'Missing Saudi journalist had 'bloodlust' against Israel' "Journalist allegedly killed by Saudi government was Islamist extremist, supporter of terrorists Osama Bin Laden and Hamas." Guy Cohen | 10/18/2018 | ARUTZ SHEVA http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Generic/Generic/SendPrint?print=1&type=0&item=253460 Submitting....
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Reader comments (42) on this item
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All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes (The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998. For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.) |