Brainstorm in Bahrain

Submitted by Walton Cook (United States), Jan 17, 2003 at 13:57

According to Peter Baker, in the January 17th Washington Post, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, overcome with responsibility, is adamant to protect "legitimate regional rights for the Arabs." To that end, an Arab summit conference has been called for March in Bahrain. He does not, however, specify what rights he is talking about, why they are rights or why, once specified, they are legitimate. Since he has been careful not to confuse those in the West with specifics, it may be good to submit some of what the Prince has said to analysis:

One might well begin with the most cynical of the Prince’s ideas. He calls on regional leaders to: "end the silence that has gone on for too long about the explosive situation in this area."

The Prince does not mention that the Saudi brand of Wahhabi extremism or that its funding by Saudis throughout the world continues to fan the flames for that explosive situation, that much of the trouble is purely of Saudi making, or that the "rise of Islamic radicalism" is of Saudi origin.

He then goes on to lament that the current situation gives rise for others to undermine what are legitimate Arab interests and rights. :It is not clear that one of those interests is the continued Saudi financing of radical Islamism, rather than traditional Islam. Self-critical dialog, has never been present in the modern Arab world and there is absolutely no tolerance given by Islamists to any critical thought from outside the Arab world. Mr. Baker, rightly, sees Abdullah’s initiative as an attempt to pre-empt interference from the outside.

As an alternative proposal to be discussed at Bahrain, consider the following speculative Arab reorganization.

The Hashemite kingdom are the direct descendants of the Prophet. For those who haven’t studied the history of the region, or of Islam, that family once controlled Islam’s two Holy sites, Mecca and Medina. Originally, the Hashemites also (until the early 20th Century) ruled what is now Saudi Arabia. These remaining descendants of Mohammed now rule Jordan. Jordan borders Iraq, also once ruled by the Hashemite dynasty.

So here’s thought one; assuming Saddam is deposed in Iraq. Turn both Iraq and Saudi Arabia over to Jordan and make Jordan once again a Hashemite kingdom. (Maybe once again, too, it becomes Trans-Jordan, but with a larger Trans?) In the bargain, the West gets a more modern, secularized Islam, and rulers more friendly to the West, and with plenty of geographical territory with which to build a permanent Palestinian homeland without forcing Israel to be the sole land donor. As a bonus, we rid the world of the main sponsors of Wahhabism and extreme Islamism, as the former Saudi rulers in exile will be wise to conserve what they have stashed in Swiss banks. Perhaps discussing such a scenario might make for an interesting time in Bahrain?

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