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It's interesting to note that Friedman comes out with this column the day after I spent a day with two Hindus and two Muslims, who have all been best friends their entire lives. I hope to find some time to write up the conversations we had regarding Islam and Jihadis and what occurred in Mumbai late last year. Suffice it to say, Friedman has his finger on the pulse correctly in this case. Indian Muslims don't like what happened in Mumbai, are appalled by it and say so, loudly and vociferously. It's sad that Friedman has to end his column with a horrible cliche, about "how it takes a village" and all that. And be an apologist for what we did in Iraq.

Listen folks, Iraq was never the problem. The problem is what my friend Kader says is 'peace money.' That's money that comes from Saudi Arabia and the 'Gulfies' as he called them. (I'm paraphrasing what he said yesterday.) They give the money to the crazies of the ISI to basically blow shit up overseas and not at home. And his logic is borne out by the evidence. The biggest problem with salafist Islam is Saudi Arabia. Not Iran. Not Iraq. But Saudi Arabia.

It's time we faced that.


Sean Paul Kelley February 19, 2009 - 12:42am
Sean Paul Kelley's diary | printer friendly version | digg
( categories: Agonist Travel Journals | Asia: South-West )

interesting

I was just reading this, so things really went to hell in a hand basket when the Saudi's were kicked out?:

Pakistan's failure: How it tackled the militancy
.
During Musharraf's eight years in power, Pakistan was on board with both the US and Saudi Arabia over the "war on terror". This ensured that Pakistan received a steady supply of all sorts of resources, including deferment on oil payments from Saudi Arabia and special aid packages when Pakistan was badly hit by an earthquake in 2005. Washington mostly looked after Pakistan’s military aid packages and reimbursement of expenses incurred in the "war on terror".

A few steps taken by Zardari, however, crumbled the setup like a house of cards. Immediately after taking over as president last September, in a very high-handed manner, Pakistan withdrew the hunting privileges of two Saudi princes located in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Punjab. To add salt to the wound, the facility was given to a rival sheikh from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The action was taken at a time when Pakistan badly needed Saudi oil on deferred terms due to soaring prices, and the UAE was in no position to fill the gap. Islamabad now enjoys very good relations with the UAE - which is unable to help Pakistan - due to the family friendship between the Bhutto family and the UAE's rulers. But Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia and its two major allies - Qatar and Bahrain - are at an all-time low because of the insult to the Saudi royal family. (The issue of Zardari's Shi'ite background is a secondary factor.)

from The Taliban get their first wish

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." -Henry David Thoreau

Tina February 19, 2009 - 4:53am
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To add a little bit more...

...my recollection is that Saudi backs Nawaz Sharif and was intimately involved in getting clearance for him to return to Pakistan.

“The absence of any US-Iran bilateral channel...may have the perverse effect of reinforcing Iranian interest in progressing in the nuclear realm so that the US will be forced to take it seriously and engage it directly." ~ Richard Haass

JustPlainDave February 19, 2009 - 9:46am
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them that pays the fiddler

is the ones that calls the tune.

1700: "Abolish slavery!"
1800: Woman's Suffrage!"
2000:"World Peace!"

bernadene February 21, 2009 - 11:44am
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