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The following is a forwarded message. DO NOT direct your comments to
me, or they will be ignored.
Mohammad.
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M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S - S P E C I A L
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and hard-headed facts and analysis about what is really happening
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THE AMERICAN BASE IN ARABIA KNOWN AS "SAUDI"
"Saudi" Arabia is more and more a U.S. military base in the Middle East, in
addition to its role of oil cow and petrodollar recycler. Those who benefit
are primarily Americans, Royal Saudis, and those willing to get in bed with
the two. Those who suffer are the people of Saudi Arabia who live in a
police-state and whose standard of living, amazingly, has not only fallen
dramatically in recent years but is now less than that of the Israelis. The
mismanagement of "Saudi" Arabia by the Saud family is a tale of curruption
and deceit of epoch proportions.
These simple realities are rarely commented upon in the American and Western
press. A few years ago, when one well-known investigative journalist, Scott
Armstrong, attempted to report the long road to turning Saudi Arabia into a
huge American military facility major news outlets -- including THE
WASHINGTON POST he had previously published with -- refused. His article
instead appeared on the cover of MOTHER JONES where few to this day are aware
of its importance.
"A DECADE OF DECEPTION" MOTHER JONES titled the cover article in November
1991 with a huge all-cover headline: "The $200 Billion Secret: Three
presidents and two kings -- out of view of the Congress, the press, and the
public -- created a covert network of superbases in Saudi Arabia. Last
January, Bush decided to use it."
The bombing earlier this week in Arabia is one is a chain of consequences and
counter-reactions brought about in the region -- from Algeria in the West to
Pakistan in the East -- by the imperialist policies of the United States and
its major regional ally, Israel.
Moreover, another largely unknown story is how the Saudis and the Israelis,
especially their lobbies in Washington, more than a decade ago began working
together and now closely coordinate their affairs -- all behind the scenes of
course. Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar launched this policy in the early 80s
when he first made contact with the Israeli lobby, and then actually became
close friends with a number of key persons including Martin Indyke (now the
U.S. Ambassador in Israel). And at least since the Gulf War Bandar has
worked very closely with the Israelis hoping to have their help in propping
up (and maybe one day saving if necessary) the despotic family regime he was
born into as the son of a slave mother.
It should also be remembered, of course, that the Saudis have bought up major
press sources and control in one way or another various organizations. Paul
Findley's CNI, a laughable "lobby" that has fortunately been a total failure
(except for terribly misleading many good people and turning their money into
waste products), was nevertheless started by Saudi money in the neighborhood
of a million dollars. For English-speaking intellectuals and Mid-East
experts, the Saudis and Kuwaitis have always been the main force behind
MIDDLE EAST INTERNATIONAL in London. And for those in the U.S., including
alot of misguided activists, the Saudis and friends have always been the
hands pulling the strings of THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS and
the former State Department Arabists who have spent their lives doing what
they are told and paid to do.
Of course this all goes back to the American take-over of the Middle East
after World War II; and the famous high-seas meeting of President Rossevelt