A large part of me believes Joe Biden should be president. It is not going to happen, therefore I am left with second choices. In an article written by Reza Aslan he explains in detail why we need a president that comprehends the nuances of the Muslim world and outlines what it will take to alter that part of the world’s opinion of us. He doesn’t mention Biden but he certainly could have.
There is much talk about Iraq moving off American’s top issues for the 2008 election. American soldiers are still dying, just not like they were before the surge. Iraqis are still dying, just not like they were before the surge. And that is my good news. Juan Cole explains in his blog Informed Commentthe situation away from the surge is not going well at all (click here)
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Supporting Musharraf reminds me of American Foreign Policy during the Cold War. It wasn’t uncommon for the US to support any leader as long as they were anti-communist. The sentiment now is we support leaders as long as they are anti-terrorist. The President of Pakistan took the reigns of power via a military coup. It is always easier to support a pro-US dictator than it is to support an anti-American democratic leader. Look at the US intervention in Guatemala during the Eisenhower administration. One problem we have with General Musharraf is his government was actively supporting the Taliban and thus Al-Qaeda before 9-11 and we know now there are elements in his government that still share pro Al-Qaeda sentiments. Musharraf has changed his tune and has claimed to have “played ball” with the US. The biggest issue we have, however, is Musharraf has many reasons to not track down and kill Osama Bin Laden. Actually he has billions of reasons in the form of US dollars. If Al-Qaeda was neutralized in Pakistan the US would do what they always do. They would turn their attention elsewhere and take their checkbook with them. Musharraf receives billions of dollars in aid, much of it simply disappears into the oblivion of the corrupt Pakistani government infrastructure with little to show for it. The death of Bhutto has shone a nasty little light into the corner of the world where we should be most active. While the nation has been laboring over the Bush war in Iraq, our policy in the eastern recesses of the Middle East has been festering like a bad sore when the wrong medicine is used. It is a shame it took the death of Benazir Bhutto for the nation to reexamine our relationship with Musharraf and Pakistan but it is one that was a long time in coming. Perhaps the surge in Iraq didn’t allow the Iraqi government to get its act together. Rather, it allowed the US public to take a breath and to reassess its lack of attention to the region of the Middle East that brought us September 11.
“I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”
I wrote earlier about the “Girl From Qatif” (full story click here). It was announced today that she was pardoned by King Abdullah. I’m sure there were some cranky Islamic judges in the wake of this pardon. I guess Allah’s law makes a mistake once in a while. This is why we need to keep religion away from the mechanics of government.
On our political stage there seems to be one person who doesn’t quite agree with this notion. Yes, that would be the Reverend Huckabee. He graciously presented a Merry Christmas campaign video during the holiday/political season. Though this might delight the O’Reilly crowd, it probably won’t play well with the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, etc… that populate our country. Oh to hell with them, they don’t vote Republican anyway. My name is Raneesh Patel and I disapprove of this message:
The courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently sentenced a rape victim to six months in jail and 200 lashes. Known as the Girl of Qatif, she was retrieving a picture of herself from a high school friend in a car when two men joined the girls in the car and drove them to a secluded location where five other men were waiting. She and her friend were raped by the men. The incident took place in 2006 when she was 19 and newly married.
The case went before the cleric run court in Saudi Arabia defined by the ultra-conservative Wahhabi sect of Islam. Saudi law forbids women to be in the presence of men who are not related to them. Saudi courts have no written law code and thus are open to interpretation. The arbitrary ruling by the judges was swift and harsh. The lawyer for the Girl of Qatif went public and the courts raised her sentence from 60 to 200 lashes. The boys also were sentenced in the case. President Bush, who has a strong familial relationship with the Saudi Royal family, finally denounced the ruling publicly but has been reluctant to confront the ruling family directly.
The Wahhabi clerics and the family of Saud share power in the Kingdom. Since its founding in 1932 there has been a balancing act between the religious influence of the Wahhabi sect and the political might of the House of Saud. Criticism throughout the world has come down on Saudi Arabia in the wake of the case. The King is slow to take a stand since the court lies outside the royal family’s jurisdiction. There is no doubt, however, that the verdict has hurt the image of the Kingdom; an image that has taken many hits since 2001. Most of the terrorists that struck the US on 9-11 came from Saudi Arabia and Osama bin Laden’s father, who made a fortune in the construction business was one of the country’s favorite sons. Furthermore, the nation uses its vast oil wealth to spread its virulent form of Islam throughout the world in the form of religious schools known as madrassas (after the arabic word for schools).
In a bubble, the rape case would be just another case of injustice but domestic American economic forces have merged the wealth of Saudi Arabia with a top bank in the US. Recently Citibank, has been taking significant losses in the subprime mortgage debacle to the tune of $17 billion and the bank could lose as much as $65 billion before the housing loan issue blows over. Due to rising oil prices many cash rich Arabs are putting down stakes in corporate America. Citigroup, the parent company of Citibank, sold 4.9% of its interest to Abu Dhabi to soften the blow of the subprime mortgage crisis. Prince al-Waleed bin Talal of the aforementioned Saudi Royal Family also owns about 5% of Citigroup.
Due to our free enterprise system we have the ability to make it known to institutions such as Citibank that we are not happy that now our borrowing practices are funding princes in Saudi Arabia who allow judicial verdicts such as the Girl of Qatif case or ultimately the spreading of Wahhabism throughout the world. We may not be able to influence Saudi Arabia directly but we can make it known to US companies like Citibank we don’t appreciate their economic alliance.
The biggest issue we have, however, is Musharraf has many reasons to not track down and kill Osama Bin Laden. Actually he has billions of reasons in the form of US dollars. If Al-Qaeda was neutralized in Pakistan the US would do what they always do. They would turn their attention elsewhere and take their checkbook with them. Musharraf receives billions of dollars in aid, much of it simply disappears into the oblivion of the corrupt Pakistani government infrastructure with little to show for it. The death of Bhutto has shone a nasty little light into the corner of the world where we should be most active. While the nation has been laboring over the Bush war in Iraq, our policy in the eastern recesses of the Middle East has been festering like a bad sore when the wrong medicine is used. It is a shame it took the death of Benazir Bhutto for the nation to reexamine our relationship with Musharraf and Pakistan but it is one that was a long time in coming. 
Perhaps the surge in Iraq didn’t allow the Iraqi government to get its act together. Rather, it allowed the US public to take a breath and to reassess its lack of attention to the region of the Middle East that brought us September 11.
