Comments on: Arab regime credibility hanging by its last invisible thread

By: George Perin

George Perin — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:03:58 +0000

It is the Arab monarchies who have the oil and know their dictatorial regimes have no legitimacy without western backing.
They get the backing (complete with the latest weaponry) and the West gets the oil.

By: jarjees tariq

jarjees tariq — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 08:02:40 +0000

ok i am going to be absolutely brutal and honest here. arab and unity r like oil and water. they can never EVER mix hence there can never be any arab unity. wenever israelis bomb the hell out of either palestinians or lebanese, i see the arabs moaning and crying and cursing. mass demonstrations in all muslim countries, burning the usa/israeli flag etc. as a child i used to wonder wat r they doing and even now i wonder wat r they accomplishing with all this bickering and moaning. u wana do sumthing concrete TURN OFF THE OIL. that is THE only language americans will understand. u can huff and puff all u want. the arab meetings r a joke, waste of time and money. in all the history there was ONE arab leade (king faisal) who had the courage to turn off the oil. within 2 weeks the mighty america was on its knees. i remember i read sumwhere this incident ‘HENRY KISSINGER WHO WAS THE FOREIGN SECRETARY CAME TO SAUDI ARABIA AND HAD A MEETING WITH THE KING. HE jokeD ‘UR HIGHNESS I HAVE COME TO U ON A PLANE WITH VERY LESS FUEL IN USA AND I HOPE U WILL GRANT MY WISH OF REFUELING THE PLANE AND ENDING THIS OIL EMBARGO. THE KING LOOKED UP AND SAID ‘OK BUT I HAVE A WISH ALSO. I AM AN OLD MAN NOW BUT I WISH TO PRAY IN THE HOLY MOSQUE IN JERUSALEM. WILL U GRANT MY WISH? king faisal was assasintated by his own nephew although we know who was behind all this. from that point on till now NO saudi king has had the balls to repeat the same. elsewhere also no dictator or king had the courage or mindset to challenge america. the leaders were and still are busy bickering amongst themselves. lavish lifestyles and total spineless impotence prevails in these lands. if sum1 speaks against the rulers he is arrested and jailed or silenced.
in my opinion the arabs have no right to cry for the palestinians cuz they have abandoned them since a long time. wat we hear are empty rhetorics and slogans. if they really wanted to do sumthing they wud have a looooong time ago. for that u need courage and sacrifice. i will end with a quote from king faisal wen he put the oil embargo and ppl around him told him of the hardship it wud bring. he said ‘our ancestors survived on milk and dates since times unknown and we will return to that and live on’
unless u have that kinda courage and commitment, stop crying and moaning abt palestine.

By: Naiyer Habib

Naiyer Habib — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:54:21 +0000

The only way peace is possible if the peace is imposed on HabibIsrael and Palestinian by nations which must give up being biased and become honest broker in the conflict. This particularly depends on USA and the Muslim world. Muslim world can morally and otherwise force USA to join them in implementing the peace and just solution. The inertness and impotence of the Muslim world are responsible for what is happening there . Israel and palestinian have the right to exist but not at the extinction of Palestinian. It is shame to tolerate such injustices by people or nation of Moral.
Your comment of suggestion is worth considering , but who will?

By: Vera Gottlieb

Vera Gottlieb — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:20:06 +0000

If Arabs ever stopped bickering amongst themselves, Israel would be history. The other side of this coin: Israel holding the entire world by it’s tail.

By: syed mehdi hasan ashraf

syed mehdi hasan ashraf — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:13:09 +0000

You are dead right in your assassment,I doubt this situation will change in even in distant future.Feared life will go on not only in the area we are discussing about but all,the other places around the globe.
Unless mightiest come to believing in answering there doings infront of some one,one day(like it or not),i am afraid sir expect worst is still to come.No one,i rpeat no one who is in power any where who really has slightest of concern what happens to mankind.This is a truth.However keep doing the right work.

By: Chris Crookes

Chris Crookes — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:01:29 +0000

Great article as usual. But one thought occurred… We talk about the Arabs as if they are in some way a unified people who could and should get together and realise some unspecified common purpose and advantage. But ARE they really a united people with a common cause anymore than say causcasian whites are? Do they themselves see themselves that way?
I’m not trying to be argumentative, I’m genuinely asking.

By: Tom Mysiewicz

Tom Mysiewicz — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:41:40 +0000

The only reason the hard liners are pursuing this faux peace deal is the potential to expel most of Israel’s non-Jewish Arabs…to the phony Palestinian state. Oh, yes, a few settler-props will also be expelled to Israel. That’s if this thing ever gets off the ground.

By: Bob Battersby

Bob Battersby — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:52:40 +0000

You are right in your assessment of the current Arab Leaders. They are still as mutually suspicious, afraid for their position and fragmented as ever. If they could learn to network and sing from the same hymnsheet, they could exert a far more powerful influence over AIPAC dominated USA. Their statecraft needs to improve dramatically.
Look how Russia uses its Natural Gas as a political weapon. The Arabs could learn a lot from the Russians as well as the Zionists.

By: Karen Chadwick

Karen Chadwick — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:38:07 +0000

I like the analogy of a card game, Alan. This helps understand a very complex situation in the mid-east. Thanks for your excellent blog.

By: ally a.a.

ally a.a. — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:55:00 +0000

its not now that he arab regime s credibility is hanging by a thread. they ve never aligned themselves with anything humane or just. they ve always allied themselves with the most powerful be it wicked or down out inhumane. for them the dollar was always justice, God & love.