Arabia Quotes - page 6
A month after Powell's speech, New York Times columnist Maureen Down remarked that it was no wonder Americans were confused; the United states was about to go to war against a country that did not attack it on September 11, as did al-Queda; that did not intercept its planes, as did North Korea; that did not finance al-Queda, as did Saudi Arabia; that was not home to Osama bin Laden's lieutenants, as was Pakistan; and was not a host body for terrorists, as were Iran and Syria.
Maureen Dowd
Before the [1990 Iraqi] attack [on Kuwait], bin Laden angered Saudi authorities by making a public "prophesy ... [that] Saddam was going to invade Saudi Arabia." Sa'd al-Faqih claims bin Laden also sent "secret confidential letters to the King" about the Iraqi threat; according to al-Faqih, "he [bin Laden] was giving talks about it in the mosques. He was giving speeches in the mosques and talking about the dangers of the Ba'ath ... having ambitions to invade Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. And then his prophesy was correct. And he was never respected or rewarded for that. Instead he was advised to stay in Jeddah; he was put in sort of house arrest.
Michael Scheuer
It's always been hard for me to understand how we say people who supports Osama Bin Laden or someone else like him – who are willing to give their lives to destroy the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia – how we can describe those people as people who hated freedom. It seems to me that their definition of freedom might be different than ours, but to oppose a dictatorship, one must want freedom in some kind of way.
Michael Scheuer
Allow me to dispel a myth. People in the Middle East do not hate us for our freedom. They do not hate us for our lifestyle. They hate us because we have spent many years attempting to force them to emulate our lifestyle. The US government overthrew the democratically elected leader of Iran and replaced him with the Shah. The US government gave weapons, intelligence and money to Saddam Hussein. The US government also helped Libyan Col. Qaddafi come to power, propped up the Saudi monarchy and the Egyptian regime, and gave assistance to Osama bin Laden. Most Americans have forgotten these events. But the people of the Middle East will always remember. It was because of American troops in Saudi Arabia, lethal sanctions on Iraq, support for states in serious violation of International Law, and siding with Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians that terrorist leaders were able to recruit those individuals who caused 3,000 Americans to pay the ultimate price on September 11, 2001.
Michael Badnarik
My mother might find a thin gold chain at the back of a drawer, wadded into an impossibly tight knot, and give it to me to untangle. It would have a shiny, sweaty smell, and excite me: Gold chains linked you to the great fairy tales and myths, to Arabia, and India; to the great weight of the world, but lighter than a feather.
Anne Lamott
Islam is unusual in that it's the only one of the great world religions which was born inside recorded history. That there's an enormous amount of factual historical record about the life of a prophet and about social conditions in Arabia at that time. So it's possible to look at the origin of Islam in a scholarly way.
Salman Rushdie
Under the present circumstances, no Western country will be willing to share technology of uranium enrichment with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others. Meanwhile, they have a big brother to the north, which, praise God, has technology at its disposal. In my opinion, this happens to be a strong point. We can establish an excellent consortium with the Gulf countries, and produce nuclear energy. We will share this technology with them.
Mohammad-Javad Larijani
Bush's intention all along was an invasion, which is why neither the U.N. inspections nor Saddam's compliance and destruction of weapons were ever satisfactory, and U.N. support is a disposable formality. At no point did Bush ever allow the possibility of containment under an internationally cooperative plan. Even if Iraq falls quickly, it will bring neither peace nor security, and we'll see terrorist retaliation against American civilians and military personnel. Furthermore, the White House has made it clear that it wants to topple other governments, beginning with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
Carl Romanelli
