Replacing Saddam with butchers.

[cancel2 2022]

Saudi Arabia is not like Libya or Kuwait or Tel Aviv.

Holy fuck, where did I say Tel Aviv was like Saudi? Tel Aviv has a Mediterranean beach party culture.

[Minister of Truth]

No.. it wasn't ...The 1980s followed the Iranian Revolution and the attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Both made the Saudis frightened, but Bibles have never been banned in Arabia..

Well, there was a guy who was getting his mail censored, and there's you telling me that this was not Saudi policy...

[kudzu]

Well, there was a guy who was getting his mail censored, and there's you telling me that this was not Saudi policy...

Was he getting Playboy Magazine in the mail?

[moon]

kudzu is a spokesperson for the KSA. He seems pretty smooth. I'm OK with these different national operators. i think it gives depth to the Forum.

Whereas you're going to specialize in potted characterizations and prosemitic ass-gas. See you, Jiminy.

[Minister of Truth]

Was he getting Playboy Magazine in the mail?

No, but, he also warned people who might send him letters not to criticize the government, etc.

[kudzu]

No, but, he also warned people who might send him letters not to criticize the government, etc.

Where was he living?

[cancel2 2022]

No, but, he also warned people who might send him letters not to criticize the government, etc.

The making and drinking of alcohol had to be done in the ex-pat compounds. Woe betide you if caught drunk on the streets by the religious police. I would think it was eminently sensible to assume that they monitored mail and telephone calls in the past. They recently lifted the ban on Skype and WhatsApp but you can be sure they are being monitored. Although not sure how they can break the encryption on messaging apps.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-s...-idUSKCN1BW12L

[Granule]

Worse than Saddam ? Sure- but no threat to ' Israel', and that's the important thing.

Saddam Hussein was a wise, benevolent soul; worthy of praise, and certainly above reproach.

-- moon

[dukkha]

well this is all interesting...
KSA and USA are a Special Relationship. Its paid off for both. Keep it that way.

To Trumps credit the first trip he took was to KSA to undo the damage to relations done by Obama.
Plus you got bin Salman's reforms -not that I expect a liberal democracy,but it appears to this non-traveler
that KSA is on a better track.

[Truth Detector]

We're just swapping opinions, Truth Detector.
Like, my view is that Iran wants a 'Shia Cresent' to the Mediterranean Sea. They want to connect a Shia Iran and a Shia Syria through a Shia Iraq. Assad and the Russians want to crush the Northern Federation (Syrian Kurds) that are laying claim to eastern Syria (with American help). If the Americans abandon the Northern Federation, they basically hand over all of Syria to Assad and the Russians and the Iranians.
Oh yeah. Turkey, a NATO ally, also hates the Syrian Kurds and attacks them from the north. So, without American resolve, it's bad news for the Syrian Kurds and their Northern Federation.

"Democratic Federation of Northern Syria a challenge to status quo
The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria presents an alternative-- one that has survived and grown under adverse conditions. Its constitution structurally empowers women and ethnic minorities."

https://anfenglish.com/features/demo...atus-quo-23592

I can't say I disagree with any of the above.

[Truth Detector]

Sadaam was a dictator who had dictator flaws. However women did not have to wear the veils of burkhas. Women worked outside the homes and were over 50 percent of university students. The Shia and Sunni were not warring. They lived near each other and even intermarried.

When Bush took out Sadaam, there was a power vacuum. They suddenly had a goal. Each sect thought they could win and rule the country.

Dear dunce; Iraq was part of the problem in the ME and a destabilizing influence. Europe created the mess in the ME, not America.

[kudzu]

No, but, he also warned people who might send him letters not to criticize the government, etc.

That was his perception or belief.. doesn't mean it was true. I had many, many friends who were still living in Arabia all thru the 1980s and 1990s.

[kudzu]

Dear dunce; Iraq was part of the problem in the ME and a destabilizing influence. Europe created the mess in the ME, not America.

Iraq was NOT a threat to any of the neighbors .. Iraq was broken by 2 decades of war and sanctions. The big threat from Iraq was Bibi Netanyahu's lie.

[kudzu]

well this is all interesting...
KSA and USA are a Special Relationship. Its paid off for both. Keep it that way.

To Trumps credit the first trip he took was to KSA to undo the damage to relations done by Obama.
Plus you got bin Salman's reforms -not that I expect a liberal democracy,but it appears to this non-traveler
that KSA is on a better track.

Trump had NOTHING to do with MBS's reforms and all they did was dazzle Trump with pageantry and hospitality which they do to every guest of the kingdom... even me.

[Truth Detector]

Saddam Hussein was a wise, benevolent soul; worthy of praise, and certainly above reproach.

-- moon

FUNNY!