[CTRL] Fwd: "Comply! Resistance Is Futile!"
___ __ / |/ / /___/ / /_ //M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\©http://www.MiddleEast.Org News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups, and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know! IF YOU DON'T GET MER, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! To receive MER regularly and free - http://www.MiddleEast.Org/subscribe --- MER WEEKEND READING: 1) MESSAGE TO SAUDIS AND ARAFAT - COMPLY OR BE GONE 2) MESSAGE TO AFGHANIS - COMPLY OR BE DEAD 3) DANGER, WARNING: GENERAL POWELL WANTS TO BE A DIPLOMAT 4) PENTAGON BUYING UP THE EVIDENCE MID-EAST REALITIES - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - 10/20: British MP (Member of Parliament) George Galloway calls it the "new imperialism" (his article coming later today). On the whole the Anglo-British press is working up quite a frenzy (with notable exceptions like The Guardian and The Independent in the UK, sometimes The Nation in the U.S.). But leave it to The Times of London to front big time for the "new war" -- first by telling the Saudis and Arafat to comply or else, then by warning that General Colin Powell's diplomacy is the real danger to watch out for -- and to The Times of New York which on its front page today has a major journalistic assault on Saudi Arabia for decades of trying to "export fanatical Islam". 1) END OF AN ERROR [THE TIMES, London - Friday, 19 October]: Saudi Arabia and Arafat must choose terrorism or survival Conflict forces choices that leaders would rather not make. Arab rulers, though appalled by the attacks on September 11, have tried to avoid endorsing the US-led operations against the Taleban so as not to inflame public opinion. But the appeasement of Islamist militancy is proving a mistake. Countries that tolerate terrorist networks put themselves at risk; and militant anti-Western incitement now threatens virtually all established rulers in the Middle East. None is more exposed than the House of Saud. Its destruction is a main aim of Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaeda has vowed to drive Western "crusader" forces from the Arabian Peninsula. Yet the Saudi Royal Family rests its legitimacy on its role as the guardian of Mecca and Medina, the upholder of Islamic values and the guarantor of a paternalistic State. The Government has tried to face both ways. It has indulged religiosity with indiscriminate payments to Islamic causes and foundations, many of which have fostered extremism and aided bin Laden, while also promising America to use its power as a force for regional stability. Now the Saudis are forced to choose between survival as a deeply conservative, pro-Western society or a capitulation to the obscurantist mullahs who would establish a religious dictatorship similar to the Taleban. The Government has, at last, chosen to crack down on the Islamists. In an unprecedented warning to security officials, Prince Nayef, the Interior Minister, denounced the "sick" extremists who hid in caves, abused security in the name of Islam and misled ordinary people. No one would be allowed to "outbid us on Islam", he added, nor would the Government tolerate dictation from outside. His words were reinforced by the arrest of around 100 leading Islamist activists, the violent dispersal of demonstrators in Mecca and the ban on any cleric declaring jihad. Yassir Arafat also is compelled to choose between decisive action or likely overthrow. Ariel Sharon has given the Palestinian leader seven days in which to hand over the assassins of Rehavam Zeevi. Otherwise, the Israeli Prime Minister made clear that the Israelis will reoccupy all the West Bank, deal with the killers themselves and reimpose closures, curfews and iron rule in the occupied territories. The killing, he said, changed everything. Israel has now concluded that the Arafat era is over and that any further talks with him are useless. Some Cabinet ministers are calling for his expulsion from the Palestinian territories. Mr Arafat knows that Israel has the military strength and determination to carry out such a threat. No Arab state is able or likely to respond for days, if at all. Tanks already ring Ramallah. Israeli troops are firing on demonstrators. Token arrests will not satisfy Israel. Mr Arafat, already branded an Israeli puppet by Hamas and Islamic militants, may fear a knife in the ribs if he hands over the assassins; but unless he does, not even the West will have much faith in his ability to exercise power within the Palestinian Authority. No Israeli, on the Left as much as on the Right, will deal with a man who cannot deliver them up. Among the Palestinians, democrats are disillusioned by the corruption around Mr Ara
[CTRL] Fwd: "Comply! Resistance Is Futile!"
___ __ / |/ / /___/ / /_ //M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\©http://www.MiddleEast.Org News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups, and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know! IF YOU DON'T GET MER, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! To receive MER regularly and free - http://www.MiddleEast.Org/subscribe --- MER WEEKEND READING: 1) MESSAGE TO SAUDIS AND ARAFAT - COMPLY OR BE GONE 2) MESSAGE TO AFGHANIS - COMPLY OR BE DEAD 3) DANGER, WARNING: GENERAL POWELL WANTS TO BE A DIPLOMAT 4) PENTAGON BUYING UP THE EVIDENCE MID-EAST REALITIES - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - 10/20: British MP (Member of Parliament) George Galloway calls it the "new imperialism" (his article coming later today). On the whole the Anglo-British press is working up quite a frenzy (with notable exceptions like The Guardian and The Independent in the UK, sometimes The Nation in the U.S.). But leave it to The Times of London to front big time for the "new war" -- first by telling the Saudis and Arafat to comply or else, then by warning that General Colin Powell's diplomacy is the real danger to watch out for -- and to The Times of New York which on its front page today has a major journalistic assault on Saudi Arabia for decades of trying to "export fanatical Islam". 1) END OF AN ERROR [THE TIMES, London - Friday, 19 October]: Saudi Arabia and Arafat must choose terrorism or survival Conflict forces choices that leaders would rather not make. Arab rulers, though appalled by the attacks on September 11, have tried to avoid endorsing the US-led operations against the Taleban so as not to inflame public opinion. But the appeasement of Islamist militancy is proving a mistake. Countries that tolerate terrorist networks put themselves at risk; and militant anti-Western incitement now threatens virtually all established rulers in the Middle East. None is more exposed than the House of Saud. Its destruction is a main aim of Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaeda has vowed to drive Western "crusader" forces from the Arabian Peninsula. Yet the Saudi Royal Family rests its legitimacy on its role as the guardian of Mecca and Medina, the upholder of Islamic values and the guarantor of a paternalistic State. The Government has tried to face both ways. It has indulged religiosity with indiscriminate payments to Islamic causes and foundations, many of which have fostered extremism and aided bin Laden, while also promising America to use its power as a force for regional stability. Now the Saudis are forced to choose between survival as a deeply conservative, pro-Western society or a capitulation to the obscurantist mullahs who would establish a religious dictatorship similar to the Taleban. The Government has, at last, chosen to crack down on the Islamists. In an unprecedented warning to security officials, Prince Nayef, the Interior Minister, denounced the "sick" extremists who hid in caves, abused security in the name of Islam and misled ordinary people. No one would be allowed to "outbid us on Islam", he added, nor would the Government tolerate dictation from outside. His words were reinforced by the arrest of around 100 leading Islamist activists, the violent dispersal of demonstrators in Mecca and the ban on any cleric declaring jihad. Yassir Arafat also is compelled to choose between decisive action or likely overthrow. Ariel Sharon has given the Palestinian leader seven days in which to hand over the assassins of Rehavam Zeevi. Otherwise, the Israeli Prime Minister made clear that the Israelis will reoccupy all the West Bank, deal with the killers themselves and reimpose closures, curfews and iron rule in the occupied territories. The killing, he said, changed everything. Israel has now concluded that the Arafat era is over and that any further talks with him are useless. Some Cabinet ministers are calling for his expulsion from the Palestinian territories. Mr Arafat knows that Israel has the military strength and determination to carry out such a threat. No Arab state is able or likely to respond for days, if at all. Tanks already ring Ramallah. Israeli troops are firing on demonstrators. Token arrests will not satisfy Israel. Mr Arafat, already branded an Israeli puppet by Hamas and Islamic militants, may fear a knife in the ribs if he hands over the assassins; but unless he does, not even the West will have much faith in his ability to exercise power within the Palestinian Authority. No Israeli, on the Left as much as on the Right, will deal with a man who cannot deliver them up. Among the Palestinians, democrats are disillusioned by the corruption around Mr Ara
