Saudi king slams 'illegitimate occupation' of Iraq

[bemildred]

Source: AFP

RIYADH -- Saudi King Abdullah, whose country is a close US ally, slammed Wednesday the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq in an opening speech to the annual Arab summit in Riyadh.

Arab leaders have kicked off the two-day summit in the Saudi capital aiming to revive a dormant plan for peace with Israel and launch a diplomatic offensive to resolve the Middle East conflict.

"In beloved Iraq, blood is being shed among brothers in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and ugly sectarianism threatens civil war," Abdullah said.

He also said that Arab nations, which are planning to revive a five-year-old Middle East peace plan at the summit, would not allow any foreign force to decide the future of the region.

Read more: http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070328-083228-3225r

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Ouch! That gotta hurt!

Guess we don't have the King's blessings for going after Iran, huh?

[Horse with no Name]

2. WOW

The little bastard is falling hard.

[maddezmom]

3. pretty strong language from him

[Solly Mack]

LMAO

[havocmom]

4. Well, now that we have heard from the REAL DECIDER, maybe we will pull out!

This is gonna require some of the LARGE popcorn boxes. Anybody makin a COSTCO run today?

[The Stranger]

19. The Saudis don't come anywhere close to the "real deciders."

But it is interesting that they are speaking out finally.

And anyone know why "illegitimate occupation" is in quotes? Nobody questions any more its illegitimacy or the fact that it is an occupation?

[havocmom]

21. They have more pull in the world than bush does

Quotes because it is what the man is reported to have actually said.

[The Stranger]

36. They have nothing near the "pull in the world" Bush and his Neocons have.

And since it was likely not in English, it cannot be what he actually said.

[havocmom]

39. bush is a puppet. Cheney is hired help

The guys with the BIG bucks pull the strings.

[saigon68]

42. The string pullers are "Master Puppet Men"

[Hieronymus]

47. Damn right they do ...

The Saudis are Bush family partners from way back.

[indepat]

25. But, but illegitimacy raises the ugly specter of vast war crimes having been committed

in the process. Hello!

[Fresh_Start]

5. Finally, Bush supporters are slapping him hard

if only the blind supporters in the USA start doing the same thing.

[bullimiami]

6. well i guess we know what he told cheney now. and cheneys answer.

"go f&*k yourself"

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

I told yall... we will be flying off the embassy roof

THIS YEAR.

[bluedog]

7. is this the same king who cancelled on bush invite?

Bush's Royal Trouble: Why Is King Abdullah Saying No to Dinner?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...


*******so thats what is up.......they want bush to get the hell out of the ME and their business.......the US has done more than enough damage to the region!

[MUAD_DIB]

15. Even if it wasn't the two instances are a pretty hard pill to swallow.

Bush will just ignore it and go back to swallowing Jack-N-Cokes.

[Botany]

8. So "wink wink" please don't any money to our Brother Sunni rebels ....

.... in Iraq.

So Saudi Arabia is paying money to the Sunnis who are killing Americans
in Iraq ..... and the Saudi King calls our actions an 'illegitimate occupation' ...
..... only one thing to do blame Iran.

God Damn bush for getting us involved in this mess.

[htuttle]

11. We're fighting our "ally's" proxies, and allied with our "enemy's" proxies

If you look up 'Clusterfuck' in the dictionary, there is a small map of Iraq next to the entry.

[Dhalgren]

16. You nailed it tut!

We are allied to the Shia in Iraq, fighting against the Sunni. The Saudis (Sunnis) are our regional ally and Iran (Shia) is our regional enemy. "Clusterfuck" is too good a name for what Bush has done. This doesn't even make sense in neocon world...

[burf]

9. No wonder the king

canceled his dinner invitation with Bushie! http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3185457

[leftchick]

10. what? no more hand holding with the chimp??

seems like the honeymoon is finally over...

[pettypace]

35. Holding hands with the Saudi King

How's it that the conservatives aren't appalled by this action - this man's country produced 15 out of the 19 'planes operations' performers.

I imagine a Democratic president would be fully assaulted by the right wing.

[roamer65]

12. The fun is just beginning, folks.

With the Turks itching to go into northern Iraq and the Saudis this upset, the regional war is not far off.

[Vidar]

13. First time I've ever agreed with the Saudis.

[Deep13]

14. Bush' boss wants us out of Iraq. nt

[stubtoe]

17. Uh Oh.

Wonder what George Sr. is thinking now...

[roamer65]

18. Say goodbye to the petrodollar, and hello to the petroeuro.

Get ready for hyperinflation, folks.

[robinlynne]

20. oh really. and I suppose he wasn't in the original PNAC planning circle?

[bemildred]

22. I did think the stuff about "beloved Iraq" was amusing. nt

[Zorra]

29. Yep. Stinks worse than a cockroach motel in Tijuana. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

23. My mouth these days....

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

[bdamomma]

24. oh whew, that comment is like a knife,

oh, oh, the Saudis are getting pissed with george/cheney.

[MetaTrope]

26. And Bush says he cares about the troops

Which brings to mind that old chestnut about how you tell when a politician is lying...

[The Backlash Cometh]

27. Dear God. Now we know why Bush kisses both cheeks in public.

[htuttle]

31. In private, he kisses all four of them

...but that apparently hasn't helped lately.

[colorado_ufo]

41. ROFL! (spits out coffee)

[VegasWolf]

28. Ouch! I wonder if that made Little King Georgie cry? nt

[Miss Chybil]

30. I thought they didn't want us to leave because it would leave Shia Iran with a

little more leverage than they'd like them to have. Isn't this why Cheney was summoned to Saudi Arabia a short time ago?

[AllexxisF1]

32. Seems...

Seems to me like Saudi Arabia knows about us attacking Iran and is trying to distance itself from the fallout.

[Javaman]

33. Whose being thrown under the bus now LOLOLOLOL.

does this mean moron* and his saudi boyfriend need to have another make out session?

:rofl:

[yellowcanine]

34. Oopsie - that's not part of the PNAC/neocon playbook. Get "Deadeye" Dick over there at once.

WTF is the matter with those people? Don't they know this will only encourage the terr-ists?

[youngdem]

37. Theatre. He called Pappy first I'm sure.

This is just to placate his population, who is raging pissed about the war. Gotta put a little distance between each other every once in a while.

Remember when Bush said he was gonna get gas prices down (when he was running for 2000) by 'jawboning' them? That was a hoot. Back when gas was a whopping $1.27 a gallon? Whoa.

This theater serves both kingdoms well.

[OneBlueSky]

38. just to clarify, "illegitimate" = "illegal", according to my dictionary . . .

for some reason, people (even kings) seem reluctant to come right out and say "Bush is a criminal!" . . . "illegitimate" is close, but somehow doesn't have the same power as "illegal" -- which implies stuff that Bush could be tried, convicted, and imprisoned (if not hanged) for . . .

[erpowers]

40. What Does It Mean-Why Now

What does this mean and why now? I realize the Saudi have said some thing about the war and the attacks on September 11th, but have they ever gone this far? Was he just trying to placate a mostly
Arab audience? Was he giving notice to Bush? He did say Arab nations...would not allow any foreign force to decide the future of the region." So was that a warning to Bush to get the troops out?

I have never been a really big supporter of the idea that Saudi Arabia is an ally of America. However, this seems to be a big deal to me. Words like this coming from the Saudi king seem to carry a little more weight around the world than some other Arab leaders.

[bemildred]

43. The little Saudi surprise: So it stings. Live with it.

WASHINGTON: American officials said Thursday that they were caught off guard by remarks by the Saudi king condemning the American intervention in Iraq as "an illegal foreign occupation" and were seeking clarification. But they sought to tamp down tensions over the comments.

"We were a little surprised to see those remarks," Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, told a Senate hearing, referring to the statement by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the opening of an Arab League summit meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday. "We disagree with them."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scheduled a telephone call with Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, who was traveling to Riyadh, an administration official said.

The official said the State Department had resisted going straight to Rice's counterpart, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, so as to try to lower the temperature of the rhetoric. He said Rice planned to question Jubeir about the Saudi monarch's remarks.

IHT

[Unvanguard]

44. "We disagree with them."

:eyes:

[bemildred]

45. Mr Burns is disagreeing with a lot of people lately.

He was disappointed with Kirchner just a few days back for being friendly with Venezuela. But there is not much else he can do. US foreign policy is failed, in a state of meltdown, and he has to stand up there and pretend everything is business as usual, etc. etc.

I'm trying to figure out what the Saudi King is up to, or thinks he is up to. He has clearly decided to stop going along with the Bushites, it's getting too expensive for him, I think, and I'm sure he is pissed about all water the Bushites have unintentionally hauled for Iran.

[ronnie624]

46. They attempt to re-write history,

right before our very eyes:

"The United States is in Iraq at the request of the Iraqis and under a United Nations mandate. Any suggestion to the contrary is wrong," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.