July 30, 2002

3:59 PM

"If we sort out Iraq and Detroit develops a hydrogen engine," says a U.S. diplomat, "Saudi Arabia will go back to being a fascinating, benighted part of the world that people don't visit."
posted by artifex (19 comments total)

...part of the world that people don't visit.

Except, of course, for those required by their religion to make pilgrimages there, at a rate of about two million per year. Or don't they count?
posted by mr_roboto at 4:12 PM on July 30, 2002

Oil or not, there's one other little issue that's going to keep us tied to the region for years to come.
posted by TBoneMcCool at 4:16 PM on July 30, 2002

I like how he says "sort out" instead of "bomb the living shit out of".

Clever, that.
posted by signal at 4:18 PM on July 30, 2002

The ultimate ideal would be an I/P truce and regime changes in Iran/Iraq. It would literally yank the Middle East into the modern era overnight (figuratively speaking).
posted by donkeyschlong at 4:35 PM on July 30, 2002

Let me get this...he's saying the only substantive reasons we have any meaningful relationship with the Saudis is because

1a) They have oil.
1b) We have money.

2a) They live next to Iraq.
2b) We'd like to give Saddam a nice cockpunching.

Fascinating and insightful! How does one go about getting one of them schmancy diplomat jobs?
posted by mathis23 at 4:36 PM on July 30, 2002

Is cockpunching a diplomatic term?
posted by TBoneMcCool at 4:44 PM on July 30, 2002

Big time.
posted by mathis23 at 4:46 PM on July 30, 2002

Well, I like it better than "regime change."
posted by TBoneMcCool at 4:47 PM on July 30, 2002

True, "cockpunching" has a certain charm ... but then I may be biased.
posted by donkeyschlong at 5:03 PM on July 30, 2002

Or, since Detroit doesn't let anything go cheap, the hydrogen engines will be used in the US and other "developed" nations and the rest of the world will get the benefit of the Saudi's new rock-bottom pricing for oil and new alliances will form. Or something.
posted by mccreath at 5:09 PM on July 30, 2002

In a televised address, Sheik Abd-al-Rahman al-Sudays, imam of the Mosque of Mecca, declared that God turned Jews into "pigs and monkeys," condemned the "poisonous culture and rotten ideas" of the West, and trashed Hinduism.

Hinduism too? Was it just for good measure? Does he have a long-standing feud with Hindus and appends this to every speech? At least the inclusion of Hinduism takes us out of the "crusade"/ clash of civilizations mindset.
posted by sherman at 5:12 PM on July 30, 2002

Detroit doesn't let anything go cheap

Well, we certainly didn't keep the 100 MPG carburetor locked up just so we could give away hydrogen cars.
posted by pmurray63 at 6:46 PM on July 30, 2002

regime changes in Iran/Iraq

Is modern = pro-USA? Iran is, after all, head and shoulders above the likes of Saudi-Arabia or Kuwait (and most other Middleeastern and Northafrican countries) when it comes to civil liberties and democracy.
posted by cx at 6:46 PM on July 30, 2002

"Is modern = pro-USA? Iran is, after all, head and shoulders above the likes of Saudi-Arabia or Kuwait (and most other Middleeastern and Northafrican countries) when it comes to civil liberties and democracy"

but then again, we have detroit.
posted by clavdivs at 7:11 AM on July 31, 2002

cheap as in price... no, cheap as in poorly made... yes
posted by mhaw at 7:14 AM on July 31, 2002

I think that Iraq needs to develop a hydrogen engine and that we should sort out Detroit.
posted by adampsyche at 7:27 AM on July 31, 2002

In a televised address, Sheik Abd-al-Rahman al-Sudays, imam of the Mosque of Mecca, declared that God turned Jews into "pigs and monkeys,"

Explains why my Jewish friends eat all of my damn bananas...
posted by dr_dank at 7:56 AM on July 31, 2002

sherman: Top Saudi cleric sees conspiracy and "called on the Islamic world to unite against a worldwide conspiracy of Hindus, Christians, Jews and secularists threatening Islamic moral values".

You may have heard that Hindus and Muslims both live in India, and not always peacefully.

Are you saying that clashing with more than one civilization at once, is not clashing with any?

REPORT CARD FOR TOP SAUDI CLERIC

Problem Areas for Remediation:
[X] Does not play well with others
posted by dhartung at 3:01 PM on July 31, 2002

he-heeeeeee YEAH.
posted by clavdivs at 7:20 PM on July 31, 2002