Monday, August 6, 2018

Know Who Your True Friends Are (UPDATED)



In the last few days, a diplomatic feud has erupted between our Canadian friends and the corrupt and authoritarian regime in Saudi Arabia. Canada had protested the detention of 15 women's rights activists since May 15 by the reactionary regime, including Samar Badawi who has been recognized by the UN for her activism.

After Canada protested the detentions, the Saudi regime called their protest "reprehensible" and suggested Canada was interfering in their domestic affairs, expelled the Canadian ambassador, and froze business and investment transactions with Canada (shades of the 1973 oil embargo). Saudi Arabia's new ruler, Mohammad Bin Salman, was promoted as an "enlightened" monarch who granted women the right to drive, but who has proven to be just as authoritarian as his predecessors when it comes to cracking down on human rights protests.

In a truly disgusting display, Saudi Arabia's state run media tweeted a graphic earlier today that appeared to threaten Canada with a 9-11 style attack:

What makes the graphic doubly despicable is that Saudi Arabia was the home to 15 of the 21 hijackers on 9-11, and whose extreme Wahabist sect continues to finance and support terrorism. Last March, a Federal judge ruled that lawsuits from victims of the 9-11 attack may sue the Saudi regime for its role in the attack, something that the Saudis fought bitterly.

While Kremlin asset Donald "Rump" Trump can be expected to side with our adversaries, the American public knows that Canada has been a longtime true friend, and if we had a patriot in the White (Supremacist) House, we'd let the Saudi potentates know that hostility toward Canada is hostility toward the U.S. and send their ambassador home.

UPDATE: Rump's State Department calls both nations "allies," despite Canada's status as a NATO ally, and won't take sides in the dispute. Shameful.

4 comments:

Infidel753 said...

Disgusting, but I'm not surprised. Trump loves authoritarian regimes and arrogant wealth. A corrupt absolute monarchy among the most repressive regimes in the world is much more his style than Canada.

As far as I know, the Saudi regime is the only government existing today which has actually made the ruling family's name part of the name of the country. That land has been called "Arabia" for thousands of years -- "Saudi" is just the name of the ruling dynasty. It is literally equivalent to re-naming the United States as "Trumpian America". Trump probably has a certain envious respect for such arrogance.

Hackwhackers said...

Infidel -- Well said. The fact that Saudi Arabia was the first stop on his first foreign trip was significant. They rolled out the red carpet for him, knowing his narcissism and susceptibility to flattery. They are kindred spirits, as you point out, for their contempt for democratic norms and love of wealth.

donnah said...

And what Trump fails to recognize is that when you play with fire, you get burned. His dangerous liasons with risky world powers will come back and bite his fat round ass. And that wouldn't bother me, except that he'll ruin the rest of us with his actions.

Hackwhackers said...

donnah -- His foreign policy legacy will be the emboldenment of foreign dictators and despots to crush human rights. The damage he's doing is unbelievable.