In the latest chapter of the grotesque love story between Stephen Harper and the backward rulers of Saudi Arabia, today I have both good news and bad news.The good news is that the brutish flogging of the blogger Raif Badawi has been at least temporarily postponed. The case of a Saudi
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So what did Raif Badawi say?
The world is now aware of Saudi Arabia’s satanic punishment of blogger Raif Badawi—ten years in prison and a 1,000 lashes for saying things unacceptable to the country’s powerful religious establishment. But what exactly did he say? A lot of sensible things, as it turned out. For example, here is
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Raif Badawi, Saudi Arabia, and the Hypocrisy of the Harper Regime
A few days ago I wrote a post pointing out that our ghastly regime had failed to say a word about Saudi Arabia's savage flogging of the blogger Raif Badawi.After signing a deal with that reactionary kingdom to sell it $10 billion worth of armoured cars.Well now Harper's faithful stooge John Baird
Continue readingThe House of Saud—they may be terrorists, but they’re our terrorists
During the Cold War, the West made allies out of some brutal dictatorial regimes. A challenge on this often met with the cynical answer, “they may be bastards, but they’re our bastards.” The Cold War is over, but the sentiment and the policy that generated it live on. Western countries
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Our Schizophrenic War on Terror
Ah, yeah, right. It’s tough to win a war when you have to ally yourselves with both sides. That injects an element of schizophrenia in your policies and planning. It results in a fatal lack of coherence, a narrative that is hopelessly confused. And that is what confronts us in
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Raif Badawi and the Shameful Silence of the Harper Cons
Yesterday I wrote a post denouncing the Harper regime for its refusal to protest the savage punishment the Saudis are inflicting on the blogger Raif Badawi.For the price of $10 billion dollars worth of armoured cars.But what I didn't know at the time is that Badawi's family lives in Quebec,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Saudi Blogger Floggers
Yesterday he declared that an "international jihadist movement" had declared war on Canada.And claimed that only he could save us.But who will save us from his good friends the Saudis? The beating heart of the jihadist movement.Who would flog a blogger so savagely. Read more »
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Oil Price: Has Saudi Arabia gambled and lost?
Is it better to have gambled and lost? Saudi Arabia is calling the shots in the steep price decline of oil in recent weeks, by refusing to cut its output so as to remove production from the market and increase prices. Why is it doing this? One possible reason is
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: OPEC Sets Up the Rollercoaster, Albertans Take a Ride (Again)
“You come from capitalist nations. You know what the market does. For any commodity it goes up and down, up and down”—Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi* Contrary to the expectations of many analysts, OPEC (read Saudi Arabia) decided it would not reduce its 30 million-barrel-a-day production quota in order to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Washington’s Quagmire Mentality
When it comes to Iraq, or the rest of the Middle East for that matter, America is operating on a number of assumptions rooted in fantasy. These false assumptions ensure that America will keep getting itself trapped in quagmire. Andrew Bacevich, former US Army commander turned academic, knows a good
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: When My Enemy’s Enemies Are Still My Enemies
One of the greatest mistakes we make in the conduct of modern warfare is to make our conflicts suit a politically palatable narrative. It can seem as though the spin doctors are as powerful as the generals which might explain why they seem to do an equally marginal job at
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Madness of King Stephen
As excuses for war go, claiming a conflict to be “noble” is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. It’s something you resort to when there’s simply nothing left to pull out of your ass. “Squires, attend your Lords. Summon the Heralds. To the jousts! Ah, there’s a noble scent
Continue readingSaudi Arabia—beheading capital of the world
Of all the atrocities committed by the Islamic State, the ones that got the most attention were the very public beheadings of two American journalists and a British aid worker. Beheading is indeed a sordid act. And yet we remain on excellent terms with the beheading champion of the world.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ten Questions about the Harper Government’s embrace of war with ISIS-ISIL-IS
Ready, Aye, Ready! Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird whips up the War Party in the House of Commons. Below: Stephen Harper, the prime minister, and Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn. Stephen Harper, John Baird, Laurie Hawn and the rest of the boys yesterday finally got the war in Iraq they’ve
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Justin, Tommy – Here’s Your Talking Points
Look, if you can’t nail Harper on this ISIS business, you’re not fit to govern anything much less our country. What you need to do is pry the lid off ISIS. Show Canadians what lies beneath, who stands behind. Start with the notion that this seemingly well-organized, well-trained, well-equipped and
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Funny How We Choose Who We’ll Fight and Who We’ll Ignore
ISIS is known for atrocity. They’re murderous swine, real butchers. But, as CBC’s Neil Macdonald reminds us there’s a world full of their type, real pros, and we don’t give a damn. Back in July, Barack Obama signed an executive order punishing anyone responsible for some of the hideous excesses of the
Continue readingISIS—a force for peace?
A juxtaposition of two articles in the Guardian this week suggested a very odd development indeed in the Middle East—the barbaric hordes of ISIS currently marauding through Syria and northern Iraq may actually be, in the longer term, a force for peace. The first article referred to a meeting in
Continue readingThe Islamic State—should we be helping to clean up the Americans’ mess?
In early 2003, there were no Islamic extremists in Iraq, or at least none that dared raise their heads above ground. Then the Americans and their “coalition of the willing” invaded. Today, Islamic extremists so vile even al-Qaeda disowns them have taken control of a huge swath of the country
Continue readingSaudi arms sales—the triumph of economics over morality
If nothing else, it illustrates how, in the world of international relations, economics trumps morality. I refer to General Dynamics Land Systems Canada landing a deal to sell light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. The deal was announced last month by International Trade Minister Ed Fast who praised it as a
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: As If You Needed Another Reason to Loathe Saudi Arabia.
From the House of Saud on down there’s a lot of rot in Saudi Arabia. Here’s a new one – divorce. In Saudi Arabia, it’s not necessary for the husband or the wife to sue for divorce. They can actually have it imposed on them. IN three months, 14 lawsuits
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