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…
Saudi Arabia
The 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 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…
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…
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?…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Saudi 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.…
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.…
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…
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…
ISIS—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…
The 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”…
Saudi 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…
Solar Power Rising in the Gulf
2013 saw great things happen on the Arabian Peninsula in relation to energy production. The region has invested heavily in installing solar power plants and reducing their own reliance on…
America Inks Nuke Deal with Iran. Israel & House of Saud Outraged.
They’ve been itching to bomb Tehran, just looking for any plausible excuse. Israel has even been set to go it alone, with Saudi backing of course. Now they’re both fuming…