Surviving Capitalism (Not) : New Saudi King Was Major Supporter of Al Qaeda

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, January 25, 2015

New Saudi King Was Major Supporter of Al Qaeda

Click here to access article by Wayne Madsen from Strategic Culture Foundation. (Note regarding Madsen: Although I dislike his practice of not furnishing any linking documentation, I regard Madsen as a very well informed and reliable source of information and analysis.)

"The king is dead, long live the king!" This means essentially that the monarchy is eternal, that nothing changes because a particular king dies. This seems to be the case--maybe even worse--for Saudi Arabia according to Madsen.

The new king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the half-brother of King Abdullah, who died in his early 90s from complications from pneumonia, is expected to rule with a more Wahhabist-oriented religious bent and concentrate on limiting cautious political reforms started by Abdullah. Salman is also expected to devote his energies to increasing Saudi national security.

Later in the article things look, indeed, worse for that Medieval country and close ally of the US Empire.

Drug money laundering in support of Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a strict interpretation of the Koran in the future governance of Saudi Arabia, the return of the feared religious police, the "mutaween", and a crackdown on legitimate internal dissent in Saudi Arabia: this is the legacy and governance style that King Salman brings to Saudi Arabia.