Instead of us hating and complaining the arabs, maybe it is time we said the hell with the UN and took charge. Can you imagine the possibilities? A giant parking lot for us top put or Middle East Air Force planes. An endless supply of oil. Camels for all! What country is going to impose sanctions against us? France? Oh no. We own the British and are too important to Eastern Asia's economy. Anyways, we could be closer to our Israeli friends. Saudi America has a nice ring to it.

Or maybe not...

I don't think the Chinese would go for it.

China doesn't care. They hate the UN too.

^^^ (sympathy top for the tv boys) (c;

i don't want saudi. i've been there. it's not a pleasant place. don't ever want to go back. that's the worst place i've ever been . . . ever.

Did they whip you for something?

They got me for thinking about beer.

It will be a new and improved Saudi, without the saudis.

it's not the saudis. it's the location. that place is heat, humidity (where i was), dirt, stink, and more stink.

i actually met a saudi out on the town while i was there. apparently, one of the guys i was with met this guy the year before. he was extremely friendly. he took us to a thai restaurant. we were planning to go to another restaurant, and he said, "no, no, no, let's go here. this place is much better." so, we went. everyone was really pleased with the restaurant. he knew what he was talking about. it was his town. i spoke with some other saudis on the military compound, and they were always very friendly. i don't have a problem with saudis. i have a problem with muslim extremists. a lot of those guys are much friendlier than you'd think. some have the look of pure evil in their eyes, though. it's just like here. some of us hate all of them, and some of them hate all of us. there doesn't have to be a good reason for it. it's still true.

Human Nature, Ya Think Ya Do ?

Yeah, I can understand not liking extremists but what would have happened to you if you had displayed a crucifix, bible, or even a tatoo of something sacrilegious (nudity, profanity, etc.)? Or perhaps, had enjoyed an adult beverage at a picnic?

Would these "regular/nice" muslims have shown you a night of the town OR a jail cell then?

Funny how the ruling class indulges in whores and booze but everyone else is punished.

Also, how many women there have any real rights? Can "common women" shop by themselves in trendy yet modest western wear, go dancing, or even drive?

Don't mean to be combative, Lofty, IMO, but "regular" Americans are not like "regular" muslim Saudis.

funny you should say that, blood. the guy that i mentioned before invited us to spend some time with him on his boat over the weekend. he said he's got alcohol if we're interested. we were a bit surprised. we told him that we thought that was illegal. he said something to the effect that it's illegal, but everyone still does it. he made it seem like it was really no big deal. it's funny how many saudis we saw in bahrain drinking like fish. then they'd go back home to saudi -- the holy land. i think the people are more like us than some think, but the government is as twisted as can be. the culture is still in the dark ages, and that's fully attributable to the backwards government. i don't think most folks like the way the country is run. i'm sure the women don't much care for it.

I was charged with the task of entertaining a group of officers from the Saudi Navy once.

We had a blast. I gave them the "redneck special" treatment. We shot some clays, went to the bar and played pool, one of them even got drunk (real drunk) every night.

I took them to a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game too. They had such a nice time that I bought them all jerseys and had their last names stiched ont he back (which was hilarious considering their names were quite long).

These guys were all pretty cool; but of course they were not subject to the social constraints of their own country here, so I guess they loosened up.

I used to get emails occasionally from them (years after we met) thanking me for the memories.

By and large, the people are just regular people, but their government is hung up on the fact that Mecca and Medina (two of the most holy cities in Islam) are within their borders. That makes them (in their own eyes) the keepers of the faith. This is HEAVILY reflected in their statutes. During Desert Storm, if a U.S. soldier was mortally wounded, the 'compromise' the Saudis came up with to circumvent the ban on the practice of non-Muslim religeons on Saudi soil was to load the wounded troop on a helo and hove OVER the soil, and administer last rites! It's gratfying to know that our allies are so tolerant!

CW,

The last rites that my soldiers were given in Saudi Arabia happened right there on the ground, with our Saudi counterparts bowing their heads too.

That helicopter hovering thing is a BS rumour. That NEVER happened.

I stand corrected, I had been misinformed!

It's cool. I'm glad you accepted that. Anger based upon misinformation leads us off on goosechases at times......

There's enough to get steamed about in the Middle East without hanging onto misconceptions. I haven't been told before that it was mistaken info before, but then, it's been so long since I heard the story (back during Desert Storm) I can't vouch for the source, as I don't remember where I heard it. The Saudis holding Telethons to raise money to support the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, and the large surcharge on phonecalls to the states during that same war come to mind offhand. They offered to defray a large chunk of the cost of the war to liberate their neighbors, and raise part of it by charging U.S. troops a 300% surcharge to call home.

The story about the Ether Bunny was true.... 😞

at khobar towers in dhahran, we did have a "stealth" chapel. there were no markings on the outside to show what the building was used for. when we got our first inprocessing briefing there, a chaplain told us the story of how they started it. it's not something we share openly with the saudis, and there's a reason for it. they were not interested in letting us practice christianity there. that is true.

The Ether Bunny? Sounds intriguing.