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Saudi King Calls U.S. Occupation of Iraq Illegal

March 28, 2007

More bad news for the Bush Administration: Saudi King Abdullah has publicly stated at a major Mideast conference that the U.S' occupation of Iraq is "illegal." This is a follow up to Dick Cheney's last visit to the Kingdom, when reportedly he got read the riot act by the Saudi king for the botched invation of Iraq. As you might recall, Saudi Arabia is terrified of waves of millions of Iraqi immigrants coming its way when the Iraqi civil war really gets going. They're building that giant wall to keep the immigrants out, but they know it's a race against time.

Abdullah was speaking at the Arab conference and attempting to get Arab leaders to unite. Good luck with that one, Abdullah. The only thing most of the Arab countries have in common these days is a hatred of George Bush and his foreign policy. But Abdullah apparently feels he can take that seed of unity and grow it into some kind of happy, pan-Arab coalition.

King Abdullah denounced the American military presence in Iraq on Wednesday as an "illegitimate foreign occupation" and called on the West to end its financial embargo against the Palestinians. The Saudi monarch's speech was a strongly worded lecture to Arab leaders that their divisions had helped fuel turmoil across the Middle East, and he urged them to show unity. But in opening the Arab summit, Abdullah also nodded to hardliners by criticizing the U.S. presence in Iraq.

"In beloved Iraq, blood is flowing between brothers, in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and abhorrent sectarianism threatens a civil war," said the king, whose country is a U.S. ally that quietly aided the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. U.S. allies at the summit are trying to win support from other Arab governments to promote an Arab peace initiative that Washington hopes could revive the peace process with Israel. Arab hard-liners fear Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan will bow to U.S. pressure to water down the land-for-peace offer in an attempt to win Israeli acceptance.

"In wounded Palestine, the mighty people suffers from oppression and occupation," Abdullah said. "It has become vital that the oppressive blockade imposed on the Palestinians end as soon as possible so the peace process will get to move in an atmosphere without oppression." The United States has so far rejected calls to end the financial embargo imposed on the Hamas-led Palestinian government formed after elections last year. Saudi Arabia and Arab states have called for an end to the sanctions after Hamas formed a new government last month that includes members of the moderate Fatah party.

Abdullah insisted that only when Arab leaders unite will they be able to prevent "foreign powers from drawing the region's future." "The real blame should be directed at us, the leaders of the Arab nation," he said. "Our constant disagreements and rejection of unity have made the Arab nation lose confidence in our sincerity and lose hope." The two-day summit plans to revive a 2002 initiative offering Israel peace with the Arab world if it withdraws from lands it seized in the 1967 Mideast war, a proposal the United States and Europe hope can build efforts to resume the long-stalled peace process.

Of course, Saudi Arabia didn't say much when we invaded Iraq. But now that its borders are threatened, the Kingdom is apparently very unhappy with Bush's mismanaged war which is threatening to spill over its borders. It's interesting that Dick Cheney hasn't been back to Saudi Arabia in months: apparently that dressing down he got was anything but fun. And he had to sit there and take it: after all, those guys have the oil we need.

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