“when woman can vote and they’re empowered, you’re going to see them in the games”

What a shit. Who pays dictators all over the Middle East? Who? Could it be – the US? And of course, Saudi men can vote, everybody knows that… It’s quite fine Condi looks forward to “the day that there’s a Saudi woman athlete in that parade” – we all do – but I can’t see a sign she’s doing anything more than that.
And Afghanistan – Afghani women can participate? Well, maybe some from Kabul, but what about the rest of the country? Iraq? – Has more athletes at the Paralympics than in its Olympic team. But that doesn’t have anything to do with US politics, does it? Ah, no, of course not… All in all, Condi’s talking plain shit. And I’m sure there are still people believing it.

What are you talking, Simon? lol.

Would you support a US invasion of Saudi Arabia? If the US broke off diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, do you think it would make a difference? KSA would implement democratic and human rights reforms then? Or perhaps sanctions would work? That is, if we could get anyone on this planet to sign off on sanctioning KSA in the first place? Would that do the trick? The only leverage (absent a military invasion) that anyone has over the Saudis is by virtue of bargaining with them over things that they want. And there ARE some things that the Saudis want, believe it or not. If the US walked away from KSA, somebody else would come a-calling you can be sure of it. It’s very easy to criticize US policy, but do you have some better suggestions?

By the way, Simon, the Saudis were quite conspicuous with the absence of female athletes. Jordan had more female athletes than male athletes. Even Iran sent quite a few female athletes to these games. I don’t think it has anything to do with US policy – its got a lot to do with Saudi oppression.

PS:

What a shit. Who pays dictators all over the Middle East? Who? Could it be – the US?

Which dictators are we “paying”? Which ones are we NOT paying? Should we make a list? And see if there is less repression in the countries that aren’t US “puppets” than the ones that are? Syria, Libya and Iran are doing well with human rights and democracy, are they?

“Syria, Libya and Iran are doing well with human rights and democracy, are they?”

Better than Saudi Arabia ………..

@Craig:

Why should I support a US invasion in Saudi Arabia? US invasions usually fail, they don’t seem a proper solution to me. But I have to say, I don’t like how you spoke of “we”, talking of your country. I criticized a political statement, maybe the person and the regime behind it – but that doesn’t mean I criticized the US as a whole.

And when it comes to the dictators you are paying – yes, you, it’s your tax money – Saudi Arabia scores does everything bad Iran does, plus some cruelties more. Egypt gets a lot of money from the US – which is mostly spent to strengthen its military. Yes, Syria, Iran – Libya’s now a friend, I think – are countries whose dictators do horrible things to their people. But the fact that they are “bad” and Saudi-Arabia, Egypt are “good” has not been decided on the state of human rights in these countries.

Mona, I think the David Gregory read your piece published in the Washington Post.

Simon, Condoleezza Rice’ also implied that Iraq (by grouping it with Afghanistan, both under US management) is NOW civilized enough to have female athletes!

I understand how difficult it is for Ms Rice to answer questions about the Middle East, but it is simpler for her to give shorter answers without trying to expand by demonstrating this administration’s success stories in the Middle East … because I can’t think of many.

Saudi Arabia is not reformable. I Can’t blame the United States though … maybe partially, but the Saudis alone will need to deal with their own society and its unique limitations.

But I have to say, I don’t like how you spoke of “we”, talking of your country. I criticized a political statement, maybe the person and the regime behind it – but that doesn’t mean I criticized the US as a whole.

US policy towards KSA has been pretty much the same since 1973. And when you said this:

What a shit. Who pays dictators all over the Middle East? Who? Could it be – the US?

You weren’t talking about a single statement, or a single administration. And you probably know that, right? If you want engage in America bashing, that’s fine but don’t pretend you only have a problem with one American politician or one American administration when you do it.

Saudi Arabia scores does everything bad Iran does, plus some cruelties more.

Saudi Arabia is not a country that receives US aid, Simon. In fact, the Saudis throw a lot more money at the US than we throw back at them. They are pretty rich, you know?

Egypt gets a lot of money from the US – which is mostly spent to strengthen its military.

Right. Egypt is the #2 recipient of US aid in the world, after Israel.

Yes, Syria, Iran – Libya’s now a friend, I think – are countries whose dictators do horrible things to their people.

We aren’t talking about “friends” – we are talking about countries that the US supports financially. Egypt, Jordan, (Palestinians), Iraq(since 2003), and who else?

But the fact that they are “bad” and Saudi-Arabia, Egypt are “good” has not been decided on the state of human rights in these countries.

I thought you were making the argument that it was the US oppressing the people of the middle east by supporting dictators? Well, if you want that to stick you need to prove that there is less tyranny in countries the US doesn’t support. Right? Otherwise, it appears like you are just engaging in random “America bashing” just because it’s the cool thing to do these days.