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terrorist amnesty - Another Saudi PR Stunt

Oh, yeah, this will work.

From CNN:

"We are announcing for the last time that we are opening the door to repentance and for those to return to righteousness," said Crown Prince Abdullah in a televised address.
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Oh, well when you put it that way...

"To everyone who has gone out of the righteous way and has committed a crime in the name of religion and to everyone who belongs to that group that has done itself a disservice, everyone who has been captured in terror acts is given the chance to come back to God if they want to save their lives, their souls," Abdullah said.

"If they give themselves up without force within one month maximum from the date of this speech, we can promise them that they are going to be safe."

Abdullah said all such people would be dealt with fairly, in accordance with Islamic law.

"If they are wise and they accept it, then they are saved. And if they snub it, then God is not going to forbid us from hitting them with our force, which we get from our dependence on God."
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Wow! Amazing! And the terrorists are shaking in their boots! I mean, they must be, right? Judging from the massive success Saudi Arabia had in
saving the life of Paul Johnson and the tremendous cooperation from their own forces, I'm sure those terrorists will be turning themselves in by the truckloads any day now.
 
That's the last straw. From now on we should all boycott Saudi oil....

Charlie (getting out the bicycle) Monoxide
 
If this is an offer of an amnesty for those "aiding and abetting" I don't see much to criticise. There might be some benefits to be gained.
 
As with anything dealing with the internal politics of Saudi Arabia, you have to put this in its context.

The Saudi Arabian government is in a very precarious situation. Popular support is low. They want to move in the direction of reforms, but if they push the general population too hard, then the government will be overthrown and replaced with something even more radical, with no desire to reform. Do any of us want that? I sure don't.

So concessions like these, while awful-sounding to us, are really an attempt to keep things under control and not merely outright appeasement. That's also a reason why I don't think the U.S. association with the Saudi government is as bad as many people make it out to be. I don't envy the people over there who have to make these decisions, and I think they deserve a little slack for trying to make the best of a bad situation. Not that they're perfect or 100% sincere, but they could be doing a lot worse.

Jeremy
 
Charlie Monoxide said:
That's the last straw. From now on we should all boycott Saudi oil....

Charlie (getting out the bicycle) Monoxide
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I'm with you 100%

oooh, wait a minute I forgot. I have plans for this week-end. Can we put this off a bit?

How's next Thursday for you? Oh, damn I forgot again, going to the lake.

Tell you what, I'll get back to you.
 
Yes, I think those poo-pooing the Saudi governments efforts are missing a big point, namely that they're fighting a battle against people that are trying to overthrow the government and that have some popular support. I don't know what is best for them to do at this point nor do I necessarily think the Saudi government knows what it best, but I doubt they're living in Happy Land thinking everything is hunky dory anymore. They know they're trying to be knocked off and they'll do whatever they think will stop it.
 
I think I'd favor even more leniency than that.

Presumably if someone were to turn themselves in, they would be willing to give up terrorism. If this limeted amnesty further required cooperation in gathering intelligence for the prosecution of other terrorists, it's only a win/win.

The PR value of having a handfull of former terrorists around who were known for saying I was radical, but I was wrong and have changed my ways. would be tremendous.
 
This entire global wave of islamic extremism is BECAUSE of Saudi Arabia. No ifs ands or buts. Do not be fooled by their slick-talking spin-doctor Adel al-Jubeir, that is why they chose him, cuz he is a slick-talking spin-doctor. He even "spun" the Saudi interior minister Prince Nayef blaming the 9/11 attacks on Israeli intelligence until that spin could not be spun anymore.

The reason the militants are after the House of Saud is because the House of Saud has had to make a choice after the Saudi-born-and-financed events of 9-11, go the way of the Taliban and Saddam or start coming down on the people and groups they created. Well the people and groups they created do not like the latter choice very much, hence the rise in action on Saudi soil. Amnesty is so much easier than sending like-minded Saudis to kill fellow Saudis.

The sickening part is after all the damage Saudi Arabia has caused they still take in their victim's billions because they have a product that we can't live without. Ironic to say the least.

Here's a PBS Frontline piece done on Saudi Arabia in 2001.
 
The quote said they would be 'safe' and that they would be 'dealt with fairly, in accordance with Islamic law.'

Ummmm, I don't think I'd be in a rush to be 'dealt with fairly' by a bunch of primitive screwheads following Islamic law.
 
- I'm not at all certain what an amnesty provision does to keep politics stable for the royal family. Unless perhaps these are atypical terrorists and will actually adhere to reason/reform? Don't get me wrong, I like to be optimistic about this kind of olive-branching, but how many times has it worked in the past on Islamic terrorists? They're completely and utterly indoctrinated with Islamic fundamentalism. Most people here know how bad a Christian fundamentalist is... how many terrorists are going to be impacted?

- Perhaps it's a show for the Saudi populace? But then why bother unless the Saudi populace takes al Qaeda's agenda to heart? That's bad. I get the overall feeling that the only thing that matters is their oil; if not for that, they'd be on Bush's axis of evil.

- I'm sure things could be worse... they always could... but the current Saudi leadership is just crap. Zen there is partially right in my opinion: Saudi Arabia is directly responsible for a LOT of anti-American indoctrination.
 
The Saudis should offer to fly surrendering terrorists out of the country, just like the US did in 2001.

Dorian (ripping off Charlie Monoxide shamelessly) Gray
 
They would just be copying Cuba. Besides, the saudis already give enough money to terrorists that they can afford to fly to other countries on their own, usually to the US through Canada.
 
Dorian Gray said:
The Saudis should offer to fly surrendering terrorists out of the country, just like the US did in 2001.
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Huh?
 
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