Thanks

Submitted by Annabel Frost (Australia), May 14, 2003 at 18:30

Thanks for that rundown on how the Saudi kingdom got to this point. Self-interest which made such a huge contribution to prosperity and stability in the west in the last century doesn't work if people cannot analyse the situation correctly. The royals in Saudi Arabia seem willing to commit suicide rather than apply analysis and reality testing to their current precarious state - they know only intimidation. What do they say among themselves behind closed doors I wonder? ...

Our lack of comprehension is partly due I think to the convergence of ideas about good and bad, allowable and not allowable, sponsored by Hollywood and the sitcoms. Any art form that attempts to embrace minds across this particular philosophical divide (Islam versus the rest) is shunned and unheard by the Islamic majority (eg fate of the Satanic Verses) and fails in the west because it's not instantly accessible.

I'm enjoying the debate as reflected in your missives.

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