"Of course, and I hate to be ‘shooting the messenger’ myself, but if
AbuKhalil is going to discredit us based on ownership, what is he doing
writing for a newspaper renowned for serving an Iranian and Syrian
agenda?" Let me say this to Mr. Abbas. I have a challenge for him. I have written criticisms of Syrian regime, Hizbullah, and Iran in Al-Akhbar and Khymayni--in Arabic and in English. If he dares to write ONCE--not twice or numerous times--criticisms of the House of Saud, I would consider him qualified to dare compare his House of Saud news station (owned by King Fahd's brother-in-law), with Al-Akhbar. Only then I would consider him qualified. If he dares to criticize ONE--not two or three--Saudi prince, as I have criticized Ahmadinejad and Bashshar Al-Asad, then I would accept to put Al-Akhbar and his oil media site on equal footing. Mr. Abbas then said: "First, we are as ‘Saudi-owned’ as CNN is ‘American-owned’;" This sentence would really compel me to strongly recommend that you take an introductory class in logic. First the analogy does not hold for these reasons: 1) The US is not run and owned by a ruling family. 2) CNN is not owned by the Obama family or by any ruling family or dynasty. 3) In the US, you can legally operate a news station (like Fox News) that are opposed to CNN. In Saudi Arabia, you can't legally run or operate a news station opposed to Al-Arabiyya or to ANY news station owned by any member of the ruling family. 4) In the US, you don't need to get a permission from one family to start a new station. 5) I am no defender of the US political system, but to compare to the medieval archaic non-system of Saudi Arabia to the American political system is an insult to the Saudi people who suffer under the rule of the House of Saud. Lastly, I say all this while registering my strong disapproval of CNN as a model of journalism.
PS I understand that if you are running the English website of the news station of the House of Saud, that you have--perhaps for psychological or career purposes--to convince yourself that the news station that you work for is a professional outfit that is governed by the same rules, regulations and circumstances that govern news media in Sweden and Denmark but is that not carrying the self-delusion too far? Is there a point when you wake up and realize that "Damn. I am working for the royal family of one of the most oppressive governments in the world and that while my attacks on the Syrian dictatorship may make me feel like a democrat but 1) Saudi Arabia bankrolled that same Syrian dictatorship for decades and 2) the Saudi dictatorship is far from serving as a democratic alternative to the Ba`thist dictatorship?"
PS I understand that if you are running the English website of the news station of the House of Saud, that you have--perhaps for psychological or career purposes--to convince yourself that the news station that you work for is a professional outfit that is governed by the same rules, regulations and circumstances that govern news media in Sweden and Denmark but is that not carrying the self-delusion too far? Is there a point when you wake up and realize that "Damn. I am working for the royal family of one of the most oppressive governments in the world and that while my attacks on the Syrian dictatorship may make me feel like a democrat but 1) Saudi Arabia bankrolled that same Syrian dictatorship for decades and 2) the Saudi dictatorship is far from serving as a democratic alternative to the Ba`thist dictatorship?"
