Powell Says Saudis Need to Do More | LA Times

[Ediacara]

Powell Says Saudis Need to Do More
Secretary asserts that nation's antiterrorism efforts are OK, but with recent attacks, it has to increase forces and share intelligence.

By Alan C. Miller, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Amid escalating attacks on Americans in Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Sunday that he was satisfied with the Saudi regime's efforts to combat terrorism so far, but indicated it should do more to increase its security forces and share intelligence with the U.S.

"It's certainly a dangerous situation right now," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Terrorists are going after the Saudi leadership. They're trying to make the country unstable."

Powell's remarks followed claims by Islamic militants that they had gunned down one American and abducted another Saturday in Saudi Arabia. Lockheed Martin Corp. confirmed Sunday that Paul M. Johnson Jr., a field engineer working on a sophisticated targeting system for attack helicopters in Saudi Arabia, had been kidnapped.

More at the Los Angeles Times

[jmcgowanjm]

1. Flashback: 102003-And I will say one more time for the record

-- that the destabilization and balkanization of Saudi Arabia
with 25% of known oil reserves remains near the top of the
main agenda. All of that oil lies in a very small area of land
near the east coast of a country that we already have surrounded. All
"we" need do is convince the American people
of Saudi responsibilities for 9/11 in a way that will
make convenient intervention tasteful to a war-weary
American public that just doesn't get the concept of
perpetual war. Then the US will help the Saudi regime
crack from the inside and threaten regional stability, as
the pretext for the seizure. In my opinion, the next president
will be the one who can convince the powers that be that he
can pull off that agenda, and sell it to the American people
and the world.

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/102003_beyond_bush_2.html

[Aidoneus]

2. When have such methods done anything except inflame existing activities?

Pretty much the only choices they (Powell, his MIIC bosses, and their Saudi puppets) have at this stage are--1) to grin and bear it, or 2) thrash around blindly. Both, applied to various situations, seem to have about the same effect within a similar context.