FYI - Saudi Arabia is now on "State of Emergency"

[Kevin Spidel]

MSNBC is reporting that King Fahd is Gravely ill, and that there is troop movement around the palace with a potential change...

... developing ...

[mopaul]

1. woah!

[paineinthearse]

2. Time to turn on the telly

It had been a quiet day.....

[CottonBear]

3. Do you think there will be a fight for power among all of the sons?

:scared:

[Kolesar]

4. Are they at "elevated" alert?

Which means for their strategic forces to cause a modest amount of panic in the US.

[Kevin Spidel]

7. Yes

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8006302/

[politicaholic]

5. Don't worry, the troops are "democracy troops"...

coming to sprinkle freedom dust all over the palace like what the american troops are doing in Iraq.

Soon King Fahd will die and will be succeeded by the beautiful, generous, and kind Princess Fahd who will bring peace and prosperity to all, even the poor. And they will all live happily ever after.

The End

[TheDebbieDee]

9. Sprinkling "freedom dust".......how cute : > )

[Kevin Spidel]

6. CNN Reporting it now

MSNBC now saying troop mobilization has been "called off"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8006302/

[jayfish]

8. Any Word On Oil/Gas Prices?

This sounds like great cover for a bit of gouging.

Jay

[Swede]

10. Military leaves cancelled.

On CNN. This may be messy.

[paineinthearse]

11. Faux covering this now nt

[Warpy]

12. I've been predicting all hell will break loose there

when the old king dies. He's been a figurehead for years, but it's been a very powerful figurehead. The royal family is deeply factioned, and they will fight for control. They have a wonderful tradition of accession by assassination, so that anybody who expects a smooth transition to a pro Western successor may be kidding himself.

[LSparkle]

18. I'm with you -- if ever there was a time for UBL to step out

and do something, it'd be at a time of transition in Saudi Arabia. I hope we just stay out of the way and let the chips fall where they may -- doing anything else risks getting pulled into a hornets' nest.

[Selatius]

13. I can't believe we're allies with these oligarchs

Of course, it's the oil; I know, but it's hypocritical nonetheless to be professing democracy and supporting these thugs. And they wonder where all the hatred comes from.

[GarKeeper]

16. Both Dems and Repugs cozy up to the Saudis.

Neither party is different on this issue so you can't win.

[Selatius]

20. This is why I'm a fan of principles, not the Democratic Party

Your principles remain constant, but the Democratic Party can be downright harmful at times. My interests and views, comparatively, coincide more with Democratic congressmen than Republican, but there are times when both are so woefully inadequate. This is why I contemplate seriously voting for third parties everytime I go to the booth. Thinking back now, I regret my vote for John Kerry. It was either him or Peter Camejo of the Green Party.

To head off all those who say I'm just helping the Republicans, I say I live in a safe state and that I'm free to do so, which is not the case if I were living in a swing state. Last time I checked, Mississippi is a safe state.

[blm]

21. Really? Kerry said he would hold Saudis accountable, no more cozy deals.

And then AOL/CNN which the saudis own large shares of REALLY ramped up their proBush and antiKerry rhetoric.

Kerry knows the duplicity of the terror-mongerers and their cohorts in the Bush regimes because of his work to close down the FIRST terror bank, BCCI.

[norml]

14. Saudi king hospitalized with pneumonia

Friday, May 27, 2005 · Last updated 11:05 a.m. PT

Saudi king hospitalized with pneumonia

By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER





Saudi Arabian King Fahd looks out during an audience for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh in a file photo from Oct. 5, 2003. King Fahd was taken to a Riyadh hospital on Friday for medical tests, the Saudi Press Agency said. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- King Fahd, who moved Saudi Arabia closer to the United States during his two-decade rule, was taken to a Riyadh hospital on Friday for medical tests, the Saudi Press Agency said.

The official news agency carried a royal office statement saying King Fahd, who has been in frail health for years, was admitted to King Faisal specialist hospital in Riyadh for medical tests.

"We ask God ... to preserve and protect" the king, the statement said.

One official said doctors believe the monarch has pneumonia. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his position.




snip




http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Saudi%20King%20Hospitalized

[Gloria]

15. Hasn't one of his sons been the defacto ruler for awhile now??

I forget his name, but he was very recently going around the Middle East talking to most of the leaders...this is like in the last couple of weeks.

[Maple]

17. No it's Prince Abdullah

who is about the same age.

[Gloria]

22. Yes, thanks. Abdullah. He was all over the ME a couple of weeks ago...

Syria, Jordan, etc.

[catzies]

19. Yes, here he is, Crown Prince Adbullah with his boyfriend

[Swamp Rat]

23. Hmm... this is gonna get interesting...

:D

[lala_rawraw]

24. Okay, I knew this was coming...

Wow, I thought I would sound nuts with this focus on other Mid-East locales, but I had the strategy moving there in my simulation... chess simulation, next logical move would be there... but all this Iran stuff through me for a while. Bingo and thank god it still works or I would have to find a new structure of analysis.