A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Thomas friedman caught fabricating facts. |
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| Traveler |
| 04/11/03 at 13:41:25 |
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=25031 Friedman’s Fairy Tales Talal ibn Abdul Aziz Thomas Friedman wrote an article in the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, on March 10 titled “How the Americans Will Use Their Huge Power.” The following paragraph in the article caught my attention: “I recall the following story: In 1945 King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, met with President Franklin Roosevelt at the Suez Canal. But King Abdul Aziz, in the Bedouin spirit, asked his advisers two questions about the president before meeting him: ‘Tell me, does he believe in God? Do they (the Americans) have colonies?’” Since we could not find anything to confirm it after going through the sources of Saudi-American history, we sent an e-mail to Friedman asking him to reveal the source of his story. We waited for several days. But as usual with Friedman, he neither acknowledged his sources nor would he answer queries about them. We fear that the writer, who is known for his Zionist leanings, may be relying on the kind of wrong information that some Arab and foreign writers regrettably like to peddle. The following are the reasons we do not find Friedman’s story credible: • First of all, it is not available in Arab and foreign historical sources. The writer may be relying on authors who set no store by ascertainable facts. • The United States recognized King Abdul Aziz as the king of Saudi Arabia in 1932 and signed an agreement with him for diplomatic representation in 1933, the same year that the two countries concluded an oil exploration agreement. Why should King Abdul Aziz 12 years later, in 1945, ask about the American president’s religion? • King Abdul Aziz was well known for his respect for other faiths, especially through the relations he established with foreign countries and the messages he exchanged with their leaders. • King Abdul Aziz was perfectly aware of the international developments of the time, including the domination of major colonial powers such as Britain and France in the region. As a result he wanted to establish relations with a country without a history of imperialism and therefore decided to give the oil exploration rights to the United States. • How do we know what King Abdul Aziz discussed with his advisers when none of his advisers would provide such information without consulting him, especially on such sensitive issues? But Friedman, carried away on the wings of fantasy, imagines that he has sneaked into one of the king’s meetings with his advisers. • Ib we are to believe that King Abdul Aziz needed to be reassured about Roosevelt’s faith, how does this square with the fact that he established relations with the Soviet Union, a state without religion? It was the first country to recognize the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and established a diplomatic mission in 1928. King Abdul Aziz exchanged several letters with Soviet leaders. Arab News Features 11 April 2003 |
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