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Saudi to U.S.: Stop the Hectoring
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Oct 04, 2006 01:33pm |
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| Category | Speech |
| News Date | Wednesday, October 4, 2006 05:05:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S. and its ex-head of intelligence, has had enough American lecturing. He said U.S.-Saudi ties “have never been stronger,” but his country is tired of being badgered by U.S. officials, think tanks and human-rights groups over its domestic affairs.
“We are not going to change just because you tell us to,” he said in a speech to a packed house at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the sort of public engagement that his longtime predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, meticulously eschewed. “We are going to change, but at our own pace.”
On the lecture theme, the ambassador made sure to point out that Saudi Arabia also wants some changes in the U.S. “Your reform of campaign contributions is essential and needed, yesterday, not tomorrow,” he said. The U.S. also had to change its Middle East policies to overcome what he describes as America’s “lowest standing ever” in terms of regional public opinion. And lastly, the U.S. should open direct talks with Iran.
“For the United States not to talk to Iran is a mistake,” he said, taking pains not to badger. |
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