Posted on 11/21/2006 7:05:10 AM PST by jmc1969
Omani FM says US policy in Iraq has handed country to Al-Qaeda which controls whole regions.
DUBAI - The Omani foreign minister accused the United States in comments published Tuesday of delivering Iraq to the Islamic militants of Al-Qaeda and called for a change of strategy.
"US policy in Iraq has handed the country to the Al-Qaeda network," Yussef bin Alawi bin Abdullah told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat.
"The root of the US predicament in Iraq ... is Al-Qaeda which has established itself there and now controls whole regions," he said.
"We hope that they will rethink their policy," the pro-Western Gulf state's top diplomat added.
(Excerpt) Read more at middle-east-online.com ...
No, sadly our soon to be seated Congress - atleast the new leadership - seems hell-bent on doing just that.
Hmmm... I don't recall Oman sending any troops into Iraq.
It hasn't handed it to them yet...
But, if the Dems and the Baker group has their way, it will.
Exactly...them and the UN. They haven't the right to criticise anything related to Iraq.
actually any country can criticize any time they want, it is just a matter of what impact their statements have. saying a country cannot criticize because they didn't send troops (which would have been under US command and we would still be in the same situation) is silly, unless the intent is shoot the messenger.
Yea, I guess you have a point.....I should have said that because they weren't involved, their criticism carries no weight, and they should save their breath by STFU.
the main problem with their criticism is that it is not completely wrong.
The Omani FM knows the Iraq Survey Group and the Pentagon will soon release their recommendations for a change of strategy in Iraq. He's using diplo speak to blame the US for the mess there (we started it, we need to clean it up), and to endorse some type of change in strategy. Mr. FM, why won't your country and the other gulf states, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan send peacekeepers to Iraq to help out? You know you wanted Saddam overthrown, and you were happy that we were going to do it. But now when the going is tough you're nowhere to be found, except when you want to speak to the anti-American newspaper "Al Hayat" in London. Pitiful. One more thing, I'm sure you and other Arab countries don't want to see genocide in Iraq (when we leave) when Iran's radical Shia leadership sends in their Revolutionary Guard.
Actually the main problem with their criticism is that it lacks any useful suggestions. There is such a thing as constructive criticism but that would include a suggestion as to a different even if not a better approach.
If we're doing things wrong then what is it that we should be doing.
Maybe Oman wasn't directly involved with troops on the ground, but you may rest assured that Oman has not been a disinterested bystander. Oman has helped quietly and without fanfare. Not bad for a country 90 percent of American's couldn't find on a map for money. I can tell you more about Oman, which in many ways ought to be a model for what Iraq could aspire to, but I'l refrain.
The sad thing is that all these countries that should be supporting us whole heartedly,the Saud's,Kuwait, UAE, are all scared to death of terrorists attacks starting up in their own country.
Fighting an aysmettrical war is tough to do, not everyone has the cajones to do it.
And we can ignore their inane statements for the waste of oxygen that they are.
"If we're doing things wrong then what is it that we should be doing."
maybe it is implied - what would oman (or any monarchy in the ME) do? probably brutally supress opposition, especially those with active insurgent movements, rather than let them participate in elections and gain real political power.
Ps..sst..tt.. Yussef, any charitable contributions to al-Qa'eda lately?
Exactly. A silent ally. If the Omani say something like this, it carries weight.
The Omani foreign minister Yussef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, seen here in December 2005, accused the United States in comments published of delivering Iraq to the Islamic militants of Al-Qaeda and called for a change of strategy.(AFP/File/Rabih Moghrabi)
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