U.S. Senators hit out at Egypt, Saudi Arabia

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

NEW YORK, OCT. 22. In the first indications of a section of the political establishment being unhappy with the kind of backing the United States has been getting from its ``allies'' in West Asia, two prominent Senators have lashed out at Saudi Arabia and Egypt for not doing enough in America's war on terrorism.

The prominent Republican Senator from Arizona, Mr. John McCain and his distinguished Democratic colleague from Connecticut, Mr. Joseph Lieberman, argued that the two Arab nations had to make up their minds whether they were ``with or against'' Washington in the aftermath of the terror attacks of Sept. 11.

In a blunt reference to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Mr. McCain said, ``They are trying to have it both ways. I don't think they can and it's very sad''. Mr. McCain, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is making the point that both these countries had appeased extremists within their borders by allowing them to ``have the megaphone'' and also financed some of these groups.

Mr. Lieberman, who was the vice-presidential candidate in last November elections, argued that Saudi Arabia thought it could ride this tiger. ``This tiger, if they continue to try to ride its back, is going to eat them up'', he said.

The Bush administration, in not wanting to rock the boat and to keep the so-called coalition against terrorism going, defended the two Arab nations. Asked to comment on the statements of the two Senators, the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, said, ``They are with us. I mean both Egypt and Saudi Arabia have responded to every request we have made of them''.

The Republican administration knows full well that it cannot allow a situation to occur where large-scale demonstrations break out in ``friendly'' states to the military operations in Afghanistan. Also Washington does not wish to place Saudi Arabia and Egypt in an even more delicate situation internally.

In the last five weeks, this is the first time that important political figures have come out openly and criticised America's allies in West Asia. But privately, there have been apprehensions, one of which being that Arab allies have not risen to the occasion. This especially against a perception that the U.S. had so quickly responded to the cause of Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo; and it was Washington that came in a major way when Mr. Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia. ``We sided with the Muslims, the Saudi people should know that and in the Middle East'', Mr. McCain remarked.

The criticism against the West Asian allies has to be seen in the context of press reports in the last several days of the role of countries such as Saudi Arabia in international terrorism, including links with terrorist outfits like the Al- Qaeda. The bottomline has been that the regime in Saudi Arabia, for instance, has been funnelling money to so-called charities with known links to the Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. This is ostensibly done in the hope that the regime per se would be spared - a thinking flatly rejected by the monarchy in Saudi Arabia.

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Section  : International
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