I'm normally skeptical about email chains, but this checks out.  See, for example, http://www.cnn.com/...  .  I've edited the email (below) for readability and brevity, but not for content. The "Arab Committee for Human Rights" could mean the "Arab Commission for Human Rights," or the "Arab Committee for Human Rights," or the correct name of a group with no internet presence [help needed on this].  There was a brief flurry of news media attention to this in late May, but the only follow-up comes from an apparent Saudi blogger on June 3. Perhaps we can induce the government to be more forthcoming.
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"This is a human call from the King Saud University, Political Science Department to all Political Science departments and all civil society organizations in the United States."

Dr. Matrook Al-Faleh, Professor of Political Science at King Saud University, has been kidnapped.  

I just read Jeff Huber's post over at My Left Wing, and also here about Iraq, linky here,

http://www.dailykos.com/...

and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I was caught by one portion of a sentence. The Basara operation, so recently failed, was named "Operation Knight's Assault." Think about that for a minute, they named a military, supposedly Muslim originated action "Operation Knight's Assault." That name has associations with the Crusades, and if you're familiar with the Crusades, they were directed by Europeans trying to steal property from Arabs in Arabian lands. "Operation Massive Stupidity" was the best answer I could come up with. I mean, how many Arabs, Persians, Muslims, and Turks do you people want to piss off? You just did it.

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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I do not want to say "I told you so" but... two weeks ago I reported from Jerusalem that both Palestinians and Israelis had low expectations for the Annapolis peace conference; and this week these expectations were met. As a matter of fact, the majority of Palestinians and Israelis believe that the conference was a failure. No major breakthroughs and no major declarations.

At times, the Annapolis conference looked like a poor theatrical production—the Saudi Foreign Minister ducking a handshake from both the Israeli Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, President Bush mispronouncing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ name, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert looking lost on stage whilst Abbas ... looked like a little kid just happy to be at the White House. Nevertheless, representatives from 16 Arab countries showed up and sat uncomfortably with the Israeli delegation at Annapolis.

So...why did the Arab nations attend the Annapolis Conference in full force?

Did anyone notice King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dining with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace this week? The King couldn't have asked for a better way to remind the western world of his country's importance, than with last week's record oil price.

The price of a barrel of oil has more than quadrupled since the fall of Baghdad in 2002. This week, oil prices have inched closer to an all-time high of $100 a barrel before retreating. The fall in the US dollar, high demand for winter fuel supplies in the Northern hemisphere, and developing countries like China have led to the rise, experts say.

Link TV's Middle East analyst and award-winning producer, Jamal Dajani, gives his unique perspective and insight, on last week's record oil prices, on his weekly show the "Mosaic Intelligence Report."