tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post8553426458815118873..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: Who Is More "Demented,": Saudi King Salman Or The Washington Post?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-28334270030660393772015-01-24T21:05:12.670-05:002015-01-24T21:05:12.670-05:00On the matter of the Israeli connection, it is pro...On the matter of the Israeli connection, it is probably not the case that whatever Henderson is saying or not having much to do with it, at least partly due to the fact that it is not obvious what Israel's interest is with Saudi Arabia, although what goes on there is certainly a matter of interest to them.<br /><br />Indeed, in recent years the Israelis and Saudis have been seeing eye to eye on a number of issues relative to the US. In particular they are both unhappy with the US-Iran negotiations and would like the US to take a harder line with Iran. Whatever is King Salman's condition, I doubt that the Saudi position or attitude on these matters is likely to change much in the near future. So, I do not really see much reason for the Israelis to be messing with Salman or the Saudis.rosserjb@jmu.eduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300046915843554101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-4133822876934590592015-01-24T18:17:58.079-05:002015-01-24T18:17:58.079-05:00Bruce,
Yeah, I know, being very anal. Guess I wa...Bruce,<br /><br />Yeah, I know, being very anal. Guess I was annoyed that we had a story that in effect went all over the place making these claims, with Henderson the only source. But then we find him (and the Post) bungling stuff that is pretty simple and basic. <br /><br />Some of this, frankly but which I did not say in the story, is that I am suspicious of Henderson based on where he is based. This institute has a reputation for being probably the most closely tied to Israeli interests in Washington of any that deals with Middle Eastern policy. Makes me wonder if there is some agenda herer to undermine Salman coming out of Israel. That may not be fair, but in the meantime I got offended by such bad reporting and such reliance on somebody who seems himself to mess up on elementary stuff for such an important point.<br /><br />BTW, there are others who have made the claims that Henderson has. The Post today in another story quoted him again, verbatim from the story yesterday. However, they did note that others disagree with this, quoting an unnamed diplomat who claimed to have had an extended conversation with Salman last month in which he was completely there.<br /><br />I also note, as I suggested, that there were reasons based on interfamilial and cross-tribal rivalries in the jockeying over the succession for rivals/enemies of Salman and his family to spread rumors of incompetence. Nobody who has actually seen this supposed "incomprehensiblity" has spoken up publicly. Rather these rumors have been leaded to the likes of Henderson, although, of course, they might be true.<br /><br />That sai, he apparently managed to made a perfectly comprehensible public speech after becoming king. He is not all that out of it, at least not yet. But, it is clear that he has and has had a variety of health problems. He used to be the enforcer/conciliator of the royal family, but has retreated from that role in recent years, and by most accounts did not do as good of a job as Defense Minister as he did in his 48 years as Governor of Riyadh, for which he has been highly praised.rosserjb@jmu.eduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300046915843554101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-36238538213598499852015-01-24T03:06:05.918-05:002015-01-24T03:06:05.918-05:00Hi Barkley. Let me do the math.
Friday was Jan 23...Hi Barkley. Let me do the math.<br /><br />Friday was Jan 23, 2015<br /><br />Using your dates:<br />Abdullah born Aug 21, 1924. So 76 on Aug 21, 2000, 90 on Aug 21, 2014 and so 90 5/12 years old on the day he died.<br />Salman born Dec 31, 1935. So 65 on Dec 31, 2000, 79 on Dec 31, 2014 and so 79 years 1/12 years old on the day Abdullah died.<br /><br />So Abdullah was half a year younger than "91" (7/12th) and Salman a full year old than "78" (13/12) for a total discrepancy of a year and 2/3rds (20/12).<br /><br />I hold no brief for Henderson but why is this discrepancy (which could just be the result of lazy Googling on "Age Salman") important in context? Would "90 vs 79" be that much more significant than "91 vs 78" and if so why?<br /><br />And then we have Muqrin born on Sept 15, 1945. Which would put him at 55 on Sept 15, 2000 and 69 on Sept 15, 2014. Which admittedly is different than the "71" reported by the WaPo but which makes the WaPO "incompetent clunks" under what criteria? I mean I understand the importance of fact checking and copy editing. On the other hand you have a paragraph that reads "regarding which enormous amounts of ink ha been spilled" which unless you are channelling poet Robbie Burns is somewhere in the same neighborhood.<br /><br />I am a huge and long-time admirer (and friend?) of you and your work and have no quarrel with your analysis of the internal dynamics of the House of Saud. But I find this dismissal of Henderson based even in small part on a failure to calculate dates a little baffling. It seems that indignation at his conclusions has gotten ahead of your sense of proportion. What am I missing here?Bruce Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13222670342780912788noreply@blogger.com