Tom Toles for May 03, 2015

Where are the Saudis’ close personal friends and business partners on this chart?

The new Foreign Minister is, if I remember correctly, a civilian (i.e. non-royal). I know the Oil Minister, Ali al-Naimi, is a civilian.

Above all of them is the Supreme Lord Almighty, also known as the Dronemonger in Warshington.

It’s the Sultans of Swing not Swag….

The first Caliphs ruled from Medina, which just means ‘city’ in Arabic. The Islamic calendar started when Mohammed moved from Mecca to Medina. But the fifth Caliph moved to Damascus, which was nicer. A few centuries later, that dynasty was overthrown. The new Caliphs ruled from Baghdad..In the 15th century, the Ottomans overran all of Arabia (and parts of Europe) and claimed the Caliphate, so the Ottoman Caliph served the Sultan in Constantinople..In the 18th century, the Islamic cleric al Wahabbi said that it was a violation of Islam for anyone who wasn’t an Arab to be Caliph, so the Sheikh or Emir of the al-Saud tribe was the true spiritual and temporal leader of all Islam. For more than a century, the Wahabbis were an obscure sect that believed in trials before Sharia judges who ordered that the hands of thieves be chopped off, that adulteresses be stoned, and that infidels be beheaded. (ibn Battuta was trained as a judge in Mecca and was appointed judge in Male, and, when he ordered hands chopped off, the thieves fainted; however, they told him, ‘We don’t do that here.’ But they figured just hearing the sentence taught the thieves a good lesson.).In 1918, the Ottomans lost WWI, and in the ‘20s, the Saud Abdulaziz made himself King of Saudi Arabia, Keeper of the Two Holy Mosques, and was recognized by many Muslims as the spiritual and temporal ruler of Islam, especially by other kings, sultans, and emirs who really liked the idea of the Divine Right of Monarchs..And now the new King has replaced his half-brother as his successor with his nephew, and is generally replacing all the sons of Abdulaziz who are still in positions of power with grandsons of Abdulaziz. Not to mention waging war on the Yemen, something the Saudis hadn’t done before..So big changes. And since the King of Saudi is a good friend of the US leadership, we must wish them the very best and agree with their definition of Islam (which excludes the Houthis in the Yemen, the Iranians, the Syrian government, and the DA/IS).

given the success of democracy in the middle east which would you choose?

Duke, Duke, Duke,Duke of Oil,Duke Duke…

And french kissed him and walked hand in hand at Crawford Ranch.

I guess showing the proper respect isn’t cowboy enough for some little boys