Staying the Course

Tariq A. Al-Maeena’s “At Least He’s Consistent” (June 12) was full of truths. Bush and his administration are consistently playing the part of outlaws and they get away with it. Many Americans appear to be blind to their behavior or are afraid to say anything about it, or just don’t care. Declaring war on Iraq broke international law — so said Richard Perle himself in a speech in England in November 2003. He said we broke the law because it stood in the way of doing the “right thing”.

The “right thing” consists of declarations by the Bush administration on how the Arab world should bend to their imperial will and not complain about any infringements of human rights — just get democracy rolling. It’s an anything-goes kind of president and administration and their self-righteousness and know-better-than-others attitude knows no limits.

They cannot admit faults or shortcomings on their part. People, their thoughts and opinions are worthless to Bush. And those who point out their mistakes are not appreciated. Those who cannot see the error of their ways cannot change because they cannot learn. They just “stay the course” no matter how absurd it might be.

There was once someone in Europe who stayed the course too, and it almost completely destroyed the country.

Roger Kint • United States published 16 June 2004

Forged Complaint

My name is Steve White and I work for a major hospital in Jeddah. I would like to express my indignation about a letter published on June 15 entitled “Uncaring Hospital”. This letter was purportedly written by S. White and contains a mixture of facts, innuendo and accusations, making it sound as though I had written it complaining about the hospital where I work. Why someone would want to forge a letter in my name is beyond me. I totally disagree with the negative comments made in the letter. The facts of the matter are:

• Our hospital has ample methods of communication through its whole structure. Any employee can contact the chief executive officer in office hours with any problem, not to mention their immediate managers at any time. There is a continuous flow of information from executive management to staff.

• Our hospital has provided security for all Western employees at work and at home.

• All the pay issues have now been resolved.

• Our hospital is nearing the end of completing a compound for all its staff. In the meantime, the housing they provide is of a high standard with a great deal of security.

Basically, it is my opinion that the hospital where I work has coped with the situations it has faced and the many difficulties that it has had. It has addressed the issues regarding pay, housing and security to the satisfaction of most of the staff.

Steve White • Jeddah published 16 June 2004

Saudi Teenagers

The report “Four Saudi Teenagers Held for Assaulting Westerners” (June 11) did not surprise me. My husband and I have experienced the same treatment first-hand. We were spat on, cursed at, stared at, told to go home, and many more vulgar references to the fact that we were “infidels”.

I feel that my comments are probably taken with a grain of salt because I complain about the plight of animals in the Kingdom. However. I have observed that people who are taught compassion through the care and love of pets don’t turn out to be angry sociopaths. It is a proven fact that children who mistreat animals are more likely to hurt or kill people. My husband witnessed a group of teenage boys throwing kittens onto a freeway. In America, these kids would be arrested and been remanded into therapy. In Saudi Arabia the reaction is that boys will be boys.

If you think I am bitter, it’s because I saw so many incidents of Saudis treat other people like total garbage. Funnily enough, I, the ultimate infidel in their view — white, blond, fifth-generation American — was treated much better than were Muslims from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, etc. What is one to make of that?

Ann Hutton • United States published 16 June 2004

‘Unskilled Foreigners’

If the “Unskilled Foreigners”, as Saleh Al-Sultan chose to call all expatriates in his article “Get Rid of the Unskilled Foreigners” (Local Press, June 9), are sent out of Saudi Arabia, who will replace them? Unskilled and untrained Saudis who are not prepared to do an honest day’s work? Don’t get me wrong. I agree with Saudization. But those who take the jobs of foreigners need to be educated and trained. I had a Saudi stand in for me while I was on vacation last year. When I sat down with him and covered my turnover notes and paperwork, he looked at me and said, “If I had known there was this much paperwork, I would have stayed in Yanbu.”

This is not the only time I have seen such an attitude to work. Saudis want the jobs and positions, but most don’t want to perform the work that is required.

Apart from the attitude, another big problem that is keeping jobs out of Saudi hands is the school syllabus. The system does not put enough emphasis on mathematics and sciences. So when a young Saudi graduates he is more prepared for college, not for the world of work.

Until such time that the system changes and Saudis are better prepared to take over jobs and positions, the highly skilled foreigners will be here to do the work required.

Bob Johnson • Jeddah published 16 June 2004

‘Unskilled Foreigners’ [2]

Saleh Al-Sultan wrote the truth. There are lots of expatriates in the Kingdom who came here without the skill and qualifications. They take whatever work they get and gain skill through experience. Many cannot speak Arabic or English and yet work as taxi drivers and in offices where ability to communicate is essential. It makes dealing with them very frustrating. Most of them work in blue-collar jobs.

However, they keep their jobs because of their determination and willingness to do hard work. Here is key to Saudization. Saudis will fill all positions when young Saudis learn how to appreciate the words perseverance, diligence and patience. Most young Saudis, fresh from college and without any experience, want to jump to a managerial position right away. They don’t want to take odd jobs. I haven’t seen Saudis working in the streets as gardeners, street sweepers or garbage collectors. How will Saudization be achieved if they can’t do such simple jobs? They must remember that not all jobs available for them are white-collar.

Saudization will become a reality when attitudes and minds change.

Anne Margarette Buki • Riyadh published 16 June 2004

Photo Opportunities

The report “Some Expat Organizations Have Got Their Priorities Right” (June 11) blamed many Indian social organizations for focusing primarily on arranging photo sessions and then named the Urdu Academy, Jeddah, as an honorable exception. It was, the report suggested, inspired by nobler motives. It would be nice if it were so. It is not.

The photograph of the academy’s president in the same report and the series of photos in the recently published Azad souvenir belie the claim. Incidentally, one half of the souvenir was published in English, although it was supposed to be the organ of the Urdu Academy. Further, at the National Education Day celebration last week, the proceedings were conducted in Urdulish — a hybrid of English and Urdu. But perhaps that was no great loss as even those speeches delivered entirely in Urdu failed to impress their listeners.

Israrul Haque • Jeddah published 16 June 2004

Photo Opportunities [2]

The president of Urdu Academy has a strange way of showing his antipathy for photo publicity.

Amir Sadiq published 16 June 2004

Assassination Drama

Apparently, four innocent lives have been snuffed out to gain the sympathy of the nation for Narendra Modi, the most notorious politician in post-independence India. The Gujarat police have “foiled” a plot hatched by four individuals to eliminate Modi, we are told. How come the police of Gujarat, whose efficiency we saw when thousands were massacred in the state, became so agile and efficient? The truth will not be known if there is not an independent enquiry into the assassination drama, which has all the marks of a well-choreographed show staged by Modi as a last-ditch effort to save his political career.

The police will surely tell a dramatic story of how they came to know of the plot and how bravely they fought and killed the suspects. If these were real terrorists, they deserved the fate they met. However, the story resembles the fake Ansal Plaza shootout in New Delhi in which two innocent youths were made scapegoats. There a doctor witnessed the whole thing and the truth came out.

Syed Abdulla Shah • Riyadh published 16 June 2004

Reagan Legacy

Ronald Reagan and his successor George Bush Sr. are generally credited with having won the Cold War and bringing about what is popularly termed “the collapse of communism”. There is surely a need for a lot of demythologizing here.

First of all we have to examine very carefully what is meant by the term “communism”. More often than not it is simply used as a label whereby those who possess what is generally described as a “right-wing” political disposition discredit their “left-wing” opponents. This is in much the same vein as those on the left use the term “fascist” to depict right-of-center politicians.

In his book “A Decade of Decision” written back in 1952, the famous astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle described capitalism and communism as positive and negative images of the same photograph. In a capitalist society, the government collects money from companies and individuals who own and operate the means of production and distribution. In a “communist” state the government operates productive and distributive capacity and sends money downward to the citizenry.

Therefore all that happened in the early 1990s, bearing Hoyle’s thesis in mind, was nothing much more than a readjustment in the relationship of production and financial distribution between the state on the one hand and corporate entities and individuals on the other. Communism, according to the classical model as described by Marx and Engels, has never existed, so it was never there to “collapse” in the first place. In the old Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc countries, economic and technological development had reached the critical point whereby state capitalism and the slave labor of the gulags had to give way to the more efficient system of free-market economics and devolved capitalism.

So the increased freedom now enjoyed by the peoples of the old Soviet bloc has nothing to do with Reagan or American influence or anything else like them. It is simply due to the onward march of history and the inevitable and involuntary changes that come with it.

Francis A. Andrew • Zarqa, Jordan published 16 June 2004