One Way Multiculturalism

Steyn has a great article on the power of the Saudis to silence criticism of their deviant behavior and their thug religion. Books that profile the flow of Saudi money to terrorist supporting organizations are often met with threats of libel and an unending supply of Saudi money to tie publishers up in court for years. Publishers, whose pockets are rarely as deep as the benefactors of law suits, pull books rather than engage in legal combat likely to land them in bankruptcy.

Well, let us cross the ocean, thousands of miles from the Amazon warehouse, to the High Court in London. Last week, the Cambridge University Press agreed to recall all unsold copies of "Alms for Jihad" and pulp them. In addition, it has asked hundreds of libraries around the world to remove the volume from their shelves. This highly unusual action was accompanied by a letter to Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, in care of his English lawyers, explaining their reasons:

"Throughout the book there are serious and defamatory allegations about yourself and your family, alleging support for terrorism through your businesses, family and charities, and directly.

"As a result of what we now know, we accept and acknowledge that all of those allegations about you and your family, businesses and charities are entirely and manifestly false."

Now that the Cambridge University Press has properly castigated itself, the Sheikh appears satisfied. As Steyn notes, this one-way multiculturalism could be our fatal flaw:

The world accepts that you can't open an Episcopal or Congregational church in Jeddah or Riyadh, but every week the Saudis can open radical mosques and madrassahs and pro-Saudi think-tanks in London and Toronto and Dearborn, Mich., and Falls Church, Va. And their global reach extends a little further day by day, inch by inch, in the lengthening shadows, as the lights go out one by one around the world.

Could someone explain once again why we are propping up the Saudi government? If there is something worse underlying it, which is hard to imagine but possible, we should approach it head on. Sooner or later we'll have to face it, and our current policy of throwing money at the problem isn't buying much. If Bush has lost me on anything, it would be the $2 billion we continue to throw at Egypt and the rouse of Saudi support.