Dissent's a Bitch, Huh?

From the Dept. of Boo-fuckity-hoo:

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has complained that criticism in the US is harming Saudi efforts to fight terror.

Prince Saud al-Faisal blamed parts of the US media for demonising Saudi Arabia, citing several recent books which said it nurtured extremism. [?]

"It is ironic that those who most vociferously attack Saudi Arabia are unwittingly serving the purposes of al-Qaeda," Prince Saud said.

"The attacks lead to undermining a country that is probably most capable of not only waging the war against [al-Qaeda], but also in preventing them spreading their cultist ideology in the Islamic world."

That's our Saudi Arabia—preventing the spread of Islamic hate-cults! Actually the irony here is that Bush Administration diplomats basically agree. Robert Jordan, a Dallas oil guy who was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from Oct. 2001 to Oct. 2003 (and replaced by another Dallas oil guy, Jim Oberwetter), gave this snippy little warning to American critics of Saudi oppressors back in 2002:

If we strike out blindly against perceived enemies and undermine the ability of our friends to work with us against the scourge of global terrorism, we will have a lot to answer for. ? Do we agree with the Saudis on every issue? No, of course not. If that were the criterion for friendship with the United States, we wouldn't have a friend in the world.