From CNN:

Saudi’s on U.S. in Iraq: ‘illegitimate foreign occupation’

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP)—King Abdullah’s harsh—and unexpected—attack on the U.S. military presence in Iraq could be a Saudi attempt to signal to Washington its anger over the situation in Iraq and build credibility among fellow Arabs.

As warned just yesterday, the Saudi description of the invasion of Iraq as an “illegitimate foreign occupation”Â? is not the big story here. Rather, what’s important is that this is a rare moment of Arab introspection about the problems facing the region, where the typical response is to blame Israel, America, and plenty of others in this region where conspiracy theories rule the political culture.

CNN is right in that it was a “harsh and unexpected attack,” and I used similar words in my last post. But the target was the Arab world, not the US. That the mainstream media missed this important point for the easy headline shouldn’t surprise any of us.

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