It was one of the great media
moments of the year. Lt. Gen. Russel
Honore, dubbed "John Wayne dude"
by the mayor of New Orleans for his take-charge
approach to Hurricane Katrina recovery, was
talking to the press about preparations for
Hurricane Rita. The storm looming in the Gulf of
Mexico was the third most powerful hurricane
ever recorded and it threatened the coast of
Louisiana and Texas just weeks after the
catastrophe of Katrina. Honore wanted to inform
the public about Rita evacuation arrangements
but reporters hectored him over Katrina
preparations. "You're asking last storm
questions for people who are concerned about the
future storm," he boomed. "Don't
confuse the people, please - you are part of the
public message. So help us get the message
straight. If you don't understand, maybe you'll
confuse it to the people." A reporter, not
satisfied with the direction of the general's
request asked another "last storm"
question drawing a memorable quip from Honore,
"You are stuck on stupid."
That
sound bite came to mind when I saw Parade
magazine's January 22, 2006 cover trumpeting its
annual "Who is the World's Worst
Dictator?" by David Wallechinsky. For at
least the third year in a row the Sunday
newspaper insert, which claims to reach over 75
million Americans, included King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia among the "top ten"
dictators of the world, the "heads of state
who terrorize and abuse the rights of their own
people."
As one who has closely
observed Middle East developments for over 30
years that simplistic charge would be laughable
to me if it wasn't such a serious contribution
to the flood of disinformation Americans must
endure about the Arab world. My first thoughts
were about the reforms in the Kingdom championed
by Abdullah, especially the progress made in
2005 - the National Dialogue program, the
expansion of the Consultative Council, the
advent of national elections for municipal
councils, the election of women to influential
boards and committees and the expansion of their
roles in society. And what of the reforms beyond
social and political issues -- the robust
changes reshaping business, finance, trade and
labor practices in Saudi Arabia? Weren't there
any of Abdullah's initiatives worth mentioning
by Parade?
Perhaps
Parade's contributing editor Wallechinsky
missed the Barbara
Walters interview in October where the King
talked about modernizing Saudi Arabia and
implied he could move the very conservative
society forward only as fast as it was willing
to go, but that he was convinced progress would
come. He would also have missed the post
interview commentary from Ambassador Richard
Haass, President of the Council on Foreign
Relations who told Walters, "We couldn't do
better right now than Abdullah.." Is this
King Abdullah the same leader Parade said
is terrorizing his own people?
The leader skewered by Parade
is certainly not the same person I
met in Riyadh in February 2001 when Abdullah
was Crown Prince. In addition to expressing a
sincere desire to improve US-Saudi relations,
Abdullah impressed his guests -- a delegation of
scholars and analysts -- with his vision and
optimism for the future for Saudi Arabians and
other people in the region. In the years since
that meeting we have been witnesses to the
steady progress Abdullah has made in moving
Saudi Arabia forward.
I am also reminded of a
conversation I had with journalist Thomas
Lippman, a former Washington Post bureau
chief in the Middle East, adjunct scholar at the
Middle East Institute in Washington and author
of an insightful book on Saudi Arabia,
"Inside the Mirage." In an interview
for SUSRIS.org last February I asked what he
thought about Parade's 2005 edition of
the dictator list, which also included Abdullah.
"That's just ridiculous," he said.
"What planet do these people dwell on? You
know, if Crown Prince Abdullah is the world's
worst dictator then the world is in better shape
than it has been at any other point in my
lifetime."
Lippman continued, "You
don't want to get into invidious comparisons but
the fact is Crown Prince Abdullah doesn't even
fit the category of dictator. He's not a
dictator. He's a negotiator. That is what he is.
That's the only way he can run Saudi Arabia. I'd
ask any American who has been to Saudi Arabia,
do you see armies of regimented slaves starving
and chained in the factories? I don't think so..
..the references that we always see of Saudi
Arabia as a quote absolute monarchy unquote, are
just not correct. That's just not the way Saudi
Arabia operates. The metabolism there is one in
which individual Saudis take on other individual
Saudis in argumentation and discussion and
questioning. And it's one in which maybe what
happens in the public arena is constrained, but
that doesn't mean it's an absolute dictatorship
like North Korea, for heaven's sake."
If Thomas Lippman, an
objective specialist on Saudi Arabia, has it
right, then what is going on at Parade
magazine? Is such shallow reporting the product
of dumbing down news for Americans, who
the media seems to believe can only absorb a
flashy photo or video clip accompanied by a
simplistic factoid box?
It's up to Parade to
say what their purpose is in smearing King
Abdullah. But we are left to wonder how damaging
such articles can be for Americans who rely on
the mainstream media for their understanding of
the world outside their neighborhoods, left to
wonder how many other pieces of misinformation
and manipulation are floating around in peoples'
consciousness when they make important judgments
about the world. All we can do is ask America's
writers, reporters, and commentators to heed
General Honore's admonition about getting the
message right: "If you don't understand..
..you'll confuse it to the people."
Parade, please don't
confuse the people.
>>Patrick W. Ryan is
Editor of SUSRIS.org.
