Numbers do not lie, especially if the numbers come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that all countries around the world defer to. The numbers say that between 2008, the year the U.S. and global financial crisis hit, and 2012, the Saudi economy posted the highest growth after China and India within the Group of Twenty (G20) countries (the world's top 20 economies). Between 1999 and 2012, the Saudi economy grew fivefold, and this year, the kingdom's economy is forecasted to grow by 7.6 percent and the gross national product to grow by 4.4 percent, with the lowest ratio of debt to production in the entire world. All the above, however, does not prevent me from saying that Saudi Arabia needs to raise the wages of citizens and foreign workers, and improve healthcare and social welfare offerings for everyone. The Saudi economic boom, which has been sustained for 40 years, specifically after the oil embargo of 1973 when prices increased immediately fivefold, angers the gang of war and evil, especially those who support Israel, because it means that the Saudi decision is independent, and does not need U.S. aid. In truth, it is the United States that needs help from Saudi Arabia to prevent oil prices from exploding. In recent days, we saw Saudi diplomacy oppose, criticize outspokenly, and reprimand eastern and western powers, especially the United States, for their failure to pursue the peace process or stop the daily killing in Syria. The commentators associated with the gang of war and evil, the Likudniks in America, and their media, claim that despite sharp and public Saudi criticism in recent days against U.S. policy, Saudi Arabia cannot leave its "alliance" with the United States. I say that this "alliance" is a millstone for Saudi Arabian foreign policy, and that the Saudis threatened before and got what they wanted from the administration of George W. Bush. According to Bob Woodward's book State of Denial, then-U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell said that they "peed their pants" after the Saudi threat to separate Saudi policy from that of the United States. I dare say that the United States is the Mafioso of the Middle East, although President Barack Obama wants change but is being thwarted. I move on to another issue. I counted to ten, twenty, and then one hundred before I decided to write about the right of Saudi women to drive, so I do not claim to be writing emotionally, but in a very coolheaded manner, and I take full responsibility for every word I say. I am in favor of women driving one thousand percent, and for a woman to drive is a thousand times better than sitting alone with a male driver who is not a relative in a car. When animals were still the mode of transport and travel, Muslim women rode them, whether they were camels, horses, or donkeys. Today, cars are the primary mode of transport and are a right for women. To the extremists I say that car insurance premiums for women in the United States are lower than premiums for men, because statistics show women are less prone to traffic collisions. Some extremists even claimed that driving cars affect women's fertility. However, women drive in countries all around the world, and we never heard about this alleged effect. Instead, we only hear that Western women are superior in education and work. I move the debate to another level: Some extremists claimed that women driving would be against traditions and decency, and even against religion. But is this true? This claim is an insult to every Muslim country where women drive. I will not go very far from Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait, where women have been driving since before independence. Kuwaiti women are just as religious and decent as Saudi women, and the entire Kuwaiti people are like the Saudi people, in that they are close to Islam and keen on decency. In other words, the position of the extremists is an insult to Muslim women from Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, to Malaysia and Indonesia. Driving is a right for women, and men who oppose this have issues and are insecure. In Saudi Arabia specifically, there is a ‘phenomenon' where females have excelled in every domain where they were given half a chance. The issue is about cowards who don't know how to fight the enemies of Muslims like those who violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, and so they turn to oppression against women. [email protected]
