The lawsuit by families of September 11 victims against Saudi Arabia has provoked the official Saudi media into a shrieking frenzy, even as their representatives in the West try to sound moderate.

Here’s the official line their own people are hearing in Arabic, from an article titled “This Is America” in the Saudi daily Al-Watan:

“According to American concepts, it is not important what the world loses; what is important is what America gains. This is American logic and American language. This is America, the civilization that arose on the skulls of others.”

“America, that carried out the Hiroshima massacre and the Vietnam massacre; America, that incited South Korea against North Korea and Taiwan against China; America, that interfered in the affairs of Chile, Nicaragua, and Panama; America, that tried to assassinate many of the world’s leaders… among them Castro, who alone was subject to 30 assassination attempts – one of them by mixing deadly plutonium poison in the cigars he smokes! America, that erected the Statue of Liberty so as to plunder others by it; America, that established liberty in order to kill millions of people in its name, from the Indians to Afghan children… Behind all this stood members of the CIA… This is America, the tyrannous, and all that remains is for it to turn into a pharaoh [the symbol of an evil regime]. This is America, the land of freedom, the land of democracy.”

“I still remember the story of the Indian leader who returned from battle with the American colonialist and found that other American soldiers had, in his absence, raided his home and killed his children and wife. All he could do was shout: ‘I fought long, but I never killed a child or a woman. These [Americans] are not human.’ This is America, gentlemen – do you want us to trust it?!”

Notice how the language of Noam Chomsky is creeping into the official Arab hate-America line.

Meanwhile, the face the Saudis show to the West is trying to be more conciliatory. In the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat:

“Regardless of the official American stance that Saudi Arabia is a close and strong ally, the events of September 11 led to a reopening of the file of Saudi-U.S. relations and the rebuilding [of these relations]. Washington’s adherence to its relations with Riyadh is genuine, but American policy is not laid out by one man or one party; it is shaped by various circles, and therefore what is now happening can be seen as initial signs of change in policy towards Saudi Arabia. This change does not mean hostility or clashes, but change of some foundations and beliefs…”

“A change in the perceptions of public opinion in both countries, primarily in Saudi Arabia, is the key to rectifying this crisis…”

One might ask, if a change in the “perception of public opinion” (whatever that means) is needed in Saudi Arabia, why is official Saudi media spewing such over-the-top anti-Americanism?

Saudi Ambassador to London Ghazi Al-Qusaibi, famous for his open admiration of suicide bombers, can always be counted on to say something totally off the wall, and he doesn’t disappoint. First he tries his hand at some amateur psychoanalysis:

‘The U.S. – the president, Congress, and public opinion – speaks from a starting point not much different than that of a man afflicted with paranoia. Psychiatrists know, as does any quasi-intellectual, that someone afflicted with paranoia is as afraid of his friend as he is of his enemy and sees danger where there is none…”

And then demonstrates the true meaning of paranoia by blaming it all on Jews and Christians:

Anyone who has monitored the American media since the September events and tried to read behind the lines realizes that there is an ‘orchestra’ carefully leading and feeding the attack on Saudi Arabia. This orchestra receives instructions from a conductor, which is the extremist right-wing Christian alliance supported by the Zionist lobby.

And that’s the moderate face.

Back in Saudi Arabia, though, where the people read nothing that isn’t approved by the government, Saudi daily Al-Riyadh throws more gasoline on the fire:

“Most provocatively, Condoleezza Rice, adviser to the cowboy who rules the White House, said: ‘We have moral justification for changing the regime in Baghdad.’ Since when does the American administration attach any importance to the moral or human aspect?… The [Saudi] people are not to be blamed for the state of horror to which you [Americans] are subject in your country – a situation from which you will not escape… unless you concede the rights of the people and fight the evil among you and stop your aggression towards the world. You must remember that the ‘Country of Falsehood’ endures for one hour, while the ‘Country of Truth’ lasts until Judgment Day!!!”

“We have no need to defend our good and clean name, as we are peace-loving people who never started a war against anyone throughout their history. As for you [Americans], no one needs proof of your crimes, written in history in ink as black as your history of murder and genocide. The land of Japan is the best proof of your barbarism!!! Yes – why did you have to go far afield? Here is the land of the Indians, annihilated by you…”

“After all this, you want to delude us with the claim that you seek to create peace and justice in the world and fight terrorism, and that you are morally justified in attacking the peoples and governments?…”

Condoleeza Rice really annoys them, doesn’t she?

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