Doha Debates and Nawaf Obaid

Just a quick heads up that you should be checking out BBC's Doha Debates. They are really fascinating -- Middle East(ern) experts debating things from human rights, to oil, to Iraq. Not brilliantly-argued, but WAY beyond what we get on US television.

On a related note, I think that Nawaf Obaid is an idiot. He is this young (VERY young) Saudi Harvard grad (who I have googled and am shocked to see is apparenly not a prince -- meaning: how the heck did he get to where he's at without the House of Saud?) who is a consultant to the Saudi government. I have seen him on Hard Talk (another BBC program), the Doha Debates, and he's a common face who is apparently thought to be (by KSA, at least) the wilely young intellectual capable of fierce debate in favour of Saudi policy.

I have to say that every time I have seen him, he comes off as a smug idiot who SOUNDS like a good debater ("my esteemed colleague raises an excellent point...") but who doesn't rise much past the level of high school debate, and when it comes to making a persuasive, articulate, well-delivered argument, totally fails. I was just HORRIFIED to see all the fellowships he's had -- how CSIS could make him a chaired fellow is totally beyond me (and check out the part where his bio is like: "One-year meaningless MA program at Harvard that everyone does, then SOME doctoral classes, but I dropped out because the King offered me 1000 barrels a day), especially since he's not a prince -- and I am again totally disenchanted by what "whasta" ("connections," as Egyptians say) gets you in this world. I'm trying to think back to when I've ever needed or used (or had, lol) connections, and beyond my stepdad getting me a summer job at the country club, I really can't think of any.

I'm tempted to contact the Saudi government and say: "Listen, pay me HALF what you pay him and I will tear it up in the Doha Debates," but I'm not sure the Joe Lieberman and his Republican friends would consider that very patriotic, and lord knows I don't want to end up in a human pyramid in some secret detention center outside New York customs, or called a coward by a frigid bitch on the House floor (I wonder if Jean Schmidt could sell her trademark bows on e-bay and thereby help pay for defrigidity pills that she can't afford since Bush is against allowing affordable prescription drugs to come from Canada?).

VC