Saudis Import Slaves to America

Saudis Import Slaves to America [New York Sun title: The Problem of Saudi Slavery] Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, June 16, 2005 -- or here

Homaidan Ali Al-Turki, 36, and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 35, appear to be a model immigrant couple. They arrived in America in 2000 and now live with their four children in an upscale Denver suburb. Mr. Al-Turki is a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Colorado, specializing in Arabic intonation and focus prosody. He donates money to the Linguistic Society of America and is chief executive of Al-Basheer Publications and Translations, a bookstore specializing in titles about Islam.

Last week, however, the FBI accused the couple of enslaving an Indonesian woman who is in her early 20s. For four years, reads the indictment, they created "a climate of fear and intimidation through rape and other means." [. . . . ]

Search:

* In 1982, a Miami judge issued a warrant to search Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz's 24th-floor penthouse to determine if

* In 1988, the Saudi defense attaché in Washington

* In 1991, Prince Saad Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and his wife, Princess Noora

* In March 2005, a wife of Saudi Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Alsaud, Hana Al Jader

The rest of the article is, frankly, shocking.

Is this related to a need for oil? Is it not time to develop a new lifestyle?

To begin, I need or will settle for a cheap vehicle--well, something akin to a vehicle--which is small, doesn't cost a fortune to buy nor run, will move a bit faster than a bicycle, but not much more, be adequate for running errands, with enough insulation to keep me warm in winter and maybe a radio -- something that does not require compromising the most basic ideas of human freedoms, security of the individual and independence from others' coercion, because of what powers it. Maybe I would need more if I thought about it, but that is enough to start. We need to end our dependence upon societies like that described in this article because of a need for oil, if that is the cause. If not, someone, enlighten me. Money? How utterly base!

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