The Real Saudi Bow

the United States State Department, headed by Mrs. Hillary Clinton, has announced that it has accepted the ground rules for media coverage of the Obama visit to the royal family and its domain. Reporters will only be allowed to cover the actual meetings between the Saudis and Obama and will not be permitted to visit the rest of the country or report on anything else they see during the trip. Those reporters who violate these terms are subject to arrest and imprisonment by the Saudi government!! Hillary and Obama accepted these terms.

Source

Are we abandoning ALL of our sovereignty in the new administration? Agreeing to terms that allow reporters to be arrested is a travesty!!!

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[edit on 3/6/2009 by Mirthful Me]

well we are going to their country..If it was the other way around I would be hot..

Ya most countries are very peculiar in that even if you are an outsider you have to follow their traditions and rules or face punishment.

As far as I can tell, this has not been done before. Guidance to the press corp,yes, but agreement to what can be reported and what cannot...Not as far as my research can tell.

if i was having friends over i wouldnt want them going home and telling their family how awful my house was. nuff said

This makes perfect sense to me. It is their country, they can put whatever stipulations on the visit that they wish. They are "allowing" our president and cabinet to visit, and further allowing them to bring any press at all.

This is a diplomatic issue, how bad do they want us to visit, and how bad do we want to visit. They stipulate the most they can without completely sabotaging the visit, we ask for as many accomodations as we can without completely sabotaging the visit.

Plus, as everyone on ATS should know, you cannot trust the press corps anyway. There needs to be some penalties for bad journalism. If the Saudi's watch any of our news broadcasts, I am surprised they let any press come over at all!

So, does Hillary have to bow down to the Saudis and wear a head scarf or even a Burqa? Maybe she'll be the one that messes up and gets arrested by the Saudis. Imagine the diplomatic flareup that would cause.

It is their territory and how they treat their slaves is none of our business...

And when Hilary visited China she also said that human rights are not important when it comes to "economy".

Nothing new...

Originally posted by centurion1211
So, does Hillary have to bow down to the Saudis and wear a head scarf or even a Burqa? Maybe she'll be the one that messes up and gets arrested by the Saudis. Imagine the diplomatic flareup that would cause.

This is part of the "diplomacy" and negotiation. It would not surprise me to find out that making Hillary dress traditionally was part of the initial stipulations. You always ask for more than you want and then compromise.