Charlie Rose

ellisjayus  06/11/2010 04:56 PM Report

The Prince is as "assiter" in the destabilization of the ME. He alone has funded Gaza (now Hamas) with more money than any single entity, with no accounting required, knowing that this "humanitarian" aid may well finance arms and ammunition. He is fooling himself and all of us when he states in a roundabout way that the western world, let alone Israel, can negotiate Gaza without Hamas. He also, either simplistically or foolishly, believes that returning the Golan Heights to Syria is the last cog in a Syrian-Israeli peace agreement. Having visited the Golan several times and witnessed firsthand the bunkers used for years by Syria and its sub-groups to shoot Israeli farmers, I can assure you that no sovereign nation would ever cede its only protective buffer zone to a country that cannot control its own interlopers (read: Hezbollah). It is a prescription for the end of Israel (perhaps the desired outcome?). The Prince CAN use his petro-wealth to force his Arab friends into lasting peace agreements...it's called withholding and it's not unlike offering $10mil to the mayor of New York to influence his country's attitudes. True, Rudy didn't bite but the funds are much more ctiical to Gaza than to the Big Apple and my bet is that the Prince will win out over the Iranians. Good Luck to him.

Habib  01/23/2010 04:52 PM Report

I suggest that Charlie interview Wafa Sultan who recently wrote the book " God who Hates" for insight of what she thinks should be done about present day terrorism

RLF  01/23/2010 09:54 AM Report

I think almost all would agree with "shanifft" that the interview was informative and interesting, unless the views of a major investor re the global economy aren't so. He made many interesting comments, including the point that the ball is in Israel's court re peace, since they dominate the area in many ways, which was made as a counterpoint to Charlie Rose's simplistic comments about what Hamas and the hapless Gazans must do before Israel will talk peace.

shanifft  01/22/2010 04:32 AM Report

The prince has been a major investor for many years now. It was nice to get a glimpse into his mind and how he views the world right now. It would be unwise to right him off as laughable. I disagree with those viewers who question Charlie's interview style. It is only through Charlie's ability to put his guests at ease and with respect, that we are able to get a fairly candid conversation. And the questions hit all of the important contemporary themes of the day.Bravo.

agent99712  01/21/2010 10:42 PM Report

charlie did his best to give him easy questions knowing he could barely answer them. it was a laughable interview. he has many around him that speak for him and it shows. the entire time i watched it, i thought what a great snl skit this would make, the first few minutes his speech was barely decipherable and those glasses and shiny suit really depict him as quite the character, rich or not, i don't trust him.

drzurvan  01/21/2010 09:42 PM Report

For most of the interview with the Sheikh (or Prince) you simply spoke for him and put words in his mouth. What is the point of an interview if you ask questions that you already know the answers to? And your questions were designed for the most part to keep him comfortable and happy. You could have pushed more on the rampant corruption in Saudi Arabia, the inhumane treatment of women, the support for religious fanaticism, the promotion of anti-western education, funding of madrassas and support for Wahabism and terrorism. But you conveniently stayed away from these vitally important questions and kept praising this man who everybody knows made his money from oil and his relationship with his uncle. Buying hotels and shares in Citicorp is easy if you have petrodollars flowing into your bank accounts and have an uncle as a king. He proved last night that he is no Arab Warren Buffet.

AlbertineFlugzeug-Brand  01/21/2010 08:37 PM Report

Why would we ask Prince about alternative energies? What exactly do you expect him to say that won't be disinformation? He has a business model from oil and our corporate induced national economic addiction to it like the Louis XIV and the Bourbon's had in France before they lost their heads in the French Revolution?

Also, re: terrorism, didn't he take the exact approach News Corp takes changing the story from what really matters to American citizens and taxpayers from "economic terrorism" against American families by Neo-Liberals in NYC and Washington, and Neo-Cons in Texas and the Pentagon,

to "terrorism" by young men in exploited countries he owns and for which deplorable hopeless social conditions that breed it in the first place this Prince should be totally personally held responsible for the first place?

And what about money that went into Wahhabism in the first place? Where did that come from? His Royal Family paid for and built the "petro-Islam" schools teaching these ideas and now he blames the young men they've incited! And Charlie asks nothing about any of this!

Perfect. Obvious to see why he and Murdoch pere et fils are in bed together!

REMant  01/21/2010 10:35 AM Report

Stabilization there may be, but it is by no means certain that monetarism, much less Keynesianism, had anything to do with it. But it seems he agrees with that, at least when talking about the long run. I suspect tho that there is more creative destruction in the pipeline. We have to do things that are more intrinsically profitable, and stop playing this asset inflation game. And we have to get money into productive hands without undermining the whole thing, and that means saving. There is more than a little irony in that it is the 2nd world countries, who are talking about financial responsibility these days. I doubt the British, French and Americans realized, years ago, when they decided to pay the Arabs for their oil, the latter would, in the process end, up owning them. Of course, not for anything they did, or because of a shortage of oil, but because we've acted like the stuff was free. Ditto regarding China, tho I think the Chinese may already be extracting an ounce or two of flesh. I'm not sure I agree about the impossibility of a real estate bubble there. Of course, I agree with him about how to handle Iran, and with his hopes for peace in Palestine. I would guess that active US involvement translates to forcing Israel to deal with its own extremists, and I can't argue with that. Average Americans don't know much about Islam, religious and cultural differences, or even basic history and geography, for that matter, but there are differences, for instance, like covering women, prohibiting images, and writing right to left, which point to much more substantive things, that should not be papered over. A level-headed guy. World could use a few more like him.