Khazen’s comment:

By the end of this year I will have lived in London as long as I lived in Beirut. I am becoming too democratic for an Arab, or democratic enough to publish the above.

I have this to say. I don’t know much about most things, but when it comes to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians my knowledge is second to none. It is first hand. As to Doran and his defender Michael Young I can modestly state that I have forgotten about Saudi Arabia more than they ever will remember.

Over the years I have had scores of private meeting with Prince Abdullah and Prince Nayef as well as other government leaders. I have kept hundreds of pages of written notes. In the case of Prince Nayef, my meetings with him start about midnight and end at about five in the morning when he performs the Fajr prayers before going to sleep. Michael Scott Doran has never had and will never ever have similar access to Saudi leaders… or people, so I hereby reiterate that Doran is ignorant of Saudi affairs and his article in Foreign Affairs reflects his ignorance in every line… okay every other line.