Estimated reading time: 14 minutes
I sit here typing these words less than 48 hours after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The Left screamed long enough about how Trump was supposed to be the end of global civilization, and some unhinged nutjob finally paid attention. The headlines trumpet the FBI’s tireless efforts at finding a motive.
Table of contents
How about this? President Biden and every other left-winger in the country have been tacitly begging somebody to do this for seven years now. Kathy Griffin, the legendarily unfunny failed comedienne, actually did a photoshoot holding up a facsimile of Trump’s bloody severed head. In the context of this weekend’s festivities, that has not aged well.
Opinions, Everybody’s Got One…
I’m not necessarily Donald Trump’s biggest fan. He’s always been lightyears ahead of his Left-wing competition, but the guy’s got some well-publicized character flaws. However, I didn’t vote for him because I wanted a new best friend. I voted for him because I wanted somebody to sit on America’s front porch with a big honking stick. He was great at that.
Trump did a superb job of making America scary again. Just ask the relatives of the esteemed Iranian ex-psychopath Qasem Soleimani. The world seems to work better when folks are a little bit afraid of Uncle Sam. We haven’t had that in a long time, and it shows.
We’re Not So Special
By the time you read this, the sordid details of the Trump assassination attempt should be starting to gel. Once everything is laid bare, I’ll no doubt write it up. Regardless, this has already been the most eventful Presidential election in my lifetime.
While things have been undeniably sordid, they were not particularly unusual when viewed through the lens of history. Human beings just suck, like a lot. We have a long and illustrious history of venting our grievances against our leaders through the barrel of a gun. Back in 1975 in Saudi Arabia, vengeance actually came from a relative.
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The Players In An Earlier Assassination
I don’t pretend to understand the machinations of the Royal House of Saud. A true monarchy in the traditional sense, these potentates each have scads of kids with multiple women. The royal family tree is more like some kind of vast interdigitated creeping vine.
The Saudis are not the sort to throw convivial family picnics where cordial blood relationships are cemented. Deep-fried chicken and baked beans slathered in bacon grease are frowned upon thereabouts. Toss in a trillion or so petrodollars that literally sprang up out of the ground and you have the chemical formula for family friction.
The Assassination Mark
King Faisal had a convoluted upbringing. Now stick with me here, this is complicated. I’m doing the best I can.
Faisal bin Abdulaziz al Saud was born in 1906 in Riyadh. His dad was Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman, the Emir of Nejd. His mom was Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh. Tarfa descended from the religious leader Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab. Faisal had an older sister who married a cousin. Faisal’s mom died when the boy was six months old, so he was raised by his maternal grandparents.
The Regent Comes of Age
Faisal engaged in an intensive study of Islamic Law and the Quran that culminated at age nine. Like any proper royal, he was well-versed in horsemanship, military affairs, and politics. It was clear that the boy was being groomed for something special.
Faisal was the first member of the Saudi royal family to see England. From there he tasted France as well, all in an official capacity. In 1926 at the age of twenty, Faisal was granted the title Viceroy of Hejaz, whatever that actually means. Going forward he served as a jet-setting diplomat, acting as the face of the government around both the region and the world.
Faisal started out as a statesman before eventually being crowned King of Saudi Arabia in 1964. He assumed the throne soon after slavery was abolished across the kingdom. The final tranche of 1,682 freedmen earned their owners a flat $2,000 apiece paid by the government in 1962. The Saudis were still holding slaves a mere four years before I was born. Wow.
Everything Changes
In the early part of the 20th century, Saudi royalty was a pretty big deal, but not many folks outside the region much cared. Then the entire planet went to war, and somebody thought to check the desert sands of the Middle East for oil. The first serious oil field, appropriately titled, “Prosperity Well,” was drilled in 1938. A bazillion dollars later, Saudi Arabia was on the map.
It’s tough to be the nouveaux rich. A redneck with a lot of money is still just a well-scrubbed redneck. While Faisal rose to the occasion and generally behaved himself, not everyone in his massive extended family felt constrained to do so.
The Origins of a Proper Villain
Faisal was a pretty popular name in Saudi Arabia. The younger Faisal bin Musa’id bin Abdulaziz (not to be confused with King Faisal we discussed previously) was born in 1944 to Prince Musa’id bin Abdulaziz. This particular Faisal’s dad was the son of the founder of Saudi Arabia and half-brother to fully half a dozen Saudi kings. However, Little Faisal’s old man did not wear his newfound wealth well.
Once Saudi Arabia discovered oil, the royal family became filthy rich overnight. Most of the male kids were sent off to the US and Europe to absorb a little culture. Prince Musa’id bin Abdulaziz spent time in both London and Paris.
While in Paris, the young man was, “Caught in an inappropriate manner.” I can only imagine the details, but I’d bet they involved some hot French femmes. Musa’id soon found himself remanded back home to face Daddy’s wrath. King Abdulaziz subsequently confined the wayward youth to his room, or, in this case to the sprawling palace, until he seemed to have learned his lesson.
Musa’id eventually found time to court a fellow royal named Watfa. They produced a son named Faisal bin Musa’id born in Riyadh in 1940. Musa’id eventually grew weary of Watfa and divorced her, but not before fathering a bunch of kids in addition to Faisal.
Seeds of Discontent
In 1965, there was a sweeping violent demonstration in Riyadh protesting the introduction of television in the Saudi kingdom. That seems pretty silly in retrospect. The crux of the protestors’ grief was that depictions of the human form were offensive. Not meaning to seem flippant, but I’ve no idea how they ever managed the thorny problem of mirrors or reflections in still water. When the dust settled on the TV brouhaha, Faisal’s brother Khaled was dead.
King Faisal was behind the infamous television debacle along with a variety of other secular reforms. All of this was designed to drag Saudi Arabia out of the Iron Age and into the modern era. Along the way, however, the king made some determined enemies. His nephew, the one also named Faisal, was counted among them.
Nobody is sure what actually got the younger upstart Faisal energized. These are hot-blooded people. It often doesn’t take a whole lot to get killed over there.
Prince Faisal’s brother Khaled was purportedly killed resisting arrest at his home. The details were fuzzy, and there never was a proper investigation. Regardless, around that time, young Faisal hatched a plan.
The Assassination In Action
On 25 March 1975, King Faisal was hosting a reception for visiting dignitaries, something called a majlis in that culture. Among the delegation was lurking the younger Prince Faisal. The king recognized his nephew in the crowd and called him forward. As the younger Faisal approached, the king lowered his head to allow him to kiss it, which was a thing they did. I’ve had uncles–that sounds pretty icky to me.
The younger Faisal suddenly produced a compact .38-caliber revolver from underneath his flowing Arabian robes. The first round struck his uncle in the chin. The second entered through his ear. A third went wide.
The assassin then tossed the gun away as the king slumped to the floor. A nearby bodyguard responded immediately, smacking the prince vigorously with a sheathed sword. The timely intervention by the Saudi oil minister, Ahmed Zaki Yamani, was the only thing that kept the security detail from beating the man to death.
The Aftermath Of The Assassination
The king was rushed to the nearby hospital where heroic measures were expended in an effort at saving his life. This included an open heart massage and extensive blood transfusions. However, the damage was done.
Throughout it all, Prince Faisal remained calm. As a result, the official narrative in the immediate aftermath was that he had lost his mind. “Deranged” was the term used in the press releases. However, a distinguished panel of Saudi physicians soon established that he appeared to have been in his right mind at the time of the assassination.
The wheels of justice turn swiftly in the Kingdom of Saud. Less than three months after the assassination, a Sharia court found Faisal guilty of the king’s murder. Mere hours after the verdict was read, Saudi officials led Prince Faisal to the Deera Square in Riyadh. There they summarily chopped his head off with a single stroke from a gold-handled sword.
Whatever practical motivations Faisal had for shooting his uncle in the head the prince took with him to the grave. Some thought he was angry because his royal allowance was inadequate ($200k per annum in today’s money). Another theory was that the king had unfairly restricted him to Saudi Arabia where he could not feed his drug and alcohol habit. Others held that this was somehow revenge for the death of his brother Khaled. Who knows? They lopped the guy’s head off before anybody got the details straight.
Ruminations
Trump survived his recent assassination attempt by a literal whisker. The iconography to spawn from the event—Trump shaking his bloody fist with the American flag in the background—was quite literally perfect. It was so perfect that it looked scripted. Naturally, before the dust settled Internet conspiracy theorists were suggesting exactly that.
Sixteen hours after being shot in the ear, Donald Trump purportedly played a round of golf. After draining a 20-foot putt he reportedly joked to his buddies, “Unlike the shooter, I don’t miss.” Stuff like that is red meat to guys like me.
You wouldn’t think that an overweight old guy with orange hair might ever successfully play the part of a brass-balled Chuck Norris-grade testosterone donor, yet here we are. Donald Trump has now been under fire for real, and on international TV no less. After his attempted assassination, he neither cowered nor ran. He spontaneously shook his fist and spit lightning out of his eyes, not knowing in the immediate aftermath how badly he was hurt or whether or not the threat had been neutralized. For all of his bombast and baggage, Trump’s performance in Pennsylvania was undeniably freaking awesome.
Epilogue
A final word on Corey Comperatore, the great American who was killed during the attempted assassination of President Trump. Corey threw himself across his family when the shooting started and subsequently traded his life to save theirs. We talk about heroes in this space most every week. There was a purity to Comperatore’s sacrifice that seems to eclipse them all. I will have myself had a successful life if I can be half the husband and father that man was.
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Trumps a hero? Yea right. To bad he was such a chicken shit during the Viet Nam war. We could have used a hero over there back then.
Im unsure why the dumb screed against the al Saud dynasty. I have dealt professionally with some of the Saudi royals. They come in good, bad and indifferent flavors like all humans. Any further discussion is a waste of energy.
It will be interesting to see if the bullets recovered match the rifle found near the man identified as the shooter. Want to bet we never find out?
Per usual Dr. Dabbs, enjoy your writing and perspective on your subjects. Believe this is first article with so many nay sayers taking hard turns from subject to spew anti everything
American. Stand your ground sir…
The Trump shooter was a republican. Probably why he missed
You’re an idiot, TDS much?
Mr. Dabbs is certainly entitled to his opinion on the matter and I’m sure that much of the rhetoric about Trump is written tongue in cheek ie; comparison with Chuck Norris, a man who has actually been in a fight or two. I will give Trump this, his timing was perfect for the photo op! I do find it distasteful that in the vast majority of articles on the shooting , the word ‘hero’ is freely tossed around to the point that I can find no definition to match its’ use. All the while the true hero, Mr. Comperatore, receives an obligatory 3 sentences at the end of the article. Check your dictionaries for ‘hero’ and whether you use the 3,4 or5 pillars of heroism, Mr. Comperatore meets them all. For this the media should be ashamed and so should we for allowing it.
If you disagree with those who have a differing opinion, take a moment and construct a response, in stead of name calling, which seems to be the only response of many of the commenters
You hit the nail on the head Johnny
Dr. Dabbs,
I enjoy your articles and political rhetoric. Keep it up.
Thank you for another great article, straight from God’s Country. Hotty Toddy!
As a writer, Bill is entitled to his own opinions. As a reader you don’t have to read his material. Myself as a reader, I can’t get enough of his writings.
Abe
Interesting article. Whether or not I share your political opinions, I will fight to preserve your right to express them. It seems that baser human nature is to abhor views that don’t conform to the reader’s/listener’s. It requires respect, humility, and intellect to consider conflicting views, then alter opinions or construct cogent argument against them. Calling for others to cease expressing opinion is infinitely more telling about the “callers” than about their bases for having contrary views.
Dr. Dabbs;
I love your historical articles but you can and should leave your political rhetoric for someone who cares, i have been a big fan of your writing but you can keep your political views to yourself.
Dr. Dabbs, don’t pay attention to pantywaists like SR.
Everything you write is worth reading, and educationally entertaining.
Cheers
Mr Dabbs,
I don’t know who you are, sir, but you sound like a man with his head on straight. We could use a LOT more of that in our country right now. Keep fighting the good fight, I’ll keep following.
Amen, brother.
In 2017 my then 12 year old daughter, who has Downs Syndrome was diagnosed with Wilms tumors (nephroblastoma, a form of cancer that usually occurs in children ages 3-5) in her right kidney. The diagnosing hospital was an affiliate hospital of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and they had everything set everything up with st Jude in Memphis within literally minutes of diagnosis. Short version, in Memphis, I discovered that the Trump Organization, the Trump Family and Friends have donated tens of millions of dollars to St Jude and in October 2024, my (then 12 yo) daughter will be be 19 and thanks to the many very skilled people at St Jude and the many, many, many people like Mr President, my daughter, is one of the tens of thousands of children who have beat cancer and is able to live a “normal” life.
So, yeah when I say that Donald J Trump is my President, I mean it and no amount of political BS is going to change that. I didn’t vote for Donald J Trump because I think he’s a saint. I do not agree with Mr President on everything, for instance his taste in steak appalls me (well done and slathered in ketchup) but at the end of each and every day I KNOW where Donald J Trump stands on the importance issues facing the World today and I KNOW that Mr President is standing there and will continue standing between me and the millions of bad and evil persons (many here in America) in the world to his last breath.
Speaking of memes, I made one comparing Donald J Trump to Joe Biden using the most iconic photograph ever taken of a presidential candidate with the words, “I took a bullet for democracy” above a picture of Joe Biden wearing his aviators, and blowing his nose while looking into camera with the words, “I took the week off with covid” to remind people of,
“What Can Be, Unburdened By What Has Been.”
Thank you, thank you very much Doc and I look forward to reading your next history lesson.
I’m so sick of your politics, just because someone loves firearms does not make them a cult member.you would do well to remember that once in awhile mixed in with your worship of the most traitorous vile human being I can think of.
Funny. Very funny. I enjoy sophomoric hyperbole. If you’re offended by content, you have a choice. Don’t read. Mosey back to the fold sheeple.
Nathan, are you referring to Joseph Robinette Biden when say “the most traitorous vile human being…”?
I have heard many terrible but vague sentiments directed toward Soleimani. I love my country but do NOT trust my government, why should I expect other countries to trust the US government? Soleimani was in Iraq to try and ease tensions between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia when he was killed. There has been no evidence provided that supports the claim that Soleimani was planning an attack on anyone and it appears the Irainian commender was lured to his death on a peace mission. This was the worst decision of the Trump administration that benefitted Israel alone.
The CIA, the real leader of the US, have been assassinating world leaders for generations. The CIA even defied JFK and assasinated the Diem shocking the world including arch enemy Ho Chí Minh who was quoted as saying, “I can scarcely believe the Americans would be so stupid.” I believe the CIA was directly involved in the planning and assassination of JFK and might succeed in ending Trump whether it is like Nixon or worse.
Former CIA drug running governor, Bill Clinton as US President, signed the 1998 Rome Treaty which included all US military members being subject to the International Criminal Court. So a US military member could be called to stand trial and defend themselves in the ICC an unlimited number of years after military service and of course Clinton did care about the fate a US service member. As often happens, the low life Clinton did NOT realize that as US Commander in Chief he was also subject to the ICC. Clinton got his wake up call when Slobodan Milosevic’s defense attorney called Clinton as a witness. Now the acts of the CIA and Clinton were threatened but then Milosevic died in custody, problem solved? Nope, the rest of the world especially Russia (long time allie of Sebia) was outraged at the criminal acts of the US and thus we have an ememy in Russia and Putin.
So, tell me why Soleimani or Putin or anyone else would NOT want to protect their countries from the insanity of the USA under control of the CIA? The reckless operations of the CIA has promoted nuclear proliferation.
I’m sure there are many who believe that the Bible directs the US to protect Isreal. When Jimmy Carter (a staunch supporter of Israel and the Bible) was brokering peace in the ME, Carter was astonished at the radicle views of race and world view of Begin where Sadat was for more reasonable. Of course, it was Israel a few years before that attacked the USS Liberty and not Saudia Arabia. Some friend in Israel.
Today, Israel is accused of Harvesting and exporting organs from the Palestinian victims of Gaza and even before this war. The accusations seems to be confirmed from various sources including the former head of the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Israel, near Tel Aviv, Dr Yehuda Hiss.
In my view, Iranian Commader, Soleimani is far less a monster that US and Israelies that get a free pass on the “crimes agaiinst humanity.”
“choose your enemies wisely, for you shall become like them”
Trolling muzzy sympathizer.
“muzzy”? Oh, that’s what you call Muslims? Modern day Iran was inhabited by the same people in one of the oldest Empires in history, Persia. The Persians had/have a rich culture and were always surrounded by enemies including the formidable city states of modern day Greece while surviving for over 2500 years.
So you slap a derogatory label on one of the largest religions in the world without any attempt to justify your reasoning and you claim that I am the troll? It took only a three word post by you totally discredited yourself and prove you an exceptional idiot.
Soleimani was killed to stop a plot against 500 Americans, according to former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Regional analysts considered Soleimani to be the second-most-powerful leader in Iran, after only Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And the U.S. has pursued him for decades — his operations within Iraq since 2003 killed more than 600 American personnel.” – CNBC News
“To be clear, this is the equivalent of Iran killing the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and then taking credit for it.” – Roman Schweizer, managing director for aerospace and defense at the Cowen Washington Research Group
And finally, regarding those fine members from the Religion of Peace (muzzies)… They were very peaceful last year (2023), because they only attacked 1,787 times in 54 countries, in which 11,428 people were killed and 12,999 injured. This is a significant and mostly peaceful drop from 2014 when islamists attacked 3,021 times in in 55 countries, in which 32,986 people were killed and 27,561 injured.
If you trust the judgement and word of deep state Israel first Mike Pompeo, former director of the CIA, then that’s you choice. Pompeo is considered a liar for NOT disclosing his company in Kansas with significant financial ties to China during confirmation hearings and even suspected of lying about his recent weight loss, sounds like another Lioyd Austin. “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” Why take my word for it, here is Pompeo himself, “I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. It was like we had entire training courses . . . it reminds you of the glory of the American experiment.” This was a April 2019, Texas A&M University by Pompeo, a dangerous religious extremist, like a “muzzy.”
Here’s another problem with trusting Pompeo, especially for you and your statements on violence and religion, Pompeo thinks that Trump is a modern day “Queen Esther” sent to save Israel with US military action. Pompeo is a religious zealot trying to save the Israeli people that mostly reject and resent his beliefs. How differant is Pompeo from the Muslims you resent? How differant are the Israeli’s from the Muslims you resent?
How consistent are you and Pompeo with the warnings from George Washington in his farewell speech where he warned to “avoid entangling alliances”? The Globalists like Pompeo have steered the US into this murky trick bag, not Solemani. Pompeo is a member of Presbyterian Church who is awaiting the “Rapture,” like the Muslims you resent, he considers himself a religious man who is justified in sanctioning killing. Pompeo is your first dubious source, CNBC was your second and Roman Schweizer was you third but those last two really said nothing relevant to the points of contention.
As far as the death stats you presented, did you miss or have you forgotten when Madeleine Albright stated that the death of half a million Iraqi children was worth it? Albright replied, “I think it is a very hard choice… but the price, we think the price is worth it.” Who is “we.” The conservative death totals in Gaza have exceeded 40,000 and climbing, anyone that believes that the Mossad and the CIA were unaware of the Hammas attack in advance or 9/11 is a fool. What column do you put the Isreali and American dead when they are betrayed by their leaders?
“choose your enemies well, for you shall become like them”
Sure, stick up for a world terrorist leader who was near the top of an axis of evil, and then repeat an antiSemitic blood libel that has no basis in fact. Good rational argument from an extreme left winger.
Today’s “terrorist leader” is often tomorrows world leader. Take Nelson Mandela for instance, he was on the US terror “watch list” until 2008. From behind prison bars he sanction many bombings including the Church St. car bomb that killed 19 innocent people. Mandela suggested cutting of the noses of Africans who were collaborating with the apartheid government. Mandela never denounced terrorism and his wife was even worse. Let’s see how much of a crypto “extreme left winger” you really are, go ahead and denounce Mandela if you feel so well grounded in your views on “terrorism.”
Maybe you would rather discuss the Irgun Zionist terrorists that bombed the the King David Hotel (1946) killing innocent Jewish and Muslim people? Hard to believe that even the most bloodthirsty ungrateful terrorists would target British soldiers that were liberating concentration camps just months before the terrorist bombing. What else in the history of guilty mankind compares to that level of betrayal? Maybe throwing around the term “terrorism” is fill with too many contradictions for you to spin history at this point
Here’s an idea, stick with the standards set forth in July 1956 FMF 27-10, the Rules of Land warfare to make your case agains Soleimani. Go ahead in you next post to list Solemani’s violations of FMF 27-10 if you can. Also, keep in mind of the timeline, Solemani was born in 1957, in the year 1956 the rules of Land Warfare was established and in 1953 Irainian leader Mosaddegh was overthrown and the Shah was inplaced.
BTW, I never raised the issue of “blood libel” or anything to do with that topic. Define what you mean by “blood libel” and explain why you attributed that specific topic to my post?
You also called me “an extreme left winger,” prove it?
Try not to write when you’re lucid. When you’ve had time to rest you’ll read this and realize how important it is to stay off of hallucinatory drugs.
That response is such a lame, unoriginal and boring act that dates back for more than a generation. I have read so many versions of the tired “lucid” and “hallucinatory drugs” posts over the years but I admit that before you reached back it had been quite awhile. You had so many topics from my post that you could have challenged but this is what you came up with? Here’s a hint, often a number of people might NOT like what I say, but they usually figure that they cannot refute the message and that is the real standard for seeking the truth. Still, I understand that vague condemnation and silly responses are just ways that people like you try to cope information that eats away at you.
Cheers
Hey Alice, an thoughts on people that use the term “muzzy” instead of Muslims?
I have a term but it’s politically incorrect, use your imagination.