[War] Saudi: Charity begins at home

[Pat B]

Saudi Arabia: Charity begins at home
Ali Bin Bashir Al Saud
King of Saudi Arabia

After a friendly meal and their afternoon prayers the clerics left, Ali 
knew what they had done was shocking and surprising but it had to be done.

The Faith was not a set of shackles, the way some of the more hard line 
believed it could be.  He still remembered that conversation with an 
Iman in one of the Chicago mosques he attended who was a Saudi national 
and lectured him on how the Wahabists had corrupted their faith, showed 
him the parts of the Koran they had ignored while enforcing the rather 
strict Sharia law.

One thing the faith had ignored was Zakat, charity, Saudi had billions 
of petrodollars coming in, and less going out. Especially to charitable 
groups.

Notes he made during the meeting also included notes on how to spend 
money.

Then he frowned, if they made a big deal out of it, then it would look 
like Saudi buying respect, if they did it silently, what was that bible 
quote, it is better that only your father in heaven know what you are doing.

That brought out a phone, and a call.

Actions

1) Saudi Arabia will begin an anonymous charitable drive to the world, 
this will not be publicised and all will go through a bit of laundering

The total will be 8 billion dollars or 2.5 percent of the Saudi GNP.

In addition to the 2 billion sent for Iraq and Lebanon reconstruction
An additional $1B for Iraq, to rebuild the infrastructure.
an extra $1B for Lebanon
----
Anonymously:

$500M to purchase a fleet of cargo aircraft for the Red Cross.
$500M to an endowment to provide for their maintenance and upgrades and
support.
$500M to provide for crews.

$500M to purchase a fleet of ships for the Red Cross;
$500M for maintenance thereof.
$100M for crewing.

$80M to Loyola university for scholarships for kids from the Chicagoland
area (Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake,
McHenry, Will counties in IL; Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter
counties in IN; Kenosha county in WI).
$80M to DePaul University for the same scholarships.

Scholarships to be full rides, aimed at kids with disabilities and their
siblings.
---
Running total: $4.76B
--
Anonymously:
$500M to assist in the resettlement of Darfur refugees.
$500M to assist Indonesians in tsunami-hit areas in setting up small
businesses.
$500M to assist the poor in the Philippines (payback for treating
Filipinos in Saudi so badly).

$1B to improve the teaching of Arabic in the West, and to develop
technologies to help the process along. This will be given in the form 
of an X prize, the winner (or their institiution) is given one billion 
dollars for inventing a way to improve the teaching of Arabic.
---
Running total: $7.26B

Put the rest towards meeting emergency needs over the years.

2) Begin review of Sharia law, with eye towards modernizing it as best 
we can.  Ask quietly for international legal scholars to assist.