Thank you for posting to ridecamp and clarifying your position. I am posting a link to a recent article (11/7) by Janet Patton because an embassy spokeperson for the UAE is quoted in this article.
Farah Atassi, an embassy spokeswoman in Washington, said that the sheik "is not involved in (abusive treatment) because he is the ruler and will not allow anybody to violate the law."
It seems this is a follow up to Janet Patton's original article in October. This issue has generated a bit of interest in the Kentucky Thoroughbred Industry as shown by this article as well as a WLEX TV investigation. The last airing of the HBO special was on 10/22 and is still being written about in the press two weeks later. The topic hasn't faded away there just as it hasn't died on the endurance lists. There was also commentary on the Sports Illustrated webpage which is just about as mainstream as you can get. Hopefully, pressure from the mainstream press and yes, us, will force those that can resolve this human rights atrocity to come forward and address this publicly. The silence on this issue only makes it worse.
This issue is not limited to our small endurance community but certainly any relationships US endurance riding has with the UAE is worthy of discussion on this list. Hashing thing over and over again is not productive but there is nothing wrong with discussing possible action that may come or be taken due to these facts coming to light.
You have made it very clear since this discussion started that you would like it to go away. Many of us respected your wishes and moved it to the AERC list. I didn't think it was fair but this is a private list and you are the moderator so you can do what you want. Again, thank you for responding to John's post. Also, for those that are tired or bored with this discussion...why not use the delete key....
